Louis Jones

Case record: Louis Jones Jr.

People

• Louis Jones Jr. — defendant; a decorated Army veteran and airborne ranger

The offence

Louis Jones Jr. kidnapped Private Tracie Joy McBride at gunpoint from the Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. He brought her to his house and sexually assaulted her. He drove her to a bridge just outside of San Angelo, where he repeatedly struck her in the head with a tire iron until she died. Petitioner administered blows of such severe force that, when the victim’s body was found, the medical examiners observed that large pieces of her skull had been driven into her cranial cavity or were missing.

Investigation and pretrial matters

Military officials phoned Tracie’s parents to say Tracie was missing the next morning after the kidnapping. Two people had seen a man abduct her the night before. When one man tried to follow, Jones assaulted him, and that man later testified. Nearly two weeks after the assault, Jones confessed to killing Tracie and led police to her body under a bridge about 27 miles from San Angelo. Jones admitted that he had sexually assaulted and beaten her to death with a tire iron.

Trial

Charges and sentencing eligibility

The Government charged Jones with, inter alia, kidnaping with death resulting to the victim, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2), an offense punishable by life imprisonment or death. Exercising discretion under the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, the Government decided to seek the latter sentencing option.

Jones was tried in the District Court for the Northern District of Texas and was found guilty by the jury. The District Court then conducted a separate sentencing hearing pursuant to § 3593.

Jury findings at the sentencing hearing

As an initial matter, the sentencing jury was required to find that Jones had the requisite intent. The jury concluded that Jones intentionally killed his victim and intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury resulting in her death. Even on a finding of intent, the defendant was not death-eligible unless the sentencing jury also found beyond a reasonable doubt at least one statutory aggravating factor set forth at § 3592.

The jury unanimously found two such statutory aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. Jones caused the death of his victim during the commission of another crime (§ 3592(c)(1)).
2. Jones committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner (§ 3592(c)(6)).

The jury also unanimously found two nonstatutory aggravating factors had been proved:

• victim impact evidence
• victim vulnerability evidence

Mitigating factors

The jury considered mitigating factors. At least one juror found 10 of the 11 mitigating factors that Jones proposed and seven jurors wrote in a factor Jones had not raised on the Special Findings Form.

Mitigating factors listed on the Special Findings Form

The mitigating factors that the jury found, as set forth on the Special Findings Form (with the number of jurors that found for each factor in brackets), were:

• 1. That the defendant Louis Jones did not have a significant prior criminal record. [6]
• 2. That the defendant Louis Jones’ capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the defendant’s conduct or to conform to the requirements of law was significantly impaired, regardless of whether the capacity was so impaired as to constitute a defense to the charge. [2]
• 3. That the defendant Louis Jones committed the offense under severe mental or emotional disturbance. [1]
• 4. That the defendant Louis Jones was subjected to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as a child (and was deprived of sufficient parental protection that he needed). [4]
• 5. That the defendant Louis Jones served his country well in Desert Storm, Grenada, and for 22 years in the United States Army. [8]
• 6. That the defendant Louis Jones is likely to be a well-behaved inmate. [3]
• 7. That the defendant Louis Jones is remorseful for the crime he committed. [4]
• 8. That the defendant Louis Jones’ daughter will be harmed by the emotional trauma of her father’s execution. [9]
• 9. That the defendant Louis Jones was under unusual and substantial internally generated duress and stress at the time of the offense. [3]
• 10. That the defendant Louis Jones suffered from numerous neurological or psychological disorders at the time of the offense. [1]

Seven jurors added Jones’ ex-wife as a mitigating factor without further elaboration.

Recommendation and imposition of sentence

After weighing aggravating and mitigating factors, the jury unanimously recommended that Jones be sentenced to death. The District Court imposed sentence in accordance with the jury’s recommendation.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the sentence.

Appeals

Supreme Court of the United States

The case reached the Supreme Court of the United States under No. 97—9361, “Louis Jones, petitioner v. United States,” on writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Supreme Court delivered its opinion on June 21, 1999.

The Supreme Court presented three questions:

1. Whether Jones was entitled to an instruction as to the effect of jury deadlock.
2. Whether there was a reasonable likelihood that the jury was led to believe Jones would receive a court-imposed sentence less than life imprisonment if the jury could not reach a unanimous sentence recommendation.
3. Whether submission to the jury of two allegedly duplicative, vague, and overbroad nonstatutory aggravating factors was harmless error.

The Supreme Court answered “no” to the first two questions. As for the third, the Court held there was no error in allowing the jury to consider the challenged factors. Assuming error arguendo, it held such error was harmless.

Jury deadlock instruction request and refusal

Jones requested the following instruction:

“In the event, after due deliberation and reflection, the jury is unable to agree on a unanimous decision as to the sentence to be imposed, you should so advise me and I will impose a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of release. … . . . . .
“In the event you are unable to agree on [a sentence of] Life Without Possibility of Release or Death, but you are unanimous that the sentence should not be less than Life Without Possibility of Release, you should report that vote to the Court and the Court will sentence the defendant to Life Without the Possibility of Release.”

