Michael Taylor

Case overview

Michael Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder and forcible rape in 1998. He was sentenced to life in prison without probation or parole. He later received a death sentence for the murder of Shackrein Thomas.

Timeline

• 1995 — Michael Taylor killed Christine Smetzer.
• January 24, 1995 — A female student ran to two teachers and told them she had found an injured girl in a restroom; Christine Smetzer was found in a restroom stall.
• April 3, 1998 — The jury found Michael Taylor to have a prior first-degree murder conviction.
• 1998 — Michael Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder and forcible rape and sentenced to life in prison without probation or parole.
• October 3, 1999 (approximately 7:30 p.m.) — Michael Taylor placed Shackrein Thomas in a chokehold and strangled him to death.
• October 3, 1999 (just prior to the routine ten p.m. inmate “count”) — Guards were summoned and discovered Shackrein Thomas’ body.
• October 3, 1999 (approximately 8:30 p.m.) — A prison nurse came to Michael Taylor’s cell and gave him anti-depressant medication, Trazadone, which he took for the first time since he had been in the same cell with Thomas.
• October 3, 1999 (before the ten o’clock count had been completed) — Michael Taylor pushed the emergency button in his cell to call correctional officers.
• October 4, 1999 (early morning hours) — Michael Taylor freely admitted to a Department of Corrections investigator that he had strangled Thomas to death.
• October 5, 1999 — Michael Taylor again admitted to a Department of Corrections investigator that he had strangled Thomas to death and demonstrated the choke hold.
• March 6, 2003 — Michael Taylor was sentenced to death.
• 11/05/2004 — The Supreme Court of Missouri issued its opinion; the judgment was affirmed.

Background

In 1995, Michael Taylor killed Christine Smetzer, a fifteen-year-old high school freshman.

Michael Taylor was required to share a cell at Potosi Correctional Center with Shackrein Thomas. Michael Taylor had been in “the hole” for refusing to take a cell mate (“cellee”) and agreed to take a cell mate to get out of “the hole.” Taylor and Thomas were assigned to a cell together.

Shackrein Thomas was 20 and was a medium security, non-violent inmate serving five- and eight-year concurrent sentences in Potosi for stealing a cell phone and forgery of a check for $107.14. Michael Taylor and Thomas got along well, and Taylor gave his medication to Thomas, who would ingest it.

Michael Taylor was 6 weeks from his 16th birthday when he murdered Christine Smetzer and therefore was not eligible for the death penalty for that offense. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for Christine Smetzer’s killing.

The offence

Murder and forcible rape convictions (1995 incident involving Christine Smetzer)

After school on January 24, 1995, a female student ran to two teachers and told them she had found an injured girl in a restroom. The teachers investigated and found Christine Smetzer lying on her right side in the farthest stall, her head hidden behind the toilet. Michael Taylor had a juvenile record and was a special education student diagnosed with behavior disorders two years prior to the attack. He was initially supervised in a most controlled environment for behavior-disordered students but was transferred after only a few months to a regular school under a policy described as “full inclusion,” where he spent only half of his day in special classes. Less than two years after beginning Special School District services, he was given a schedule with all regular classes. Christine Smetzer was murdered one day after Michael Taylor was transferred to McCluer North High School in St. Louis County.

Michael Taylor brutally beat and raped Christine Smetzer in a bathroom at McCluer North High School. He then asphyxiated her by forcing her neck against a toilet with her face in the flushing water.

Murder of Shackrein Thomas (October 3, 1999)

At approximately 7:30 p.m. on October 3, 1999, while both men were in the same cell at Potosi Correctional Center, Michael Taylor placed Shackrein Thomas in a chokehold and strangled him to death.

Michael Taylor summoned the guards to his cell just prior to the routine ten p.m. inmate “count.” Guards discovered Shackrein Thomas’ body. The body was found on the cell floor with a bite mark in the middle of his back. Thomas’ right eye had been nearly dislodged from the eye socket. There were abrasions present to his abdomen and left cheek, and his left eye was swollen.

There was also evidence that the two men had engaged in sexual activity at some time prior to the murder.

Michael Taylor stated to a Department of Corrections investigator that his “father” from the “dark side” had instructed him to “send” Shackrein Thomas to him.

Michael Taylor later said he pushed the emergency button so that Thomas’ body could be removed because it was in his way. Officers arrived and asked Taylor what was wrong, but he did not answer. One officer opened the “chuck hole” in the cell door and told Taylor to “cuff up,” meaning that Taylor should turn around and put his hands through the opening so that restraints could be applied. Officers could see Thomas’ body lying in the cell. Taylor told the officers that his “father” made him do it. After several requests to “cuff up,” Taylor complied and was taken out of the cell.

A toxicology report showed that Thomas’ blood contained Trazadone.

According to the record, Thomas’ cause of death was asphyxiation caused by neck compression. He also suffered from a swollen left eye caused by a blunt impact and abrasions to the abdomen and left cheek.

There was a white creamy substance present between Thomas’ buttocks. An attempt was made to test the substance, but not enough DNA material was present to conduct a valid test. Later testing revealed the presence of Taylor’s DNA on the backside of Thomas’ boxer shorts.

Michael Taylor also kicked Thomas’ body out of the way so he could urinate because Thomas’ body was in front of the toilet. Taylor re-applied pressure to Thomas’ neck after noticing that he was still moving and alive. Taylor put a pillow under Thomas’ head while his body was still on the floor. Taylor then resumed reading his book, described as “Pillars of the Earth.”

