Rewards explored in death row case
Lawyers seek cause for retrial
Andrea Weigl, Staff Writer, N&O, Nov.27, 2006
Barbara Taylor was a key witness at death row inmate Guy LeGrande's 1996 trial: She testified that LeGrande confessed to her about killing his co-worker's wife.
LeGrande's lawyers, who are trying to stop his Friday execution, wonder whether prosecutors withheld information about plans to pay Taylor several thousand dollars for her testimony. They say LeGrande had a right to know there was $5,000 to be doled out to witnesses who testified against him so the jury could consider that when evaluating the witnesses' motive for testifying.
Instead, LeGrande's lawyers say, prosecutors revealed before trial that Taylor received $200. Based on recently obtained documents, it appears she may have been paid $3,500.
"I think jurors would have viewed Barbara Taylor differently if they knew she was going to receive several thousands of dollars in payment," said Durham lawyer Jay Ferguson, who along with Duke University law professor Jim Coleman, represents LeGrande.
The two lawyers are handling LeGrande's last-minute appeals and clemency petition without his consent. LeGrande, described by his lawyers and others as psychotic and delusional, insisted on representing himself at his trial, during which he urged the jury to sentence him to death. While acting as his own appellate lawyer, he has not fully pursued his appeals.
A former Stanly County assistant district attorney who helped prosecute LeGrande denies hiding any information about any deals or payments to witnesses.
This is the latest argument from LeGrande's lawyers about why his execution should not go forward. All of their arguments boil down to this: LeGrande did not get a fair trial, and he deserves a new one or a lesser sentence.
LeGrande, 47, was sentenced to death for the 1993 murder-for-hire of Ellen Munford in Stanly County, east of Charlotte. Munford's estranged husband, Tommy, recruited LeGrande to do the killing for a $6,500 share of a $50,000 life insurance policy. Prosecutors dispute the claim that LeGrande is mentally ill, instead describing him as an intelligent, manipulative killer.
Files LeGrande missed
LeGrande's lawyers' latest appeal is complicated by the fact that while acting as his own appellate lawyer, LeGrande did not request copies of the prosecutors' and investigators' entire files -- files that all death row inmates are entitled to obtain.
Ferguson did not get access until Oct. 30 to more than 6,000 pages of records and documents in LeGrande's case that had not previously been reviewed. Typically, appellate lawyers take up to nine months to read such material, figure out what was known before trial and what was not, and evaluate what might be the basis for an appeal, said Thomas Maher, executive director of the Durham-based Center for Death Penalty Litigation, a nonprofit law firm that handles appeals for death row inmates.
"To do it under time pressure, if not impossible, it is extremely difficult," Maher said.
Based on his review so far, Ferguson believes prosecutors may have withheld information about payments to witnesses. But Ferguson acknowledges that he does not know whether Taylor actually received $3,500, because he is still tracking down payment records.
What Ferguson does know is that former Stanly County Sheriff Joe Lowder sent a letter in 1994 asking the Governor's Office for $5,000 in reward money to help capture Ellen Munford's killer. After Taylor came forward with information, LeGrande was arrested and charged with murder in 1995.
Before LeGrande's April 1996 trial, a judge ordered prosecutors to reveal whether any witnesses received money. In August 1996 -- four months after LeGrande was convicted -- the sheriff wrote to the governor that the $5,000 should be split among four witnesses, including $3,500 to Taylor.
There were three other witnesses that Lowder suggested be paid a total of $1,500 for their assistance. But Ferguson said prosecutors only disclosed one had been paid $100 before trial.
Taylor's testimony was key to prosecutors securing a murder conviction against LeGrande. The only other witness to connect LeGrande to the killing was Tommy Munford, who had a deal with prosecutors to plead to a lesser charge, avoid the death penalty and testify against LeGrande. Munford is eligible for a parole hearing next year.
