Opinion ID: 1142215
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Co-indictee Thomas Terrell Evans:

Text: Evans was the final witness to testify. His attorney, Fielding Wright, was in the courtroom on that date, but has since passed away. Evans testified that he did not feel like he ever had any kind of tentative agreement with the district attorney. He also stated that there was no discussion between him and the district attorney's office regarding a possible sentencing recommendation. He testified that there was some discussion about the revocation of his probation. Upon such response, the following exchange took place: BY MR. WRIGHT: Your Honor, as to the revocation I don't mind what he asked him. As to anything that has to do with his capital murder charge, I want to instruct him not to answer, whether it be in regard to plea bargaining or what. BY THE COURT: All right. BY MR. FORTNER: Judge, I'm not quite sure ... are you agreeing with Mr. Wright that the man can't answer the question concerning plea negotiations with the District Attorney's office about his capital murder charge? BY THE COURT: Is that what you don't want him to answer? BY MR. WRIGHT: That's what I'm talking about, because as far as I know there have never been any discussion except with me, and if there has been some other discussion I instruct him not to answer. BY MR. FORTNER: Now I'm not asking him about any information that was verbally discussed between himself and his attorney. That's not what I'm asking the witness. What I'm asking the witness is about any discussion he, the witness, might have had with the District Attorney. BY THE COURT: All right. Now then, he can answer that, but if his information came from his attorney then he is not required to answer that. BY MR. WRIGHT: Just to clarify the record, the reason is that he still is charged and could, if I desire ultimately to talk to the D.A. again, it may hurt him. So, I instructed him not to answer in regard to anything that has passed between he and myself nor as to anything in the future. BY THE COURT: All right. Do you understand that, Mr. Evans? BY THE WITNESS: He said what's between me and him is between me and him? BY THE COURT: He's saying don't answer as ... to any information you've gained in a discussion with your attorney. Anything  personal discussions you had directly with either Mr. Moore, Mr. Guirola or Mr. King? BY MR. FORTNER: Q. Mr. Evans, in the course of your interview sessions with the District Attorney, Mr. Moore, or the Assistant District Attorneys, Miss King or Mr. Guirola . . concerning a potential possible recommendation of sentencing on a guilty plea by you to any crime emanating from the incident involving .. . Pierce. A. Only on my probation, that's the only thing. (emphasis added.) Q. Did you ever discuss with them the possibility of a five year sentence for a guilty plea on accessory after the fact with the District Attorneys now, not with your attorney. A. No sir. (emphasis added.) Q. Did you ever discuss with them the possibility of a guilty plea to capital murder and a seven year sentence  a recommendation for seven years running concurrent with the revocation of five years. A. No sir. (emphasis added.) Q. Did you ever discuss any type of sentencing with the District Attorneys? A. Yes sir ... I asked them about my probation and they explained it to me... . [W]hat I was interested in was whether my restitution time would count or not. (emphasis added.) Q. Do you ever remember, in a discussion with the District Attorney or anyone in his office, the Assistant District Attorneys, the word deal being mentioned at all? A deal? A. I'm sure it was, but it wasn't the kind of deal that you're speaking of, I don't think... . I know Mr. Moore said I tried to run a shady deal on him one time. (emphasis added.) Q. Did you ever ask if there was a deal. A. I've never asked nobody in the District Attorney's office, no sir. (emphasis added.) Q. Did they ever discuss a deal with you, plea negotiation deal is what I'm talking about? ... A. No sir, I let my lawyer handle all of that. (emphasis added.) Q. Did they ever talk to you about their [sic] being no deal? A. Yes sir ... on December the 13th, 1983. Mr. Moore informed me in front of my attorney, Mr. Wright, that we had no deal, that me and him had no deal whatsoever and he wanted me to understand that well. He repeated it twice and I understood exactly what he said. ... (emphasis added.) On March 15, 1985, Williams filed a Motion for Court to Re-open Record and Hearing on Defendant's Amended Motion to Set Aside Verdict and Grant a New Trial. To this motion, Williams attached the recanting affidavit of Evans and supporting affidavits of a co-defendant, Michael Norwood, Clifford Bonin and Ricky Rogers, all trustees in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center. These