WILLIE TROTTIE
Death Row; Texas
Visit Official Webpage:
http://hawksflying.com/wtt/
On May 3 1993, Barbara
Canada and her brother Titus were
killed by gunfire in Houston, Texas.
Willie Tyrone Trottie, Barbara's 23-year-old
common law husband and father of their
1-1/2 year old son, was arrested, tried and convicted
of Capital murder. Having been shot five times
by Titus, Willie maintains that in shock and
pain, he fired in self-defense and that there is at
least one witness who could have corroborated this had
they been questioned at his trial. Willie is currently incarcerated
in the Allan Polunsky Unit, Texas Death Row, and is
going through State Habeas Corpus with his overworked
and under funded court appointed lawyer.
CASE INFO
My Appeal
(In W. T. Trottie's Own Words)
The general features of a death penalty case
As you might or might not be familiar with, a death penalty case has several
special features.
The trial is essentially divided into two parts. The first and generally
larger part is what might be called the guilt/innocence part of the trial,
where both sides argue in the question of whether the defendant actually is
guilty of capital murder (the kind that can give the death penalty).
If the jury after that part decides to find the defendant guilty of capital
murder, the trial goes on to what you might call the punishment part. Here
the two parts argue whether there are any mitigating circumstances, and whether
the defendant presents any future dangerousness. If the defense counsel fails
to convince the jury of the mitigating circumstances, the jury might give
the defendant the death penalty.
After the trial you can appeal to higher courts. The appeals process in
a death penalty case has essentially three stages: the direct appeal, which
is generally is the first post-trial review. Here you are confined to raise
challenges to what is on the record of the trial.
But in what is with an ancient term are called habeas corpus-proceedings,
the defendant (and his attorney) may raise questions based on new evidence
about the fairness of his trial. For instance, whether his lawyer performed
competently, whether the prosecution withheld important evidence or whether
the jurors engaged in misconduct. The habeas appeals go first to state level,
and after may also so go further to a federal level.
My appealsThe same attorney that was counsel at my trial filed my direct
appeal. The Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) affirmed the conviction and sentence
of death in an opinion delivered September 20, 1995 .
My appointed attorney, Jim L. Peacock of Houston , handles my habeas corpus
appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals in Texas . That appeal was filed August
18, 1997 . In that is argued that I was not given a fair trial.
These are the main points, as stated in the beginning of this appeal (Note:
Both terms Defendant and Applicant apply to me, Tyrone Trottie):
‘Counsel at trial presented no defense to the charges against his client.
Merely cross-examining the State’s witnesses does not a defense make. More
often than not the cross examination of the State’s witnesses did nothing
more than repeat what had already been presented, thus reinforcing the State’s
case rather than attacking it. More egregorius still was the failure of counsel
to call any witnesses to the stand in defense at the guilt/innocence stage
of trial. Certainly the fact that Titus Cornelius Canada had previously waved
a gun at the Defendant in a threatening manner while the Defendant had his
1 year old child in the car with him raised the issue of the Defendant’s right
to arm himself and confront Mr. Canada regarding their conflicts. This is
particularly true since there was inevitably going to be further contact between
them due to the familial relationship of Mr. Canada as Uncle to the Defendant’s
son. How the issue of self defense could be so cavalierly ignored as it was
by defense counsel is hard to explain. The obvious issues which should have
been raised are self defense and the right to arm and confront as to Titus
Cornelius Canada and voluntary manslaughter issues of sudden passion as to
both Titus and Barbara Canada. Trial counsel did not call one single witness
on the Defendant’s behalf to properly raise these issues even though there
was available evidence. Failure to properly present the available evidence
or request appropriate defensive charges can not be argued to be a tactic
or strategy when no other defense is offered. When the obvious and only available
trial defenses are ignored by trial counsel then no other conclusion can
be drawn than that there was ineffective assistance of counsel.
