United States v. Fackrell

368 F. Supp. 3d 1010
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedJanuary 23, 2018
DocketCASE NO. 1:16-CR-26(2)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 368 F. Supp. 3d 1010 (United States v. Fackrell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Fackrell, 368 F. Supp. 3d 1010 (E.D. Tex. 2018).

Opinion

MARCIA A. CRONE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending before the court is Defendant Ricky Allen Fackrell's ("Fackrell") Motion to Strike Unconstitutional Aggravating Factors and Allegations from Government's Intent to Seek Death (Doc. No. 215), wherein Fackrell requests that the court strike various statutory and non-statutory aggravating factors from the Government's Amended Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty (Doc. No. 53) and exclude all evidence proffered by the Government at the penalty phase related to those aggravators. Specifically, Fackrell challenges the following aggravating factors: (a) heinous, cruel, or depraved manner of committing the offense, 18 U.S.C. § 3592(c)(6) ; (b) substantial planning and premeditation, id. § 3592(c)(9) ; (c) vulnerability of the victim, id. § 3592(c)(11) ; and (d) lack of remorse and membership in a racist gang-two sub-factors of future dangerousness. Having considered the motion, the response of the Government, the pleadings, and the applicable law, the court is of the opinion that Fackrell's motion should be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

On June 2, 2016, a grand jury returned a two-count superseding indictment charging Fackrell and his co-defendant, inmates of the United States Penitentiary in Beaumont, Texas, with: (1) the unlawful killing of a fellow inmate, Leo Johns ("Johns"), with premeditation and malice aforethought, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111, 1112 ("Count One") and (2) conspiracy to kill Johns with premeditation and malice aforethought, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1117 ("Count Two").1 See Doc. No. 47. The maximum penalty if convicted of Count One is death. Voir dire in this case is currently set to begin March 5, 2018, followed by trial on April 9, 2018. See Doc. No. 77.

II. Analysis

A. Heinous, Cruel, or Depraved Manner of Committing the Offense

Fackrell avers that the statutory aggravating factor of "heinous, cruel, or depraved manner of committing the offense" is facially unconstitutional because it is vague and overbroad. Doc. No. 215, at 2-5. This aggravating factor exists where: "The defendant committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse to the victim." 18 U.S.C. § 3592(c)(6). Specifically, Fackrell *1013contends that the requirement that the killing "involve[ ] torture or serious physical abuse" is insufficiently limiting, as "a finding of 'torture' is not required" and "[e]very murder by definition involves 'serious physical abuse'-the killing of a human being." Doc. No. 215, at 2. The court, however, is unpersuaded.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has repeatedly denied identical challenges to § 3592(c)(6). See, e.g. , United States v. Bourgeois , 423 F.3d 501, 511 (5th Cir. 2005) (rejecting the defendant's argument that § 3592(c)(6) is overbroad and vague, noting that "[the Fifth Circuit] ha[s] consistently upheld [this factor] against such attacks ... because the factor indisputably narrows the class of murderers who are eligible for the death penalty and is sufficiently specific to pass constitutional muster"), cert. denied , 547 U.S. 1132, 126 S.Ct. 2020, 164 L.Ed.2d 786 (2006) ; United States v. Jones , 132 F.3d 232, 249-50 (5th Cir. 1998), aff'd on other grounds , 527 U.S. 373, 119 S.Ct. 2090, 144 L.Ed.2d 370 (1999). Given this binding precedent, the court finds that Fackrell's claim is foreclosed.

Moreover, Fackrell mistakenly contends that "serious physical abuse" is satisfied solely by the killing of a human being and, consequently, is insufficiently limiting, as every murder necessarily involves the death of another. "For serious physical abuse to be aggravating in a murder case, a defendant must inflict suffering or mutilation above and beyond that necessary to cause death " and "must intend such gratuitous violence." United States v. Agofsky , 458 F.3d 369, 374 (5th Cir. 2006) (emphasis added), cert. denied , 549 U.S. 1182, 127 S.Ct. 1149, 166 L.Ed.2d 998 (2007) ; see United States v. Ebron , 683 F.3d 105, 151 (5th Cir. 2012), cert. denied , 571 U.S. 989

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Bluebook (online)
368 F. Supp. 3d 1010, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-fackrell-txed-2018.