Thomas Dean Stevens

Case record: Thomas Dean Stevens

Background

Thomas Dean Stevens was a serviceman stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. On the night of September 4, 1977, he participated with Christopher A. Burger, another serviceman stationed at Fort Stewart, in taking control of a taxicab and killing the cab driver.

The offence

Roger Earl Honeycutt, an Army private stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, drove a taxicab for the D & M Cab Company on the night of September 4, 1977. Honeycutt picked up Appellant Thomas Dean Stevens and his co-indictee, Christopher A. Burger, after the two soldiers called for a cab.

On the night of September 4, 1977, Stevens and Burger initially called for a Shuman Company cab. The cab driver who responded was accompanied by a friend, which Stevens and Burger considered an obstacle to their plans, so they did not take the Shuman cab. Instead, they called another cab company, D & M Cab. Honeycutt responded, picking them up at Fort Stewart.

Not long after leaving Fort Stewart, Stevens and Burger brandished two weapons: a knife and a knife sharpening steel. They commandeered Honeycutt’s cab and forced Honeycutt to give them whatever money he carried. The amount was less than $20.

Stevens forced Honeycutt out of his clothes and into the back seat of the cab. Stevens forced Honeycutt to engage in oral and anal sodomy. After Stevens was through sodomizing Honeycutt, Stevens and Burger tied Honeycutt up with a microphone cord and locked him in the taxicab’s trunk.

Stevens and Burger proceeded to the Savannah airport where they had agreed to meet their friend and squad leader, James Robert Botsford. Botsford testified that after Stevens and Burger picked him up at the airport, Stevens recounted the events that had taken place earlier that evening, including the commandeering of the cab, the sodomizing of Honeycutt, and the confining of the bound Honeycutt within the trunk of the cab. Botsford testified that Stevens and Burger repeatedly called out to Honeycutt and Honeycutt responded from within the car’s trunk. Botsford also testified that when Botsford asked what Stevens and Burger planned to do with the cabdriver, Stevens snickered: "Maybe we should kill him."

Botsford tried to persuade Stevens and Burger not to kill Honeycutt. Botsford asked Stevens and Burger to free the cabdriver, telling them that he would not mention what they had done if they would only let the driver live. Botsford testified that because Stevens and Burger told him they would let Honeycutt go, Botsford thought he had succeeded in getting them to abandon the notion of murder. Botsford chose not to report Stevens and Burger on that night.

After dropping Botsford off at Fort Stewart, Stevens and Burger continued to drive around in the stolen taxi. They drove to Jesup where police officers saw the D & M taxicab at a convenience store near the murder site. Two men were observed in the taxi. Stevens and Burger then drove to a borrow pit or pond. There, they removed a CB radio from the stolen taxicab and wiped their fingerprints from the vehicle. Burger started the taxicab and drove it into the pond. Confined within the trunk, Honeycutt drowned.

From time to time during the drive, Stevens and Burger shouted to the victim Roger Honeycutt: "Are you still back there?" Botsford heard the reply from the trunk: "Yes, sir."

After driving to pick up Botsford, Stevens and Burger admitted to Botsford that the cab was stolen and that the driver had been robbed, sodomized, and placed in the trunk. Stevens showed Botsford the weapons. After dropping Botsford off at Fort Stewart, Stevens and Burger appeared to Botsford to have agreed to let the driver go and leave the cab beside the road. They later drove to Jack’s Mini Mart in Jesup for milk and sandwiches.

Later, when a police car appeared to be following them, they decided they had to get out of the car. Burger drove to a pond in a wooded area. They wiped their fingerprints off the car, and Stevens removed the CB radio. The radio was later recovered by police from Burger’s mother-in-law’s automobile. Burger drove the automobile into the pond, leaping free before it went in. Stevens and Burger looked back and saw the automobile sinking. Roger Honeycutt, bound in the trunk, drowned. Burger and Stevens returned to Fort Stewart, paying another taxi an $11 fare for the return trip.

The next day Stevens and Burger inquired of Botsford whether he had said anything to authorities. Botsford said he had not. Stevens and Burger told Botsford they had freed the driver. A few days later, amid reports of the missing driver, Botsford went to authorities and gave a statement of what he knew. Burger confessed. Stevens, aware of Burger’s confession, confessed.

