Michael James Perry

Case information

• Name: Michael James Perry
• TDCJ number: 999444
• Date of birth: 04/09/1982
• Age: 28 at execution; 24 referenced in writings included in the provided material
• Education: 12 years
• Occupation: Laborer
• Native county: Harris
• County of offense: Montgomery
• Date of offense: 10/24/2001
• Gender: Male
• Race: White
• Hair color: Brown
• Eye color: Brown
• Height: 5' 09"
• Weight: 132
• Prior prison record: None
• Co-defendant: Jason Aaron Burkett
• Trial:
  • Conviction: capital murder
  • Sentence: death

Timeline

• 10/24/2001 — Michael Perry killed Sandra Stotler and, later the same night, was involved in the murders of Adam Stotler and Jeremy Richardson.
• 01/15/2002 — A Montgomery County grand jury indicted Perry for capital murder.
• 02/24/2003 — A Montgomery County jury convicted Perry of capital murder.
• 02/28/2003 — The trial judge sentenced Perry to death.
• 12/15/2004 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Perry’s conviction and sentence.
• 12/29/2004 — Perry filed an original application for a state writ of habeas corpus.
• 10/11/2005 — The U.S. Supreme Court refused Perry’s petition for a writ of certiorari.
• 03/26/2006 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied state habeas relief.
• 03/28/2007 — Perry filed a petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus.
• 02/22/2008 — A U.S. district court denied habeas relief and issued final judgment.
• 03/11/2009 — The U.S. Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) affirmed the denial of habeas relief.
• 08/06/2009 — Perry filed a petition for certiorari review with the U.S. Supreme Court.
• 11/09/2009 — The Supreme Court denied Perry’s petition for certiorari review.
• 12/16/2009 — The trial court scheduled Perry’s execution for Thursday, July 1, 2010.
• 06/22/2010 — Perry filed a motion in state district court for stay.
• 06/22/2010 — Perry filed in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for postconviction relief.
• 06/23/2010 — Perry filed a motion in the state trial court to reset the execution date.
• 06/24/2010 — The trial court denied Perry’s motions to vacate or modify execution date.
• 06/24/2010 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Perry’s successive application.
• 07/01/2010 — Perry was executed by lethal injection in Texas.

The offence

On 10/24/2001, Perry and Jason Burkett burglarized Sandra Stotler’s home in Montgomery County, Texas. Perry admitted that he and Burkett decided they needed to get “a vehicle, or two vehicles,” and that they planned to steal the Camaro and Isuzu Rodeo belonging to the parents of another friend, Adam Stotler. Perry used a 12-gauge shotgun during the killing of 50-year-old Sandra Stotler, who was described as a nurse at Conroe Regional Medical Center.

Murders described in the material

• Sandra Stotler (50) was shot with a shotgun at her home. Perry’s confession described shooting her in the side once and then shooting her again. Perry described loading her body into the back of a truck with blankets and sheets and rolling her into the lake at Crater Lake.
• Perry’s materials also described that later that night Perry and Burkett led Adam Stotler and Jeremy Richardson to a wooded area; Perry’s confession described Burkett shooting Jeremy and then Adam.
• Perry was tried only for Sandra Stotler’s murder.

Vehicles and disposal

Perry’s confession and related summaries described:

• Stealing a Camaro and driving away in stolen vehicles.
• Driving to Crater Lake.
• Covering the body with sheets, sticks, and brush, and rolling her into the water.

Investigation and arrest

Discovery and search

The material described that Sandra Stotler’s body was found floating in a lake and that police began efforts to identify her. It also described deputies checking her home and finding blood, leading to a manhunt for Jason Burkett and Michael Perry and for an Isuzu Rodeo.

Traffic stop, chase, and apprehension

On October 30, 2001, the material described that:

• Perry and Burkett were found in a stolen Isuzu Rodeo at a truck stop.
• A vehicle chase occurred after an attempt to stop them for traffic violations.
• The vehicle hit a corporal during the fleeing, and the officer shot out the back passenger tire.
• The vehicle crashed into a nearby store.
• Perry and Burkett ran to a nearby apartment complex, and police arrested them while they were hiding.
• The shotgun used to kill Sandra Stotler was found where they were arrested.
• A detective took a statement from Perry after a Miranda warning, and Perry admitted to the crime in that statement reduced to writing at a hospital.

Statements about police contact and Miranda

Multiple parts of the material described circumstances related to interrogation:

• Detective Mace testified that Perry began making incriminating statements when Mace introduced himself and before Mace informed Perry of his rights; Perry’s first statement was quoted as: "I know it's the needle and I want to save everybody the trouble and just confess."
• Perry testified that he gave statements because he was frightened and in a distressed condition after being injured and in cold and tired circumstances, and he testified that police continued questioning after he claimed he invoked his right to counsel.
• Paramedic testimony included that appellant had a bandaged arm and was cold, shivering, and had a “big knot on the back of appellant's head” possibly from contact during apprehension.
• Blair testified that Perry did not ask for a lawyer at the arrest scene and that Perry did not ask for a lawyer; the paramedic testified that Perry told Detective Mace in the ambulance that: "I know I have a lawyer, but I am going to save us both a lot of time."

