Larry Lamont White v. Commonwealth of Kentucky ( 2020 )

ON REMAND FROM THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
V. CASE NO. 17-9467
JEFFERSON CIRCUIT COURT CASE NO. 07-CR-004230
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VANMETER
REVERSING AND REMANDING
In 2014, Larry Lamont White was convicted of rape in the first degree
and murder for the 1983 killing of Pamela Armstrong. The jury recommended
a sentence of death for Armstrong’s murder and twenty years’ imprisonment for
the rape. After our affirmance of his matter of right1 appeal, the United States
Supreme Court vacated the judgment, and remanded White’s case back to this
Court for further consideration in light of Moore v. Texas, 137 S. Ct. 1039, 197
L. Ed. 2d 416 (2017), and its analysis regarding the execution of intellectually
disabled defendants. Since the Supreme Court’s remand, White has also pro se
asked this Court to waive his intellectual disability claim, so he can move
1 Ky. Const. § 110(2)(b).
forward with post-conviction proceedings. After additional review of the record,
and recent Kentucky and federal case law, we hold that—due to his death
sentence—White may not pro se waive his pending intellectual disability claim.
Further, based on the holdings of Moore and Woodall v. Commonwealth, 563
S.W.3d 1 (Ky. 2018), White has produced enough evidence to form a reasonable
doubt as to his intellectual capabilities so as to warrant a hearing on the issue.
Thus, we remand this case to the Jefferson Circuit Court with instructions to
conduct an evidentiary hearing on White’s intellectual disability claim.
I. Factual and Procedural Background.
The facts of this case are set out by this Court in its original opinion as
follows:
Armstrong was murdered on June 4, 1983. Her body was
discovered that same day in a public alley, with her pants and
underwear pulled down around her legs and shirt pulled up to her
bra line. She suffered from two gunshot wounds. One wound was
observed on the left side of the back of her head, while the other
wound was in virtually the same spot on the right side. The
medical examiner was unable to determine which shot was fired
first, but did opine that neither shot alone would have caused
immediate death.
Although Appellant was originally a suspect, Armstrong’s murder
remained unsolved for more than twenty years. Yet, in 2004, the
Louisville Metro Police Department (“LMPD”) Cold Case Unit
reopened Armstrong’s case. Through the use of DNA profiling,
Detectives sought to eliminate suspects. LMPD officers were able to
obtain Appellant’s DNA from a cigar he discarded during a traffic
stop. Appellant’s DNA profile matched the DNA profile found in
Armstrong’s panties.
On December 27, 2007, a Jefferson County Grand Jury returned
an indictment charging Appellant with rape in the first degree and
murder. During the trial, DNA evidence and evidence of
Appellant’s other murder convictions were introduced to the jury.
On July 28, 2014, Appellant was found guilty of both charges.
Appellant refused to participate during the sentencing stage of his
trial. The juiy ultimately found the existence of aggravating
circumstances and recommended a sentence of death for
Armstrong’s murder plus twenty years for her rape. The trial court
sentenced Appellant in conformity with the jury’s recommendation.
Appellant now appeals his conviction and sentence as a matter of
right pursuant to § 110(2)(b) of the Kentucky Constitution and
Kentucky Revised Statute (“KRS”) 532.075.
White v. Commonwealth, 544 S.W.3d 125, 133 (Ky. 2017), as modified (Mar. 22,
2018), cert, granted, judgment vacated sub nom. White v. Kentucky, 139 S. Ct.