In his handwritten confession, Stevens stated: he had advised against killing the driver and had not known Burger was planning to drive the automobile into the pond. The car was pulled from the pond, and the victim was found in the trunk.

Numerous pieces of Honeycutt’s clothes were recovered from the route Stevens and Burger had driven. The two weapons were found in the cab. Honeycutt’s identification was found above the sun visor of the cab, and the cab was identified by its owner as the one driven by Honeycutt.

Investigation

On September 12, 1977, the United States Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) arrested Stevens. After being apprised of his rights, Stevens indicated that he wished to speak to a lawyer before making a statement. Through an appointed military lawyer, Stevens informed the CID that he did not wish to make a statement and that he did not wish to be questioned.

After it was determined that jurisdiction over Honeycutt’s murder lay with civilian rather than military authorities, Stevens and Burger were transported to the Wayne County Correctional Facility. Because of the transfer to civilian jurisdiction and custody, Stevens was no longer entitled to his military lawyer. In civilian custody, Stevens was again read his Miranda rights. Authorities in Jesup and Wayne County knew that Stevens had not given a statement to the CID, but it was unclear whether they had any reason to believe Stevens had requested a lawyer and asked not to be questioned. Stevens never mentioned those requests to the civilian authorities.

Police brought Stevens into a room where they were reviewing the statement Burger had previously given to the CID. Burger’s statement was read aloud to Burger in Stevens’ presence. When the statement depicted the murder as Stevens’ idea, Stevens began to protest. Police stopped Stevens’ attempts to interrupt, telling Stevens that he should remain quiet because he had not wanted to speak earlier. Stevens was also told that if he so desired, he could make a statement after the police finished going over Burger’s statement. Stevens chose to make such a statement, was again read his Miranda rights, and thereafter made a statement introduced at his trial.

Arrest

Stevens was arrested by the United States Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on September 12, 1977.

Trial

A jury in Wayne County, Georgia convicted Stevens of capital murder and sentenced him to death on January 26, 1978.

On direct appeal, the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Stevens’ conviction but vacated his death sentence due to defects in the jury charge.

A second sentencing trial concluded on July 19, 1979, again imposing the death sentence. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the sentence.

During the habeas corpus appeal, Stevens challenged jury instructions, including an instruction that stated: "Every person is presumed to be of sound mind and discretion. The acts of a person of sound mind and discretion are presumed to be the product of the person's will. A person of sound mind and discretion is presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his acts.... ... Intent is always a question for the jury, and is ordinarily ascertained by acts and conduct. Intent may be shown in many ways, provided the jury finds that it existed from the evidence produced before you. It may be inferred from the proven circumstances, or by acts and conduct, or it may be presumed when it is the natural and necessary consequences [sic] of the act. Trial Tr. at 396-97, State v. Stevens, No. 77-1641 (Wayne County Super.Ct. Jan. 1978)."

The conviction and sentencing proceedings included consideration of evidence including Stevens’ confession and the testimony of Botsford.

Sentencing

Stevens was sentenced to death.

The state’s evidence included Stevens’ confession. In his handwritten confession Stevens stated that he had advised against killing the driver and had not known Burger was planning to drive the automobile into the pond.

The New York Times described the execution and the circumstances of the killing as: "Man Is Executed in Georgia For Killing a Soldier in 1977".

The following content appeared in that account: "A man was executed tonight for killing a fellow soldier in 1977 by locking him in the trunk of a car that was pushed into a water-filled pit. Thomas Dean Stevens, 36, was sentenced to death in the electric chair for the killing of Roger Honeycutt, a soldier who was moonlighting as a cab driver. Mr. Honeycutt was robbed of $16, sodomized and locked in the trunk of his cab. He drowned when Mr. Stevens and another man pushed the car into the pit. The United States Supreme Court tonight unanimously denied two requests for stays of execution and two applications to hear an appeal, said a Supreme Court spokeswoman, Kathy Arberg. Mr. Stevens' lawyers had argued that their client was mentally retarded and was convicted with perjured testimony. Tommy Morris, acting chairman of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, said the panel concluded Mr. Stevens "was a willing and active participant who knew the consequences of his actions.""