The Supreme Court affirmed that the Eighth Amendment did not require the requested instruction on consequences of jury deadlock.

Jury instructions about sentencing options

The District Court instructed the jury that it had to recommend by unanimous vote:

“Based upon this consideration, you the jury, by unanimous vote, shall recommend whether the defendant should be sentenced to death, sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release, or sentenced to some other lesser sentence.
“If you unanimously conclude that the aggravating factors found to exist sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor or factors found to exist, or in the absence of any mitigating factors, that the aggravating factors are themselves sufficient to justify a sentence of death, you may recommend a sentence of death. Keep in mind, however, that regardless of your findings with respect to aggravating and mitigating factors, you are never required to recommend a death sentence.
“If you recommend the imposition of a death sentence, the court is required to impose that sentence. If you recommend a sentence of life without the possibility of release, the court is required to impose that sentence. If you recommend that some other lesser sentence be imposed, the court is required to impose a sentence that is authorized by the law. In deciding what recommendation to make, you are not to be concerned with the question of what sentence the defendant might receive in the event you determine not to recommend a death sentence or a sentence of life without the possibility of release. That is a matter for the court to decide in the event you conclude that a sentence of death or life without the possibility of release should not be recommended.”

The decision forms described the following recommendations:

“DECISION FORM A. “We the jury have determined that a sentence of death should not be imposed because the government has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the required intent on the part of the defendant or a required aggravating factor.”
“DECISION FORM B. “Based upon consideration of whether the aggravating factor or factors found to exist sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor or factors found to exist, or in the absence of any mitigating factors, whether the aggravating factor or factors are themselves sufficient to justify a sentence of death, we recommend, by unanimous vote, that a sentence of death be imposed.”
“DECISION FORM C. “We the jury recommend, by unanimous verdict, a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release.”
“DECISION FORM D. “We the jury recommend some other lesser sentence.”

Sentencing

Jones was sentenced to death following the jury’s unanimous recommendation. The Supreme Court affirmed the verdict and sentence.

Execution details and last statements

Jones was executed by lethal injection in Texas on March 18, 2003. He was executed at the federal penitentiary near Terre Haute, 7:08 a.m. was the time he was declared dead.

Last meal

• Whole fruit: nectarines, peaches and plums

Final words and statements

Jones looked toward the witness room and mouthed the words: “I love you.”

Asked if he had a last statement, Jones said:

“Although the Lord hath chastised me forth, he hath not given me over unto death.”

He then began singing a hymn with the refrain:

“In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever ’til my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.”

The hymn was identified as “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.”

A statement later read by his attorney included:

“I accept full responsibility for the pain, anguish and the suffering I caused the McBrides for having taken Tracie from them.”

Jones also wrote in connection with clemency a letter to President Bush stating:

“By succombing [sic] to my temptations,” “I destroyed the family of Specialist Fourth Class Tracie Joy McBride, as well as my own.”

Jones typed a letter from death row that included:

“Mr. President,” “there are many, many lusts of this world which we, as mortals, are tempted by.... Regardless of how little or how much any temptation influenced me, I could have been just as strong a man morally as I was a good soldier....”
He signed it: “Humbly, Louis Jones Jr., Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Retired.”

Other details

Victim

• Private Tracie Joy McBride — kidnapped at gunpoint and sexually assaulted; bludgeoned to death with a tire iron

Confession and location of body

Jones confessed to killing Tracie and led police to her body under a bridge about 27 miles from San Angelo.

Military service and related claims

Jones served a total of 22 years in the Army as an airborne ranger and retired as a Master Sergeant. He had combat duty in Grenada and the Gulf War. His defense and appeals claimed post-traumatic stress and Gulf War Syndrome from exposure to nerve gas and other toxins.

Administrative and legal timing details included in the record

• The Supreme Court refused to block the execution on Monday, and President Bush denied clemency; the execution proceeded the next morning.
• Jones’ appellate attorney was identified as Timothy Floyd.
• Assistant U.S. Attorney identified as Tanya Pierce.

Statements by others (verbatim where provided)

Irene McBride said:

“Nobody’s going to win. . . .All this is going to be is justice,”
and later: “God will judge Louis Jones. I can’t right now. Everybody has a right to an opinion, but until people have been there they can’t judge us.”

Stacie McBride said:

“He did not even acknowledge us,”
“The whole thing was very self-serving. It was unbelievable.”
and also: “I don’t want him living in a prison where he can watch cable TV, lift weights, go to the library, eat, sleep, talk with his family,”
“Where was the mercy when Tracie pleaded? . . . She did nothing. . . . he refused to have any lenience on her.”

A minister, Rev. J. Jason Fry, wrote:

“The federal government is poised to execute this one who clearly suffers from this service-related ailment, which likely played a role in his criminal act,”
“At the very same time the same government is sending other men and women into harm’s way, to the same region to defend our country, as Louis Jones has done.”