Walter Mickens

Case record: Walter Mickens

Background

Walter Mickens was convicted of capital murder in the killing of Timothy Jason Hall and was sentenced to death. His execution in Virginia occurred by lethal injection on June 12, 2002.

Mickens had prior convictions in 1974 of robbery and sodomy. He was imprisoned and then paroled, and in 1980 he was convicted again of robbery and sodomy.

The offence

Timothy Jason Hall was seventeen years old. Hall’s body was found on March 30, 1992, by Chris Basford, who was walking along the James River in Newport News near an abandoned construction company building.

Hall’s body was nude from the waist down except for athletic socks with orange stripes. The body was face down on a mattress beneath the abandoned building, with the legs spread apart. Public hairs were recovered from the buttocks of Hall’s body. There were bloody “transfer” stains on the outsides of his thighs, and a white liquid substance close to his anus.

The autopsy by the medical examiner concluded that Hall had been subjected to 143 separate “sharp force injuries.” The examiner concluded that 25 of the wounds would have been fatal. The examiner opined that Hall probably lived for more than a half-hour after the attack before bleeding to death.

Hall was last seen alive on March 28, 1992. That evening, Hall gave young Raheem Gordon a ride to the nearby Towers apartment building where Gordon attended a party. Hall intended to go to the same party later, but he never appeared. Hall was wearing a pair of Gordon’s Nike brand “Cross Trainer” athletic shoes.

After Hall’s murder, Mickens’s identity as the killer was supported by DNA evidence and other circumstantial evidence. Mickens’s DNA matched that in semen found at the scene, and he allegedly confessed to the crime to an investigator and to a fellow inmate. Mickens’s identity was also supported by shoes and pubic hair evidence.

Investigation

On the evening of April 4, 1992, five days after Hall’s body was found, Officer D. A. Seals and Detective Dallas Mitchell responded to a complaint about an African-American male riding a bicycle who had assaulted a juvenile.

Seals and Mitchell soon found Mickens riding a bicycle in the parking area at the abandoned construction company building. When Seals displayed his badge and approached Mickens, Mickens fled on his bicycle. Seals and Mitchell tracked Mickens down as he was being detained by other officers. Mickens was arrested at 7:00 p.m. on charges involving the juvenile.

After being given Miranda warnings, Mickens agreed to talk. Detective Mitchell told Mickens that he knew Mickens had killed Hall without telling him how Hall had been murdered. Mickens denied involvement in Hall’s murder but said: “You didn’t find any knife on me, did you?”

On the next morning, the police obtained warrants charging Mickens with the murder and attempted sodomy of Hall. When Officer Seals handed Mickens the warrants, Mickens said: “I accept the warrants, I accept the charges.” Seals asked Mickens what he meant by that, and Mickens responded: “Mother f___r, if I told you I accept the warrants that means I’m guilty, don’t it?”

Arrest

on April 4, 1992, on the charges involving the juvenile.

Trial

The Commonwealth offered evidence through expert witnesses regarding pubic hairs, the mattress, and DNA analysis.

Pubic hairs removed from Hall’s buttocks were from an African-American and were alike in “all identifiable microscopic characteristics” to the pubic hair sample taken from Mickens, who is African-American. Tissue attached at the roots of the hairs indicated the hairs had been forcibly removed, possibly by rubbing of genitals against Hall’s buttocks.

The stain on the mattress cover was of human sperm. DNA analysis (RFLP type) revealed that Hall could not have produced the sperm. Mickens’s DNA pattern matched the DNA pattern in the sperm. The approximate percentages of the population that could have deposited the sperm were one in 27,000 Caucasians, one in 6,000 African-Americans, and one in 2,000 Hispanics.

The jury found Mickens guilty of the capital murder of Hall, specifically, murder during the commission of, or following, an attempted forcible sodomy. Mickens was sentenced to death, and the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed.

In addition to Hall’s murder, a juror issue and a defense counsel issue were raised on appeal. Mickens raised the issue that one juror’s brother had been murdered. The appellate court refused the claim because the juror testified during voir dire that he would be impartial during the trial.

Mickens also appealed on the grounds that his trial attorney, Brian Saunders, suffered from a conflict of interest. Saunders had represented Hall on assault charges prior to Hall’s death. The same judge that dismissed the charges against Hall because of his death then appointed Saunders to represent Mickens. Mickens did not learn that Saunders had represented Hall until his new attorney discovered the information.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that Saunders’s prior representation of the murder victim did not create a conflict of interest that prejudiced Mickens’s defense. The Fourth Circuit rejected Mickens’s claims and affirmed his death sentence.

A second jury later returned a death sentence following proceedings that required resentencing.

Sentencing

First death sentence and reversal

In 1993, Mickens’s death sentence was overturned by the United States Supreme Court on grounds that the jury should have been instructed that if sentenced to life imprisonment, Mickens was not eligible for parole.

A second jury returned a death sentence.