Beyond Taylor, Ferguson questions whether prosecutors had a deal with another witness that they failed to disclose. Greg Laton, who knew about Munford's plans to have his wife killed, testified against LeGrande but was never charged for providing the murder weapon to Tommy Munford. Ferguson also notes that Laton had two pending felony charges at the time of his testimony. After Laton testified, Ferguson said, he saw one charge dismissed and got probation on the other.
Prosecution's view
The N.C. Attorney General's Office, which is arguing for LeGrande's execution to go forward, had not filed a response to Ferguson's motion before the holiday break.
Michael Parker, the current district attorney in Stanly, Anson, Union and Richmond counties, who did not prosecute LeGrande, said his office has turned over all its records on the case to Ferguson.
"It's my understanding that LeGrande was given information about reward payments prior to the trial," Parker said. "It's my understanding that the other payments were made after the trial -- as much as six months after the fact."
Ferguson counters that prosecutors should have disclosed the existence of the $5,000 in reward money and that witnesses could receive some portion.
The prosecutors who handled LeGrande's case were Kenneth Honeycutt, Parker's predecessor, and David Graham, now an assistant district attorney in Mecklenburg County.
In an e-mail message to The News & Observer, Graham wrote that the legal ethics rules prohibit him from talking about pending cases. "However," he wrote, "I can tell you that I would never have participated in hiding from either the court or the jury any information concerning any reward for, or any 'deal' with, a prosecution witness."
Honeycutt, who is now in private practice in Monroe, could not be reached for comment.
Honeycutt's other case
This is not the first time a death row inmate has claimed Honeycutt withheld information about deals with and money paid to a key witness.
In 2004, Jonathan Hoffman was awarded a new trial because he and his lawyers were not told that his cousin -- the prosecution's star witness -- got a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid further prosecution on the opening day of Hoffman's trial. Hoffman's lawyers also argued Honeycutt failed to reveal that the cousin received immunity from other state charges, help reducing his South Carolina sentence and several thousand dollars in reward money.
Honeycutt and his assistant, Scott Brewer, now a District Court judge, were charged with prosecutorial misconduct by the N.C. State Bar, the state agency that disciplines lawyers. The state Bar accused the pair of committing 23 violations of the rules that govern lawyers in their prosecution of Hoffman. The charges were dismissed on technical grounds.*
If Honeycutt was involved, Michael Howell, one of Hoffman's lawyers, said the courts should closely scrutinize such a claim.
"Anything he has touched, I believe should have special consideration," Howell said.
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/515141.html
* The system is rotten to the core, from one end of the state to the other. Thank you, Governor Easley.
Condemned man gets 2-month break
But shuns doctors evaluating him
Andrea Weigl, Staff Writer, N&O, Nov 28, 2006 05:24 AM
ALBEMARLE - Three psychiatrists have 45 days to decide whether death row inmate Guy LeGrande is too mentally ill to be executed, but he has refused to speak to them. They'll have to make their judgment from afar by watching him eat, sleep and go about his daily business.
On Monday, Superior Court Judge Robert Bell delayed LeGrande's execution at least two months and ordered the doctors to prepare reports. After that, Bell said, he would hold a hearing on arguments about LeGrande's competency. LeGrande, whom some believe is psychotic and delusional, has not willingly talked to a psychiatrist since before his 1996 trial.
Bell acknowledged that his powers are limited. "I can't force LeGrande to talk," he said.
However, Bell did what he could: ordered state officials to allow the psychiatrists to observe LeGrande either at Dorothea Dix mental hospital or in the mental health unit of Central Prison.
"We can't force him to verbally participate," said Jay Ferguson, a Durham lawyer who represents LeGrande. "We can do everything humanly possible to get as much information as we can to make an informed decision and an accurate assessment. There are no do-overs in death penalty cases."
He added: "For the first time in over a decade, he is going to be evaluated so we can present evidence of his mental illness."
But one psychiatrist unconnected to the case said that gleaning a true evaluation of LeGrande's mental state will be a daunting job.
