Jeffrey Motts

Case details

Jeffrey Brian Motts was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina on May 6, 2011 after being sentenced to death for strangling his cellmate, Charles "Chuck" Martin, at Perry Correctional Institution.

Motts had previously been serving two life sentences after a 1995 double murder connected to a Spartanburg County robbery.

Timeline

• April 2007 — The Supreme Court granted a competency finding to allow Motts to abandon appeals and be put to death.
• May 6, 2011 — South Carolina executed Jeffrey Motts by lethal injection at Broad River Correctional Institution; he was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. local time.
• June 4, 2008 — The trial judge ordered Motts be put to death following the conviction.
• December 5, 2005 — After an early morning argument in the cell, Motts knocked Martin unconscious and tied him up; Martin begged for his life; Motts choked Martin for five minutes.
• December 8, 2005 — Charles Martin was found dead; Motts confessed to the killing after questioning by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division officers.
• October 8, 2009 — Court-appointed examiners evaluated Motts for competency to waive his direct appeal.
• November 12, 2009 — Court-appointed examiners evaluated Motts for competency to waive his direct appeal.
• December 16, 2009 — Court-appointed examiners evaluated Motts for competency to waive his direct appeal.
• January 5, 2010 — Court-appointed examiners submitted a joint, fifteen-page report concluding Motts was competent to waive his direct appeal.
• April 29, 2010 — Circuit Court Judge D. Garrison Hill held an evidentiary hearing regarding Motts’s competency to waive his direct appeal.
• June 8, 2010 — Judge Hill issued a written order concluding Motts’s waiver met the Singleton standards and was knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made.
• March 2011 — The state Supreme Court ruled Motts could drop his appeals.
• 2007 — Motts was sentenced to death for strangling inmate Charles Martin after a verbal altercation in their cell at Perry Correctional Institution.
• 1995 — Motts killed two elderly people during a Spartanburg County robbery, for which he later received life sentences.

Background

In 1997, a Spartanburg County jury convicted Motts of the armed robbery and murder of his great-aunt and great-uncle.

The trial judge sentenced Motts to life imprisonment for each murder conviction and twenty-five years’ imprisonment for the armed robbery conviction.

Motts and his cellmate, Charles Martin, were housed together at Perry Correctional Institution in Greenville County while Motts served his sentences.

Martin was found dead in the prison while Motts was incarcerated, and Motts confessed to the killing.

The offence

Cellmate murder: Charles "Chuck" Martin

While housed at Perry Correctional Institution, Motts and Charles "Chuck" Martin were in the same cell despite asking to be kept apart due to a dispute over a stolen radio and a shank found in another inmate’s cell.

An early morning argument preceded the killing. Motts reported that he went into a rage, knocked Martin unconscious, and tied him up.

When Martin came to, Martin begged for his life. Motts said he choked Martin for five minutes.

When the cell doors opened for breakfast, Motts smoked a cigarette, ate, and then came back to his cell.

Motts dragged Martin’s body to a common area. Motts kicked Martin in the head and said, "this is what snitches get."

Motts later reported to prison guards that he had killed Martin.

Martin died as a result of asphyxia due to strangulation.

After killing Martin, Motts smoked a cigarette, ate breakfast, smoked another cigarette, and watched television.

Motts pushed the body under his bed in the cell before dragging it to a common area known as "the rock."

Before placing Martin’s body on "the rock," Motts kicked Martin and stated “this is what snitches get.”

Investigation and confession

After prison guards found Martin’s lifeless body, officers with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division initiated an investigation by questioning Motts.

During the questioning, Motts waived his Miranda rights and then confessed to the murder.

The confession occurred shortly after Motts told guards at Perry Correctional Institution where to find his body in a prison common area.

During the confession, Motts also asked investigators to tell prosecutors he was serving two life sentences and a third wasn’t going to make a difference.

Arrest and prosecution

After the guards found Martin’s body, a Greenville County grand jury indicted Motts for Martin’s murder.

Based on Motts’s prior murder convictions, the State sought the death penalty.

Trial

A jury convicted Motts of murdering his cell-mate, Charles Martin, at Perry Correctional Institution.

Statutory aggravating circumstance and recommendation

After the jury found Motts guilty of murder, the State sought to establish the statutory aggravating circumstance that the murder was committed by a person with a prior conviction for murder.

The State presented evidence regarding Motts’s 1997 convictions for murder of his great-aunt and great-uncle.

Ultimately, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder of Martin was committed by a person with a prior conviction for murder.

As a result, the jury recommended that Motts be put to death.

Evidence and testimony on the confrontation

Several witnesses at trial, including Motts, testified regarding the events surrounding Martin’s murder.

Motts was angered because Martin had lied to another inmate about Motts’s involvement in "planting" a knife in the inmate’s cell.

Motts confronted Martin during the early morning hours of December 8, 2005.

Motts described a verbal exchange escalating to a physical altercation with Motts hitting Martin in the head.

Martin fell against the wall and started shaking.

Motts picked up Martin and bound Martin’s hands and feet using strips of cloth from Motts’s bed sheets.

