Jim Vanderbilt v. James A. Collins, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division

994 F.2d 189, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 14322, 1993 WL 211699
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJune 17, 1993
Docket91-4793
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 994 F.2d 189 (Jim Vanderbilt v. James A. Collins, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jim Vanderbilt v. James A. Collins, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division, 994 F.2d 189, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 14322, 1993 WL 211699 (5th Cir. 1993).

Opinions

POLITZ, Chief Judge:

The State of Texas appeals the grant of a writ of habeas corpus vacating the death sentence imposed on Jim Vanderbilt and barring the reimposition of a death sentence at any subsequent sentencing proceeding. For the reasons assigned, we affirm in part and vacate in part.

Background

On April 1, 1975, Vanderbilt, a former police officer, kidnapped Katina Moyer, a 16-year-old girl, while she was in her car waiting to pick up her schoolteacher mother. At gunpoint he handcuffed Moyer and took her to his home, intending to rape her. Noticing that Moyer was looking around the house intently, as if trying to memorize everything she could about his house, he put her in her auto and drove to a secluded spot outside Amarillo where he fatally shot her in the head with his .357 pistol. He left her body where it fell and drove to the outskirts of Amarillo where he abandoned her car on the highway with the blinkers flashing and hitched a ride back into town.

The Psychiatric Examination

In May, 1975 prior to the first trial, Vanderbilt’s counsel requested that Vanderbilt be examined by a psychiatrist. Counsel had advised against the examination, but Vanderbilt insisted. The motion requesting the examination did not specify the purposes. The court granted the motion, but required that the results be released to the state. We find no written order for the examination in the record of the first trial. Vanderbilt was examined over the course of two days by Drs. Kracke and Klein, working under the supervision of Dr. Kenneth McTague. Dr. McTa-gue summarized their examinations in a letter informing the court of their conclusion that Vanderbilt was sane and competent to stand trial.

The First Trial

The district court described the evidence at trial as follows:

From the circumstantial evidence introduced at trial, the jury could reasonably find that the applicant and the deceased victim, Moyer, left the applicant’s house in her automobile, on the evening of her death, at approximately 4:30 p.m.; and that they drove north on the Dumas Expressway out of the city of Amarillo. Further, they could have found that the applicant abandoned Moyer’s car along the Dumas Expressway, south of where Moyer was found shot, at approximately 6:00 p.m.
In addition, experts testified at trial that Moyer had bruises on her wrists which could have been caused by handcuffs, and that the bullet with which she was killed was a .38 or .357 luballoy, or copper-coated bullet. Other testimony showed that the applicant possessed handcuffs with traces of blood of the same type as Moyer’s on the inside of one of the cuffs.

In addition, the state introduced the testimony of two police officers who heard Vanderbilt make an oral confession on the night of his arrest. Officer Davis testified that “He said he wanted to scare her, and she was telling him that she wouldn’t tell on him. He put his gun to the back of her head and cocked it.... He said the gun went off and she fell to the ground.” Officer Boydston’s account was similar. Also according to Officer Davis, Vanderbilt stated that after killing Moyer he removed the handcuffs, drove to the outskirts of Amarillo, abandoned her car on the highway with its blinkers on, and then was picked up by a passing motorist. Upon returning to town he went home, got his car, and drove around “looking for another girl.”

Based upon this evidence, Vanderbilt was found guilty of capital murder. Neither the state nor Vanderbilt put on any additional evidence during the penalty phase.1 The jury answered “yes” to special issue number two, finding that Vanderbilt “would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute [192]*192a continuing threat to society.”2 Vanderbilt was sentenced to death.

The Reversal

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction for trial error related to the exclusion of evidence on the issue of the voluntariness of Vanderbilt’s confessions;3 the appellate court did not address Vanderbilt’s claim alleging insufficient evidence of future dangerousness to support the death sentence.4 The appellate court stated, however:

[W]e note that the State introduced no evidence at the punishment stage of the trial. In the event of a re-trial, we call attention to the recent case of Warren v. State, 562 S.W.2d 474, on sufficiency of the evidence to support an affirmative finding to special issue No. 2 of Art. 37.071, V.A.C.C.P.5

The Second Guilt Phase

Vanderbilt was retried, and was again convicted and sentenced to death. The only new evidence presented during the second trial’s guilt phase was the testimony of Jerre Kris Tucker. She testified that she had been sexually molested by Vanderbilt on March 27, 1975. On that evening she had just gotten into her car in a shopping mall parking lot after work when he opened the driver’s door of her car, produced a pistol, and demanded that she move over. Vanderbilt got in the car, handcuffed her, drove to a secluded construction area which was not occupied at that time of night, and sexually molested her. He then released her a few blocks from the abduction site and returned her auto to the mall parking lot.

The Second Penalty Phase

During the second penalty phase, the state introduced five witnesses who testified to Vanderbilt’s bad reputation in the community for being peaceful and law-abiding: four police officers and Jerre Tucker. The state also introduced the testimony of Dr. McTa-gue regarding Vanderbilt’s future dangerousness. Defense counsel was not informed that the state planned to have McTague testify regarding Vanderbilt’s future dangerousness until he was called. There is also conflicting testimony regarding whether Vanderbilt was given any Miranda-type warnings before the examination, and if any were given, the extent of the warnings. It is undisputed, however, that neither Vanderbilt nor his counsel was informed that results of the examination could be used on the issue of Vanderbilt’s future dangerousness.

McTague testified that in his opinion, based upon the examinations by him and Drs. Kracke and Klein, that Vanderbilt was “extremely well controlled, well-guarded, extremely deliberate in his actions,” that “when he is affected by emotionality that he is likely to be very impulsive,” he was likely “to act without thinking or without being aware of the consequences of his behavior.” In addition, McTague concluded that Vanderbilt had “no conscience,” had no “feeling of wrongness” regarding what he had done, did not [193]*193learn much from past experience, and had “a general identity problem in the area of sexuality.” On direct examination, McTague was asked if, assuming that Vanderbilt kidnapped and sexually assaulted one young woman and then five days later kidnapped and shot and killed another, was he was likely to commit future acts of violence. McTague responded: “The research indicates that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If someone has done actions like you describe several times, then it is increasing the likelihood that they may do it again as opposed to not.” McTague also responded on cross-examination that based upon the “papers ...

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Bluebook (online)
994 F.2d 189, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 14322, 1993 WL 211699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jim-vanderbilt-v-james-a-collins-director-texas-department-of-criminal-ca5-1993.