"I think it's a formidable task," said Seymour L. Halleck of Chapel Hill. "The evaluation would certainly be somewhat limited."
LeGrande, 47, was sentenced to death for the 1993 shooting of Ellen Munford, whose estranged husband recruited LeGrande to commit murder. Tommy Munford, who is serving life for second-degree murder, offered to pay LeGrande $6,500 from $50,000 in life insurance proceeds. In July 1993, LeGrande shot Ellen Munford twice in the back.
At his trial, LeGrande acted as his own lawyer, wearing a Superman T-shirt and urging jurors to sentence him to death. Until recently, he had handled his own appeals.
The U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of the mentally retarded and the insane, but insanity is tough to prove.
Victim's family furious
After the judge issued his ruling Monday, the victim's mother, Gayzelle Simpson of Albemarle, cried and was comforted by relatives. While leaving the courtroom, she said, "All they care about is that black son-of-a-[expletive]."
Ellen Munford's father, Jim Hinson of Albemarle, said, "I think it's a ... shame," noting that psychiatrists could have observed LeGrande already. "Our law is getting weaker and weaker," Hinson said. "They need to go back to a hanging tree -- the day after they commit the crime."
Stanly County District Attorney Michael Parker, who did not prosecute LeGrande, issued a prepared statement: "The state welcomes this evaluation in the hope of resolving the issue of Mr. LeGrande's competency. Judge Bell obviously is taking this very seriously, as have all the courts who have considered Mr. LeGrande's competency."
Parker has said there is "no credible evidence" that LeGrande is mentally ill.
LeGrande in court
Half a dozen armed deputies escorted LeGrande into the courtroom Monday at the Stanly County courthouse, east of Charlotte. LeGrande, whose hands were cuffed and bound to a waist belt, wore a white, button-down shirt and khaki pants. He took a seat at the defense table -- but kept his distance from his lawyers, who are representing him without his consent.
"Good morning, your honor," he greeted the judge. "Just for the record, I'm still representing myself."
Bell informed LeGrande that he had prosecuted a capital murder case with David Graham, an assistant district attorney who also helped prosecute LeGrande. Bell said he believed he still could be a fair and impartial judge for LeGrande.
LeGrande responded, "I'm a conscientious observer. I'm a conscientious objector. I'm not a part of these proceedings. I'm seeking a pardon from the governor. What's going on here, I'm not a party to it." Then citing the correct statute by chapter and number, LeGrande said he didn't believe there were grounds to disqualify Bell.
Prosecutors contend LeGrande is an intelligent killer who took cares to escape arrest and can handle his own appeals.
Psychiatric testimony
Dr. Jonathan Weiner, a psychiatrist at Durham's Veterans Administration Medical Center, testified Monday that LeGrande appears to have bipolar disorder but is not severely mentally ill and is competent. Weiner earlier this month evaluated LeGrande at the request of the N.C. Attorney General's Office; however, LeGrande refused to meet with him.
Based on prison records, Weiner testified, "It appears that he is functioning fine."
Later, Ferguson asked Weiner, "Have you ever known a mentally ill person to deny they are mentally ill?"
"Oh, that's very common," Weiner replied.
Weiner and two psychiatrists whose conclusions so far appear to help LeGrande will observe him at the judge's request: Dr. George Patrick Corvin, who works at Holly Hill hospital in Raleigh, and Dr. Nicole Wolfe of Dorothea Dix.
Corvin concluded LeGrande is psychotic and delusional based in part on his beliefs that he will be pardoned, receive a settlement of up to $3 billion from the state and enjoy a "first meal" with the governor upon his release from death row.
Wolfe concluded in a Nov. 17 report that LeGrande's plan "strongly suggests the presence of a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia." Later, she wrote: "There is a strong possibility that he is not competent."*
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/515448.html
* These 'mental illness' defenses of criminals are increasingly popular in North Carolina. At the current rate, someday the City of Durham will have to be declared a 'psychiatric zone'.