At the new sentencing hearing, Mickens presented evidence in mitigation. The jury was told that Mickens’s mother raised her children with financial assistance of her grandfather. The jury heard testimony that while Mickens was imprisoned, he was a good inmate. A correctional officer testified that he completed his chores and participated in a “Literacy Incentive Program that teaches inmates mathematics, spelling, and reading.” The correctional official also testified that Mickens would be housed with inmates with similar sentences if the jury sentenced him to life imprisonment rather than death.

The prison counselor testified that Mickens participated in counseling sessions and was cooperative.

Despite the mitigation evidence, the jury again sentenced Mickens to death.

Mickens had been on death row since August 20, 1993.

Executive clemency position

Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner declined to intervene. In a press release statement about the scheduled execution, Warner stated: “On June 3, 1993, Walter Mickens, Jr. was found guilty of the capital murder of seventeen-year old Timothy Jason Hall in the commission of, or subsequent to, attempted forcible sodomy. Mickens was sentenced to death. The trial, verdict, and sentence have been reviewed in detail by numerous state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Supreme Court of the United States. After a thorough review of the Petition for Clemency and the judicial opinions regarding this case, I decline to intervene.”

A clemency request had been filed, and the U.S. Supreme Court had blocked execution previously and later ruled on conflict of interest grounds.

Appeals

Mickens pursued appeals in multiple courts, including the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court of the United States vacated his death sentence and ordered that he be granted a new sentencing hearing.

Mickens also filed additional appeals. He raised, among other issues, that one juror’s brother had been murdered and that his counsel had a conflict of interest due to Brian Saunders’s prior representation of Timothy Hall. The appellate court refused the juror brother claim due to voir dire assurances of impartiality. The Fourth Circuit rejected the conflict-of-interest claim.

The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the conviction and death sentence, and the proceedings led to the execution on June 12, 2002.

Outcome

Walter Mickens was executed by lethal injection in Virginia on June 12, 2002.

His final meal was selected from the prison’s regular menu, which included baked chicken, rice and carrots.

His final words were: “I would just like to say in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and Jesus' name, I forgive Gov. Warner for his decision and whoever I may have hurt or caused harm to, I pray that you can forgive me. I am truly sorry for the pain and suffering that I have caused. And to all my brothers and sisters in Christ, I wish you well.”

Other details

Victim, associates, and places

• Timothy Jason Hall was found in Newport News, Virginia by Chris Basford.
• Hall’s body was located by an abandoned construction company building near the James River.
• Hall had been living with Raheem Gordon, who was fourteen, and Gordon’s father in an apartment at 28th and Washington Streets in Newport News, Virginia.
• The Towers apartment building and a nearby convenience store were involved in events on March 28, 1992.

Shoes

Michael Jacobs was later found wearing the Nike brand “Cross Trainer” shoes that Hall had been wearing when Raheem Gordon had last seen Hall alive. Jacobs testified that he had bought the shoes from Mickens for $5.00 the previous week (the week Hall’s body was found).

Inmate and confession testimony

Tyrone Brister testified that while Mickens was in a holding cell at the courthouse on March 26, 1993, Brister asked Mickens why he was there. Mickens responded: “They said I stabbed somebody 140 something times in the head.”

Brister testified that Mickens then lowered his voice and said: “which I did.”

Brister further testified that Mickens told him that “they” said he also sodomized the victim and stole his sneakers, and that Mickens again lowered his voice and said: “which I did.”

Witness testimony about prior robbery

Ruby Bunn testified about an earlier robbery in which Mickens robbed Bunn of $11 in her classroom on Feb. 7, 1974. The child in her classroom was not physically hurt.

In 1993, Bunn testified at Mickens’s sentencing hearing. Bunn identified Mickens in court and described that he walked into her classroom holding up a knife, saying: “I want your wallet,” and pointing it at her classmate’s head. She also described how he continued to stare at her and the class, and then backed out of the room.

Prosecutor’s and jurors’ statements (verbatim quotes)

Howard E. Gwynn stated: “If you don't ask for it for Walter Mickens, when do you ask for it?” “If not this person, then who?”

Laura Hare wrote in a letter: “I lose my ability to rationalize when I think about the first wound, the screaming, the pain, the fear, the hurt and unknowing that my brother went through,”

and she added: “Please tap a pen 143 times and imagine what must have been involved with stabbing someone 143 times.”

Leopold Schoch stated: “Timothy Hall,” he says in the living room of his Newport News home. “One hundred and forty-three times.”

Ann Redman stated: “Every time I pick up the paper, I say, 'Look, here it is again,' ” and: “It was definitely a conflict of interest” and: “It was awful; it made me sick,”

Robert Wagner stated: “I was amazed by it,” and later stated: “Is that fairness? The system failed Walter Mickens in this case.”

Other mentioned individual and case matters

David Seals discussed his investigation and described being convinced that if the killer was not caught, “we’ll have another body.”

A separate mention stated that Mickens was later charged in the killing of Jonathan Woskobunik, 19, but the case was dropped because there wasn’t enough evidence, and no one else was charged in that matter.

Execution location and timing details in the provided text

Mickens entered the death house at Greensville Correctional Center and died 14 minutes later. The scheduled lethal injection time referenced in the provided material was 9 p.m. (EST) and the scheduled execution date was June 12, 2002.