Appeals

Stevens’ case reached the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Stevens v. Zant, Warden Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center, was a federal appeal from the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The appellate decision described procedural steps including:

• Stevens filed a petition for habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
• The district court denied the petition, concluding that nine claims raised did not warrant relief.
• On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of the petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The federal habeas proceeding addressed, among other matters, Stevens’ ineffective assistance of counsel claim regarding trial counsel, Robert Smith. Stevens argued counsel was constitutionally ineffective because counsel: "(i) unreasonably failed to move to suppress Stevens' confession on the ground that it was obtained in violation of Stevens' rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments; and (ii) unreasonably failed to present evidence in mitigation of the sentence, despite the existence and availability of such evidence."

The appellate decision also addressed the Sandstrom claim and harmless error analysis. It described the challenged jury instruction and discussed whether a reasonable likelihood existed that the jury applied the instruction in a way that violated the Constitution. The appellate decision also discussed procedural default under O.C.G.A. § 9-14-51 and the refusal to consider two documents at an evidentiary hearing held on October 5, 1988.

The handwritten confession included the following passage quoted in the appellate decision: "Chris [Burger] was going to drive the car into the pond and I said do you think we should and he said yes I said I wouldn't do it and he said it always harder the first I didn't think he was going to but he got in the car drove it into the pond and jumped out of the car before it went in he took off running so I took off running too We stopped and Looked back and the car was sinking so we took off running. [sic] State Ex. 29, State v. Stevens, No. 77-1641 (Wayne County Super.Ct. July 1979)."

The appellate decision also included quotations from legal principles on procedural default and harmless error, including:

• "In all cases in which a state prisoner has defaulted his federal claims in state court pursuant to an independent and adequate state procedural rule, federal habeas review of the claims is barred unless the prisoner can demonstrate cause for the default and actual prejudice as a result of the alleged violation of federal law, or demonstrate that failure to consider the claims will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Coleman v. Thompson, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 2565, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991); see also Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 87, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 2506-07, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977); McCoy v. Newsome, 953 F.2d 1252, 1258 (11th Cir.1992), petition for cert. filed, No. 91-7860 (U.S. Apr. 6, 1992)."

And on harmless error:

• "whether it appears 'beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict obtained.' " (Yates v. Evatt, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1884, 1892, 114 L.Ed.2d 432 (1991) (quoting Chapman, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 828, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967)).)

The appellate decision affirmed the district court’s denial of the habeas petition.

Outcome

The execution occurred in Georgia by electrocution on June 29, 1993.

The appellate decision concluded: "Accordingly, we AFFIRM the denial of the petition for a writ of habeas corpus."

Other details

Stevens and Burger obtained weapons including a knife and knife sharpening steel. They wiped fingerprints from the car and removed the CB radio from the stolen taxicab.

Police later recovered the CB radio from the automobile of Burger’s mother-in-law.

The victim was identified above the sun visor of the cab, and the cab was identified by its owner as the one driven by Honeycutt.

Stevens insisted that his father, who was seriously ill, not be contacted or told about the trial; after the first trial, counsel spoke to Stevens’ father. The appellate decision also referenced Terry Stevens insisting he was never contacted by trial counsel; the district court found him lacking in credibility.

At the evidentiary hearing held on October 5, 1988, the appellate decision described that two declarations by Dr. Joseph W. O’Haire were excluded by the trial court. The appellate decision described that the declarations were made nearly two months prior to the hearing and that counsel decided to use the first declaration in lieu of Dr. O’Haire’s attendance as early as one week prior to the hearing. The State argued it was never provided with a copy of the declarations and was not even made aware of the documents until the federal habeas hearing.

The appellate decision described that Stevens’ trial counsel was guided by fears related to Dr. Joseph W. O’Haire’s testimony and cross-examination. It also described that Stevens’ trial counsel chose not to call Dr. O’Haire due to fear that the State could portray Stevens as the leader and mastermind of Honeycutt’s murder.

The appellate decision noted that Stevens was given leave to amend his petition to include a Fifth Amendment claim at an evidentiary hearing. That petition was later dismissed without prejudice because Stevens failed to exhaust state remedies on this new Fifth Amendment claim.