532, 202 L. Ed. 2d 643 (2019), and abrogated by Woodall v. Commonwealth,
563 S.W.3d 1 (Ky. 2018).
One year after our decision in White, we held that KRS2 532.130(2)—the
statute requiring a showing of an IQ of 70 or less to determine intellectual
disability—was unconstitutional. Woodall, 563 S.W.3d at 2. When the United
States Supreme Court remanded White’s case to this Court for reconsideration
in light of Moore v. Texas, 137 S. Ct. 1039, this Court ordered supplemental
briefing on the issue. White then pro se sent a letter to the Attorney General,
stating his disagreement with his attorneys’ decision to pursue an intellectual
disability defense. Thereafter, White pro se filed a “motion” with this Court
objecting to the intellectual disability defense “asking this Court to dismiss the
issue[,]” as he was not “retarded” nor “guilty of this crime.” White
subsequently filed additional “motions” that both assert similar arguments
attempting to waive the intellectual disability claim before this Court. We
directed both White’s appellate counsel and the Commonwealth to file
2 Kentucky Revised Statutes.
supplemental briefs regarding White’s ability to waive this claim. Both briefs
were filed, and both issues are now ripe for determination.
II. A Defendant Cannot Waive a Pending Claim of Intellectual
Disability in a Death Penalty Case.
The Commonwealth argues that White has the ability to pro se waive his
claim of intellectual disability currently pending before this Court. White’s
attorneys disagree. Both sides discuss, at length, the relationship between
attorney and client, and White’s Sixth and Eighth Amendments rights.
However, we need not decide the broader attorney-client question of whether a
defendant can pro se waive any pending or potential claim because we hold
that Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S. Ct. 2242, 153 L. Ed. 2d 335(2002), and its progeny—extending to Moore—have placed an absolute bar
against imposing the death penalty on the intellectually disabled.
“The Eighth Amendment of the United State Constitution prohibits the
execution of a person who has an intellectual disability.” Woodall, 563 S.W.3d
at 2-3 (citing Hall v. Florida, 572 U.S. 701, 704, 134 S. Ct. 1986, 1990, 188 L.
Ed. 2d 1007 (2014); Atkins, 536 U.S. at 321). The United States Supreme
Court in Hall v. Florida held that some punishments are prohibited by the
Eighth Amendment “as a categorical matter.” Id. at 708. These punishments
include 1) the denaturalization of a natural-born citizen; 2) sentencing a
juvenile to death; and 3) sentencing “persons with [an] intellectual disability” to
death. Id. The Supreme Court expounded in Moore that “the Constitution
‘restricts] . . . the State’s power to take the life of any intellectually disabled
individual.” 137 S. Ct. at 1048 (quoting Atkins, 536 U.S. at 321). We take the
Moore court’s emphasis on “any” to include any individual who has not yet
been determined to have an intellectual disability, but who is entitled to an
evidentiary hearing by showing “some evidence creating a [reasonable] doubt as
to whether he is [intellectually disabled].” Wilson v. Commonwealth, 381
S.W.3d 180, 186 (Ky. 2012) (citation omitted); see also Brumfield v. Cain, 135
S. Ct. 2269, 2281, 192 L. Ed. 2d 356 (2015) (favorably reviewing a Louisiana
statute which required a defendant to show a “reasonable doubt as to his
intellectual disability to be entitled to an evidentiary hearing[]”) (citation
omitted).
Moore further held that “[m]ild levels of intellectual disability, although
they may fall outside Texas citizens’ consensus, nevertheless remain
intellectual disabilities, and States may not execute anyone in The entire
category of [intellectually disabled] offenders[.]” 137 S. Ct. at 1051 (quoting
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 563-64, 125 S. Ct. 1183, 1192, 161 L. Ed. 2d
1 (2005) (citations omitted) (emphasis added)). Thus, when a punishment is
prohibited by the Eighth Amendment blocking an entire category of individuals
from a certain penalty, and evidence has been established creating a
reasonable doubt as to whether a defendant is a member of that category, the
issue cannot be waived. Accordingly, as discussed infra, because White has
met his burden to receive an evidentiary hearing on his intellectual disability
claim, this Court cannot allow him to pro se waive this issue, as that would
impose the death penalty on a potentially intellectually disabled defendant—
something the Commonwealth is without power to do.
III. White has Met the Burden to Receive an Evidentiary Hearing
Regarding his Intellectual Capacity.
This Court was specifically directed to review White’s intellectual
disability claim under the standard set forth in Moore, 137 S. Ct. 1039. We
last reviewed Moore in Woodall, wherein we declared KRS 532.130(2)
unconstitutional, holding that “a criminal defendant automatically cannot be
ruled intellectually disabled and precluded from execution simply because he
or she has an IQ of 71 or above, even after adjustment for statistical error[.]”