affidavits alleged that Evans had told them that he had a deal with the District Attorney for his testimony against Williams. Evans in his affidavit stated that [he] was promised a sentence of five years for [his] testimony against ... Williams, ... [t]hat [he] received a sentence of five years for [his] testimony, ... [t]hat [he] was threatened by the District Attorney, Michael C. Moore, that he would `put gas to [his] ass,' and [t]hat [therefore, his] testimony against ... Williams was colored by the threats and suggestions of ... Moore. This motion was overruled on March 29, 1985, because the Circuit Court had no jurisdiction to entertain such a motion after the perfection of the appeal. Five years later, the affidavit of Richard Hamilton, Evans' attorney, was attached to this list of affidavits. The Hamilton affidavit [1] was executed on January 9, 1990, six years after the original trial. Williams has not yet provided any written documentation of the plea bargain itself. Moreover, there is no affidavit from attorney Fielding Wright. Fielding Wright did not pass away until December 12, 1990. Williams had at least 11 months after the Hamilton affidavit was released in which to supply an affidavit from Wright confirming or denying the existence of any agreement. Williams argues that these affidavits support his contention that the prosecution failed to disclose the existence of a plea bargain it had with Evans in return for Evans' testimony against Williams. Aggrieved at the lower court's decision, Williams petitions this Court to grant his motion for post-conviction collateral relief and remand the case for a new trial. Also pertinent to this discussion are statements made by Evans in Williams' direct appeal. On appeal, Williams' conviction and sentence were affirmed. However, on a petition for rehearing, this Court vacated the sentence of death and remanded for a new sentencing hearing. See Williams v. State, 544 So.2d 782 (Miss. 1987). Petitioner was again sentenced to death by a jury in the George County Circuit Court in January 1990. During the George County resentencing hearing in January 1990, Evans testified, as follows: Q. (Asst. D.A. Bob Evans): ... Is there anywhere .. . the then District Attorney, Mike Moore, [says] I'm going to threaten you and make you tell a lie on the witness stand? ... A. (Thomas Evans): No sir. He was ... insisting to stay away from that... . Q. And Mr. Fortner made some allusion to some of your testimony in the last trial and this trial about did he [Moore] promise you anything. Am I correct in saying you're saying that he [Moore] didn't promise you anything; there was just a kind of understanding?... A. As my lawyer [Fielding Wright] explained it to me  ... I give you my word that, if you testify and tell the truth and don't screw everything up, that you will receive exactly what you're guilty of, which is accessory after the fact. ... But, ... if you want to go to trial, ... I won't charge you no more money than I've already charged you. ... But now, I do have an understanding with Mike Moore that, if you do testify that you  if, in fact, accessory after the fact is what you're guilty of, that's what you will be tried for and that's what you will receive the five years on. Q. And in the last trial, you testified about who was the perpetrator of this crime, and in this trial. Were you telling the truth then? A. Yes, sir. Q. And he told you to tell the truth; didn't he? A. Yes. That's correct, also. BY THE COURT: But what did he say for you to say whenever you was [sic] asked if you had made a deal? BY THE WITNESS: He said that, unless they specifically ask me if I had an understanding through him, a promise from him that he had a promise from somebody else in the District Attorney's Office, that the answer was no because I did not have a  BY THE COURT: And he told you to say that, no, that you did not have a deal; is that right? BY THE WITNESS: That's correct. BY THE COURT: All right. Anything else? BY MR. FORTNER: No, sir. It is important to note that Evans' recanting affidavit executed in 1985, stated that he and the prosecution had a plea bargain. The above 1990 statements by Evans recant his 1985 recantation. Williams returned to his original understanding of the discussions between his attorneys and the district attorneys office. An understanding between Wright and Moore that if Evans' testified against Williams and it was believed that his participation in the crime amounted to no more than accessory after the fact, which carried a maximum sentence of five years, is not the equivalent to a plea bargain agreement. It is merely a statement of the obvious. Not only did Evans recant his 1985 recantation, he also told this Court that his attorney told him to tell the truth in the original 1983 trial, and that he indeed was truthful during the original trial.