Confession and trial testimony

Confession admitted into evidence (guilt/innocence phase)

The material preserved verbatim parts of the confession that were admitted into evidence at the guilt/innocence phase. The confession included details, including the plan, route, and shootings. Verbatim portions of the confession included the following:

“Last week, the week of October 22-26, my friend, Jason Burkett, and I decided we needed to get a vehicle, or two vehicles. We both know a younger white male [the burglary victim's son], known to us as Adam Stotler whose parents have a lot of money. They also have a newer Camaro and Isuzu Rodeo. On Wednesday 10-24-01 Jason and I made a plan that we were going to ask to spend the night with Adam at his house, and we were going to take the Camaro in the middle of the night while Adam and his mom was [sic] sleeping. We went to Adam's house at about 7 pm on Wednesday 10-24-01. Jason was driving his girlfriend, Kristen Ranel's, blue Chevy truck, and I was riding in the passenger seat. We had a 12 gauge shotgun with us. Jason and I got to Adams [sic] house, and his mom told us that Adam was not home, that he was at the skate park and would be home around 9 pm. Jason and I left in the truck, but before we got out of the subdivision, Jason said that it would be easier to get the car with only one person home. Jason and I then made a plan that Jason would knock on the front door, and I would sneak in the back door, through the garage with the shotgun. We went to Adam's house on foot and left Kristen's truck down the road. I walked around to the side of the house through the garage, and Jason knocked on the front door and asked to use the phone. When I heard Jason talking on the phone, I went into the house through the back door in the garage. Once in the house, I hid in the laundry room between the kitchen and garage. I then knocked on the back door, and when Adam's mom came to the back door, I shot her one time in the side near her back with the shotgun. She fell to the floor, and I dropped the shotgun. She then moved or tried to get up or something, and I grabbed the shotgun and shot her one more time. She fell to the floor in front of the laundry room and garage, back door. Jason freaked out and ran to the front door and opened the door. We calmed down a little and grabbed the blankets and sheet off of the bed in the bedroom near the kitchen and put the blankets and sheet over her because we did not want to look at her. Jason ran and got Kristen's truck and brought it back to Adam's house. Jason backed the truck into the garage, and we dragged Adam's mom's body and the blankets out into the garage, where we loaded her into the back of the truck with the blankets and sheet. I could not find the keys to the Camaro, and I remembered that the inspection sticker was expired, and Adam's mom never drove it. Jason then got into the drivers [sic] side of the truck and I got in the passenger seat, and Jason drove to an area he called Crater Lake.”

The confession continued describing how Burkett tried to open the tailgate and back the truck to slide the body out, and then rolled the body into the water, covered it with sheets, and drove to pick up Kristen. It also described later driving to the subdivision, waiting for Adam and a friend, and the shooting sequence that Perry described.

Perry’s defense at trial

Perry testified in his defense and claimed that his confession was not true and that it had been coerced by police and physically intimidated into implicating himself. The jury did not accept his account.

Other verbatim quotations admitted at trial

The material included verbatim exchanges during testimony. For example, during guilt/innocence proceedings, it included:

• Detective Blair testimony exchange:

“Q. [PROSECUTION]: And how does [appellant] respond when Detective Mace introduces himself?
A. [BLAIR]: He-he told him he knew what was going on, that he was-it was going to be the needle or he was going to get the needle and he was just going to make it easy on everybody and kind of started-we were, you know-I didn't shoot-he said that he didn't shoot [the victim's son]--
Q. Stop, stop, stop.
A. Yes, sir. Sorry.
Q. Let's back up. Strike that, please.”

• Another witness testimony exchange:

“Q. [PROSECUTION]: Okay. And what were you awakened by?
A. [LAZRINE]: Officers at my door.
Q. Okay. And who were they looking for?
A. They were looking for [another person and appellant].
Q. Okay. And did they tell you what or do you know what-why they were looking for them?
A. Yes. They said that they were suspects for a triple homicide.”

Trial

Proceedings and evidence

• A Montgomery County jury convicted Perry of capital murder.
• The trial court sentenced Perry to death based on the jury’s answers to special issues at the punishment phase.
• The material included statements that Perry was convicted of shooting Sandra Stotler twice in the back and stealing her red Chevrolet Camaro convertible; it also described the jury heard evidence related to multiple deaths during other phases, while Perry was charged only with Sandra Stotler’s murder.

Punishment phase

At sentencing, the jury found:

• Perry posed a continuing threat to society.
• There were not sufficient mitigating circumstances to warrant a life sentence. The trial court sentenced Perry to death.

Sentencing and last meal

• Last meal request: three bacon, egg, cheese omelets; three chicken cheese enchiladas; three each of Pepsi, Coke and Dr. Pepper.