563 S.W.3d at 6. Thus, as a preliminary matter, the statute we reviewed
White’s initial appeal under is no longer good law.
This Court, based on Moore, created the Woodall test to provide guidance
to all future courts of this Commonwealth analyzing a claim of intellectual
disability. See id. at 6-7 (citing Moore, 137 S. Ct. at 1045). Under the Woodall
test, a defendant must show “(1) intellectual-functioning deficits (indicated by
an IQ score ‘approximately two standard deviations below the mean’—i.e., a
score of roughly 70—adjusted for the ‘standard error of measurement’; (2)
adaptive deficits (‘the inability to learn basic skills and adjust behavior to
changing circumstances,’); and (3) the onset of these deficits while still a
minor.” Id. at 6-7 (quoting Moore, 137 S. Ct. at 1045) (emphasis added).
Lastly, “in addition to ascertaining intellectual disability using this test,
prevailing medical standards should always take precedence in a court’s
determination.” Id. at 7.
Under the first prong of the Woodall test, White has produced two
separate IQ scores obtained before he turned 18. In 1971, when White was 12-
years old, he was administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
(“WISC”) and achieved a full-scale IQ of 76. Adjusted for the standard error of
measurement, White’s IQ score range was 71-81. While the Commonwealth
argues that White’s IQ range based on his WISC score does not warrant an
evidentiary hearing, a 71 is as close as possible to being “roughly” 70. Id. at 6.
Even assuming, arguendo, that 71 is not “roughly” 70, White has also
produced another score. White was administered the Otis Quick-Scoring
Mental Ability Test (“Otis”), scoring a 73, soon after he was administered the
WISC test. Adjusted for the standard error of measurement, White’s IQ score
range for the Otis test was 68-78, well within the requirements of the first
Woodall prong and earned while he was a minor, thus meeting Woodall's third
prong. Id. at 7.
The Commonwealth contends that experts consider the Otis exam to be
both unreliable and unacceptable for purposes of determining intellectual
disability. See John H. Blume et al., Protecting People with Intellectual
Disability from Wrongful Execution: Guidelines for Competent Representation, 46
Hofstra L. Rev. 1107, 1118-20 (2018) (discussing certain pitfalls of the Otis
examination). However, this is the opposite argument the Commonwealth took
regarding Otis IQ scores in Bowling v. Commonwealth, 163 S.W.3d 361, 384
(Ky. 2005) (“Bowling IV”},3 wherein the Commonwealth advocated and this
Court accepted that two Otis IQ scores of 84 and 79 (the only two test scores
taken while the defendant was a juvenile) were enough evidence to defeat the
defendant’s intellectual disability claim. See also Smith v. Ryan, 813 F.3d
1175, 1184-86 (9th Cir. 2016) (In Smith, previously cited favorably by this
Court in Woodall, the Ninth Circuit reduced a sentence of death to life
imprisonment based partially on the defendant’s Otis test scores). While the
Otis test may have its critics, a deeper analysis of White’s IQ scores is best
reserved for an evidentiary hearing at which time both sides can fully develop a
record regarding White’s two scores, his adaptive deficits or lack thereof, and
consideration of the prevailing medical standards regarding intellectual
disabilities.
Woodall’s second prong, adaptive deficits, is less developed in this case
than previous cases in front of our Court. Most of the evidence concerning this
prong stems from the same time period as White’s IQ scores. This is most
likely because White has spent all but four of forty-three years of his adult life
behind bars and has not had an evidentiary hearing which could have
established these deficits or had a medical professional observe his behavior to
the extent necessary to document adaptive deficits or lack thereof. White did
have issues adapting to school and never succeeded there. He was graded as
3 These Otis scores were also cited more recently in a different opinion on
Bowling’s case before this Court. Bowling v. Commonwealth, 377 S.W.3d 529, 537
(Ky. 2012).
reading at a 2.4 grade level and doing arithmetic at a 3.4 level while he was in
sixth grade. He was frequently truant. He was also observed to show “a fairly
primitive level of socialization,” and distanced himself from family and friends.