When Martin regained consciousness, Martin begged Motts not to hurt him.

Motts responded by choking Martin to death.

Because Martin continued to make what Motts described as a "death rattle," Motts proceeded to tie some sheets around Martin’s neck to stop this noise.

Martin died as the result of asphyxia due to strangulation.

Sentencing

Death sentence

After the jury found Motts guilty, the trial judge denied Motts’s post-trial motions and ordered on June 4, 2008 that Motts be put to death.

In 2007, Motts was sentenced to death for strangling inmate Charles Martin after a verbal altercation in their cell at Perry Correctional Institution.

Prior sentence details

The earlier Spartanburg County case involved Motts’s armed robbery and murders of his great-aunt and great-uncle.

Motts killed 79-year-old Clyde Camby and 73-year-old great-aunt Etta Osteen during the 1995 robbery.

Authorities said Motts killed the pair to get money to buy crack.

Clyde Camby was found with his pockets turned inside out.

Appeals

Motts sought to abandon his direct appeal and waive all appellate review of his conviction and death sentence.

Soon after his appellate counsel filed a notice of appeal, Motts wrote to the Supreme Court expressing his desire to relieve his appellate defender, represent himself, and waive his direct appeal.

The Supreme Court remanded the case to the circuit court to conduct a competency hearing to determine whether Motts was competent to waive his direct appeal and whether his decision to waive was knowing and voluntary.

Competency proceedings to waive appeals

Judge Larry R. Patterson and D. Garrison Hill, JJ., found Motts competent to waive his appeals after remand for a competency hearing.

Circuit Court Judge D. Garrison Hill held an evidentiary hearing and heard testimony from two court-appointed psychiatrists, the two trial attorneys who represented Motts in his 2007 capital trial, and Motts.

The court-appointed examiners included Dr. Richard Frierson, Dr. Amanda (Gowans) Salas, and Dr. Michael Gassen.

The examiners evaluated thirty-four-year old Motts on October 8, 2009, November 12, 2009, and December 16, 2009.

On January 5, 2010, the court-appointed examiners submitted a joint, fifteen-page report concluding Motts was competent to waive his direct appeal under the Singleton standard.

Judge Hill issued a lengthy written order on June 8, 2010 concluding Motts’s decision to waive his rights to direct appeal met the standards set forth in Singleton and was knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made after careful and thoughtful consideration.

After conducting its statutorily imposed review, the Supreme Court ruled in March 2011 that Motts could drop his appeals.

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s decision finding Motts competent to waive his direct appeal and held the waiver was knowing and voluntary.

The Supreme Court also affirmed the sentence of death after performing its duty of proportionality review.

The Supreme Court held that neither the circuit court nor the Supreme Court was required to order that a court-appointed psychiatrist interview Motts immediately prior to execution absent indicia of incompetency.

Verbatim quotations (competency-related and execution-related)

To my mom and grandma, happy Mother's Day. I know this is a sad one but let us remember the good times. I am finally free and at peace in heaven.

“I was the child everyone wanted their children around until I got on drugs. Drugs will destroy your life.”

“I want to warn kids of the dangers of drugs. I was the child everyone wanted their children around until I got on drugs. Drugs will destroy your life.”

“this is what snitches get.”

In his last statement read by his attorney as he lay on the gurney, Motts addressed his mother and grandmother and apologized to the victims’ families, his own family, and anyone he hurt along the way.

He also warned children away from drugs.

Outcome

Motts was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina on May 6, 2011.

He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. local time at Broad River Correctional Institution.

He had abandoned all appeals and volunteered for the death chamber.

His attorney read a last statement immediately before he died.

Motts’s last meal was pizza, fried fish, popcorn shrimp, french fries, sweet tea and cherry cheesecake.

In his last statement, Motts said he was finally free and at peace in heaven, apologized, and warned children about the dangers of drugs.

Other details

Prison and administrative details

• Motts was listed as an inmate at South Carolina Department of Corrections.
• Motts’s DOC number was 6026.
• Motts’s date of birth was 05/05/75.
• Motts’s county was Greenville.
• Motts’s date received was 12/04/07.
• The trial judge listed was G. Clary.
• The case citation given was State v. Motts, --- S.E.2d ----, 2011 WL 979731 (S.C. 2011).

Decision regarding psychiatric evaluation immediately prior to execution

The Supreme Court concluded that neither the circuit court nor the Supreme Court was required to order that a court-appointed psychiatrist interview Motts immediately prior to his execution in the absence of indicia of incompetency.

The court discussed that Motts’s counsel raised concerns that competency could change over time due to major depression and requested a re-evaluation immediately prior to execution.

At the competency hearing, Dr. Frierson acknowledged “competency can change over time” and stated he could not guarantee Motts’s depressive symptoms would not return within a few months.

Dr. Frierson admitted Motts should be evaluated by a psychiatrist prior to execution to ensure he remained competent.

Dr. Salas agreed and stated it would be a “good idea” for a psychiatrist to evaluate Motts after the notice of execution because “competency can change” and because major depressive disorder could come back.

Dr. Salas stated it would be “important for competency to be [evaluated] as close to the time” of execution.