640 F. App'x 350
5th Cir.2016Background
- Danny Paul Bible was convicted in Texas of the 1979 aggravated rape and murder of Inez Deaton, sentenced to death, and the conviction was affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
- Bible gave multiple post-arrest recorded confessions (December 1998) implicating him in Deaton’s murder; the confession was the primary evidence linking him to the crime.
- At punishment, the State presented evidence of Bible’s lengthy history of violent sexual offenses and multiple murders; jurors answered Texas’s special issues to return a death sentence.
- After an unsuccessful direct appeal and state habeas proceedings, Bible filed a federal habeas petition asserting eight claims; the district court denied relief and refused a certificate of appealability (COA) on all issues.
- Bible sought a COA from the Fifth Circuit on two claims: (1) Eighth Amendment challenge based on severe post-conviction physical disabilities rendering him no future danger; (2) ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object to prosecutors’ in-court physical reenactment of a 1998 rape during punishment.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether executing Bible now violates the Eighth Amendment because severe post-conviction physical disabilities make him no future danger | Bible: his automobile-accident injuries left him physically debilitated (wheelchair-bound, chronic pain, blackouts) so he no longer poses a future danger and execution would be cruel and unusual | State: no controlling precedent requires a new post-sentencing future-dangerousness finding; Bible cites no case extending Eighth Amendment protection to purely physical incapacity | Denied COA — no existing constitutional rule bars execution of a physically disabled but mentally competent prisoner; claim would create a new rule and is not debatable among reasonable jurists |
| Whether counsel was ineffective for not objecting to prosecutors’ physical reenactment of a prior rape at punishment | Bible: reenactment was inflammatory, unnecessary given confession and victim’s testimony, and counsel’s failure to object was deficient and prejudicial | State: reenactment helped jurors visualize the assault, would likely not have been excluded; state habeas found counsel not deficient and no prejudice; AEDPA requires deference to that adjudication | Denied COA — state court’s rejection was reasonable under Strickland and AEDPA; fairminded jurists could not debate the result |
Key Cases Cited
- Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) (Eighth Amendment bars death penalty for juvenile offenders based in part on transitory character and diminished culpability)
- Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986) (Eighth Amendment forbids execution of the insane; focuses on mental capacity and retributive value)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel: deficient performance and prejudice)
- Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000) (AEDPA: unreasonable application of federal law differs from merely incorrect application)
- Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86 (2011) (state-court adjudication of ineffective-assistance claims entitled to deference; requires showing beyond fairminded disagreement)
- Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322 (2003) (standard for granting a certificate of appealability)
- Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (2000) (standard for COA when district court denies relief)
- Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. 170 (2011) (federal habeas review under AEDPA is limited to the state-court record)
- Yarborough v. Alvarado, 541 U.S. 652 (2004) (clarifies deference owed to state court decisions under AEDPA and Strickland)