While the lack of facts regarding any recent evidence of adaptive deficits is
troublesome, this is exactly what evidentiary hearings are designed for: to
gather more facts and expert assistance to explore whether further evidence of
adaptive deficits is revealed. At the very least—combined with his low-end IQ
scores achieved while still a minor—White’s potential adaptive deficits and lack
of any substantial contact with the outside world during adulthood warrant
further consideration in the form of an evidentiary hearing at the trial court
level.4 Finally, Moore requires courts to “consult current medical standards to
determine intellectual disability,” and we direct trial courts to review the
Woodall test in light of the prevailing medical standards at the time of the
evidentiary hearing. 137 S. Ct. at 1048; 563 S.W.3d at 7. Thus, adherence to
previous judicial authority analyzing medical standards in this realm is only
mandatory if it still comports with current medical standards.
4 See Moore, 137 S. Ct. at 1050 (discussing that current medical professionals
“caution against reliance on adaptive strengths developed ‘in a controlled setting,’ as a
prison surely is. [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition
38 (2013)] (‘Adaptive functioning may be difficult to assess in a controlled setting (e.g.,
prisons, detention centers); if possible, corroborative information reflecting functioning
outside those settings should be obtained.’); see [American Association on Intellectual
and Developmental Disabilities Clinical Manual, Eleventh Edition 20 (2010)]
(counseling against reliance on ‘behavior in jail or prison’)”).
IV. White’s Concerns Regarding His Counsel.
White has shown a tendency to not cooperate with counsel and has pro
se asked this Court to replace his current counsel multiple times. While we are
not a fact-finding court, we acknowledge White’s displeasure with his current
and former counsel, as well as his lack of participation in the proceedings
below. If, on remand, White persists in expressing disagreement with his
counsel’s representation concerning his appeal, he may request an evidentiary
hearing regarding his competency to self-represent. See Commonwealth v.
Mason, 130 A.3d 601, 671 (Pa. 2015) (discussing options for intellectual
disability claimant who disagrees with counsel’s choice to pursue Atkins
defense).
V. Conclusion.
Since Woodall declared our statutory scheme in this area
unconstitutional under Moore and Hall, White’s evidence suffices the
reasonable doubt standard entitling him to an evidentiaiy hearing on the
matter of his potential intellectual disability. His adjusted IQ scores of 71 and
68 from when he was 12, alone are enough to form a reasonable doubt as to
his intellectual capacity. Whether he has met the preponderance of the
evidence standard5 is a separate question to be analyzed by the trial court as a
fact finder through the evidentiary hearing process. As no hearing has
5 “It is important to note that [even after receiving an evidentiaiy hearing] the
defendant still bears the burden of proving intellectual disability by a preponderance
of the evidence.” Woodall, 563 S.W.3d at 6 n.29 (citation omitted).
occurred, this Court withholds judgment until a hearing has been conducted
and a determination made.
All sitting. All concur.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT:
Timothy G. Arnold
Director, Post Trial Division
Department of Public Advocacy
Kathleen Kallaher Schmidt
Susan Jackson Balliet
Erin Hoffman Yang
Assistant Public Advocates
Department of Public Advocacy
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE:
Daniel Jay Cameron
Attorney General of Kentucky
Stephanie Lynne McKeehan
Assistant Attorney General
Emily Lucas
Assistant Attorney General
2014-SC-000725-MR
LARRY LAMONT WHITE APPELLANT
ON REMAND FROM THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
V. CASE NO. 17-9467
JEFFERSON CIRCUIT COURT CASE NO. 07-CR-004230
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE
ORDER DENYING APPELLANT’S MULTIPLE MOTIONS TO WAIVE CLAIM
OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
Based on our published opinion in this case dated March 26, 2020,
Appellant’s multiple motions to waive his claim of intellectual disability are
DENIED.
All sitting. All concur.
ENTERED: March 26, 2020.