Appeals and post-conviction

Direct appeal (Texas Court of Criminal Appeals)

• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Perry’s conviction and sentence.
• The opinion was delivered December 15, 2004.

Habeas and federal review

• Perry v. State, 158 S.W.3d 438 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004) (direct appeal).
• Perry v. Quarterman, 314 Fed. Appx. 663 (5th Cir. 2009) (habeas).
• The U.S. Supreme Court refused certiorari on 10/11/2005 and denied certiorari on 11/09/2009.

Habeas content described in material (COA)

The Fifth Circuit denied a request for a certificate of appealability after addressing:

• Claims about ineffective assistance of counsel during sentencing proceedings.
• Alleged Brady violations regarding potentially exculpatory evidence.
• A challenge to the Texas mitigation instruction as applied. The conclusion in the material included that the request was denied.

Outcome

Perry was executed by lethal injection in Texas on July 1, 2010. The material described his last statement in multiple places and included the final statement verbatim.

“I want to start off by saying I want everyone to know that’s involved in this atrocity that they are forgiven by me.”

“Mom, I love you. I’m coming home, Dad. I’m coming home.”

The material also included statements quoted at other times before or during the execution:

“I want to start off by saying and letting everyone involved in this atrocity that they’re all forgiven by me.”

“Mom, I love you,”

“I’m coming home, Dad.”

“I’m coming home.”

Other details

Facts used in the appeals material (statements and legal issues)

The direct appeal opinion included multiple points of error raised by Perry and determinations:

• Overruled points of error one through seven.
• The opinion addressed admission of evidence, including cross-examination about unadjudicated misconduct for impeachment; admissibility of testimony about involvement in other murders; and denial of an Article 38.23(a) instruction relating to voluntariness of an oral statement.
• The opinion also addressed mitigation-instruction issues and jury-instruction arguments grounded in Ring, Apprendi, and Blakely, and declined relief.

Evidence of future dangerousness and mental health history (as described)

The material included extensive descriptions of Perry’s diagnoses and history, including:

• Attention deficit disorder (ADD) diagnosed at 8 years old.
• Oppositional defiant disorder diagnosed at the end of the seventh grade.
• Conduct disorder diagnosed at the end of the eighth grade.
• Adult form described as antisocial personality disorder.
• Two admissions to a mental hospital; tested negative for bipolar disorder.
• Boys Town in Nebraska; threats made at the facility, and transfer to a locked facility for four months.
• Transfer to Casa by the Sea in Mexico, graduation from high school, leaving on his eighteenth birthday.
• Allegations in the material of stealing and attempting to pawn jewelry, stealing van and running it into a mailbox, and breaking into a neighbor’s home and tearing wallpaper and whittling moldings.
• Sentences and procedural history relating to institutional custody and mental health care described in the material.

Incidents involving drugs and alcohol (as described)

The material described that Perry was drinking heavily and taking pills, and that he was arrested on October 2, 2001 for presenting a fake prescription for 100 pills of Xanax. It also described a later incident in jail where he was unruly, had to be restrained, and tried to bite an officer restraining him.

People named in the material

• Victim: Sandra Stotler (50), described as a nurse at Conroe Regional Medical Center.
• Victim’s son (also killed): Adam Stotler, described as 16 and as 17 in some parts of the material.
• Victim’s son’s friend (also killed): Jeremy Richardson, described as 18 and as 18-year-old in parts of the material.
• Related individuals mentioned: Kristin Willis (Burkett’s girlfriend), Adam Stotler’s friend Jeremy Richardson, Jeremy’s brother Charles Richardson, Stotler’s daughter Lisa Stotler Balloun, Stotler’s mother Mary Ann Bockwich, Rosemary Jeffery (Jeremy Richardson’s mother), and others named in the material’s quoted statements and procedural descriptions.
• Prosecutor named in the material: Brett Ligon.
• Appellate specialist named in the material: Bill Delmore.
• Appeals lawyer named in the material: Jessica Mederson.
• Defense counsel named in the material: Steve Jackson.
• Jurists named in appellate narrative: Hervey, J.; Keller, PJ.; Meyers, Price, Womack, Keasler, Holcomb, Cochran, JJ.; Johnson, J. (concurred).
• Habeas panel named in the material: Edith H. Jones, Chief Judge.

Additional physical description and medical details (as described)

The material described that Perry was injured during the arrest chase; his arm injury required treatment at a hospital, and his head had a “big knot” potentially from contact with an officer, according to paramedic testimony.

Conflicting or contested claims included as facts-at-the-time in the material

Perry claimed:

• his confession was coerced and untrue.
• he was not involved in the murder and that his confession was false.
• he sought a commutation arguing he could not have killed Sandra Stotler because he was in the Montgomery County Jail at the time of death as pinpointed by the medical examiner. The material also described that courts did not agree and cleared the way for execution.