Investigation and admissions

Michael Taylor stated that he was instructed by his “father” from the “dark side” to “send” Shackrein Thomas to him, and he told a Department of Corrections investigator that he knew what sending Thomas to his “father” meant that he had to do.

Later that night (actually in early morning hours of October 4, 1999) and again on October 5, 1999, Michael Taylor freely admitted to a Department of Corrections investigator that he had strangled Thomas to death. During his confession on October 5, 1999, Taylor demonstrated the choke hold with which he used to strangle Thomas.

Taylor denied that the voice commanded him to kill Thomas, but he knew what sending Thomas to his “father” meant.

Arrest

No separate arrest is described. The guards were summoned after Michael Taylor pushed the emergency button in his cell and the officers arrived to apply restraints.

Trial

Guilt phase (1998 convictions for first-degree murder and forcible rape)

In 1998, Michael Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder and forcible rape and sentenced to life in prison without probation or parole. At the time of the later cell-mate murder, he was already incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Center.

Trial for the murder of Shackrein Thomas

At trial, Michael Taylor’s defense was that he suffered from a mental disease or defect that excused him from responsibility for killing Shackrein Thomas. Expert testimony about Taylor’s mental status was presented, and the jury rejected his insanity defense.

The jury found Michael Taylor guilty of first-degree murder.

Sentencing phase

After the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury unanimously recommended a sentence of death. Judgment was entered consistent with the jury’s recommendation. Michael Taylor was sentenced to death on March 6, 2003.

Appeals

Michael Taylor appealed the conviction and sentence as the appellant in State of Missouri, Respondent v. Michael Taylor, Appellant.

The Supreme Court of Missouri listed nine points of error and affirmed the judgment.

Ruling on instructional issues

The court held that Michael Taylor failed to demonstrate prejudice when the trial court gave a required pattern instruction (Instruction No. 5 patterned after MAI-CR 3d 306.04) about not considering doctors’ statements and information received by them as evidence that the defendant did or did not commit the acts charged.

The court held it did not abuse its discretion in permitting the prosecutor to cross-examine a psychological expert Taylor called in his defense, Dr. John Rabun, regarding details of Taylor’s previous conviction, including similarities between the two murders and circumstances implying that sex might have motivated both crimes.

The court held it did not abuse its discretion in denying Taylor’s request for the mental health records of a witness, Scott Perschbacher, testified for the prosecution.

The court held Taylor failed to demonstrate he was prejudiced by three speaking objections made by the prosecutor during Taylor’s counsel’s penalty-phase closing argument.

The court held it did not abuse its discretion in not permitting jurors to take notes during the trial.

The court held it did not plainly err in not instructing the jury that it could not impose the death penalty if it found Taylor to be mentally retarded, noting that Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) was applied retroactively but that Taylor failed to request or offer a jury instruction and that the evidence offered was insufficient to support an instruction on mental retardation.

Jury selection and penalty instructions

The court held it did not abuse its discretion in sustaining the prosecutor’s motion to strike venireperson Janette Salmon for cause because she stated she would not be able to vote for the death penalty.

The court held it did not plainly err in giving the jurors certain penalty-phase instructions patterned after model approved instructions that were constitutional.

The court held the jury previously found Taylor guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, and Taylor offered no legal authority for the proposition that the prosecutor must demonstrate that mitigating circumstances were insufficient to outweigh aggravating circumstances.

Jurisdiction and proportionality review

The court held it had jurisdiction and authority to sentence Michael Taylor to death, reasoning that Missouri’s statutory scheme recognized a single offense of murder with maximum sentence of death and that requiring aggravating facts or circumstances to warrant imposition of the death penalty did not increase the maximum penalty.

The court conducted an independent review of the death sentence and found no evidence suggesting the punishment was the product of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor. The court held the evidence supported, beyond a reasonable doubt, the statutory aggravating factor and that the death sentence imposed was not excessive or disproportionate to similar cases.

The Supreme Court of Missouri also addressed Taylor’s argument that the State failed to charge him with “aggravated first-degree murder,” holding that omission of statutory aggravators from an indictment charging first-degree murder did not deprive the sentencing court of jurisdiction to impose the death penalty.

The court found that the jury unanimously found one statutory aggravating circumstance as a basis for considering the death sentence: Taylor’s prior first-degree murder conviction on April 3, 1998.

Outcome

The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the judgment.

All concurred. The Supreme Court opinion was authored by Ronnie L. White, Chief Justice. The opinion vote was AFFIRMED and the court en banc held that all of Taylor’s points of error were rejected.

Other details

The facts included multiple details about Michael Taylor’s behavior in prison, including that before being put in the same cell with Thomas, Taylor had been in “the hole” for refusing to take a cell mate (“cellee”), that Taylor agreed to take a cell mate to get out of the hole, and that Thomas would ingest Taylor’s medication.

The record included the medication Trazadone being given to Taylor by a prison nurse at approximately 8:30 p.m. on October 3, 1999 and noted that Thomas’ blood contained Trazadone in a toxicology report.

The record mentioned the book Taylor was reading in the cell, described as “Pillars of the Earth.”

The record stated that the Missouri legislature passed a Safe Schools Act in 1995 requiring that students’ violent behavior records follow them from school to school after the killing of Christine Smetzer.

The record described Michael Taylor’s school placement history, including behavior disorder diagnosis, initial supervision in a controlled environment, later transfer under “full inclusion,” and assignment to all regular classes after beginning Special School District services.

The record described the injuries to Christine Smetzer as including rape and asphyxiation by forcing her neck against a toilet with her face in the flushing water.