Applicant contends that he was denied effective assistance of counsel by
virtue of his trial counsel’s acts and omissions; by denying applicant the
opportunity to testify in his own behalf at trial, Counsel’s ineffectiveness
in failing to seek proper jury instructions and argue “self defense” and the
right to “arm and confront”. Further, Applicant would show that trial counsel
failed to present important, competent, and available evidence supporting
mitigation in the punishment phase of his trial. Applicant contends that,
under any standard. Trial counsels’ action constitute ineffective assistance
of counsel under the United States and Texas Constitutions. ‘
Since the entire appeal consists of 51 pages, plus several exhibits, I will
hereby confine myself to some quotes concerning the main issues.
Why was I not called to take the witness stand?
Concerning this issue, the appeal argues:
‘ The defendant had no prior felony or misdemeanor convictions of moral
turpitude which would have subjected him to impeachment at trial and was
without doubt the best witness to present his defensive theories to the jury
regarding manslaughter and self defense and of course mitigation. To be denied
this by counsel’s failure to properly advise of a defendant’s testimonial
rights and refusal to call the defendant is ineffective.
In this case, Applicant’s counsels’ failure to seek jury charges and then
argue self-defense and the right to “arm and confront” were examples of ineffective
assistance of counsel in that such a defense could have negated the State’s
theory of “multiple murder.” That failure leads to a harsher punishment (death)
than otherwise would have occurred if the defenses were presented. Furthermore,
there was evidence before the jury specifically as to the shooting of Titus
Canada that the Applicant was returning fire in “self defense”, having first
been shot at by the deceased. The failure to properly present evidence of
the defense and obtain proper instruction for the jury denied the Defendant
effective counsel since there was no other theory of defense present. This
type of failure to present such an important defense would constitute such
an egregiously prejudicial mistake so as to presume, even from just this one
“mistake” ineffective assistance of counsel. ‘
Mitigating factors were not properly presented
By not taking the witness stand myself, my chances were negatively affected
during the punishment phase of my trial, where mitigating circumstances are
presented – especially since I was not in a position to explain an instance
of shooting in 1990 that is not in any police files and not evidence at all:
‘The failure to properly advise the defendant of his right to testify and
in effect prevent the defendant from testifying denied the jury the most crucial
of all mitigating evidence and denied the Applicant effective representation
of counsel. Since the defendant was represented on direct appeal by trial
counsel it is not surprising that this issue can only now be raised by Habeas
Corpus Writ.
In the case at bar, Applicant’s trial counsel’s ineffective assistance was
exacerbated when he failed to properly preserve the “constitutional argument”
regarding the trial court’s admission into evidence the “fact” that Applicant
“shot someone in self-defense in March 1990.” See Trottie v. State of Texas
No, 71, 793, Opinion Delivered December 11, 1995 , p. 13. As the Court of
Criminal Appeals observed in its Opinion sustaining Applicant’s conviction:
“appellant argues that the trial court violated the Eight and Fourteenth Amendments
when it admitted, at the punishment stage, evidence that he shot someone
in self-defense in March 1990. We not address this constitutional argument,
however, because it does not comport with the argument made in the trial
court.” See Trottie v. State of Texas No, 71, 793, Opinion Delivered December
11, 1995 , p. 13. In the case at bar, trial counsel’s failure to introduce
all mitigating evidence available was made worse by his failure to preserve
what error did occur regarding the evidence that came in during the punishment
stage. Taken together, the trial counsel’s failure to properly protect Applicant’s
record and his failure to submit important, relevant, available, persuasive
evidence on mitigation doomed Applicant during the punishment stage of his
trial.’
Faulty instruction of the jury
To avoid the all too common, but wrongful notion, that if a person convicted
of capital murder is sentenced to something less than death, he will be out
in the streets within just some years, it is essential that the jury gets
the right information on what a life sentence would mean.
This did not happen during my trial:
‘ The trial court violated the eight amendment by failing or refusing to
inform applicant’s capital sentencing that a “life” sentence would require
that applicant serve at least 35 years before being eligible for parole.
In Texas , a defendant who is sentenced to life in prison for capital murder
must serve 15, 35, or 40 years before he is eligible for parole, depending
on the date of the offense.’
The result of this lack of information negatively affected the jury’s view
in the key issue of “future dangerousness.” Because it is a common belief
that anything less than death means that the offender would be out in the
streets in a relatively short time. It is of course easier to give someone
a life sentence, if you know that this means he would serve at least 35 years
in prison, than if you do not know how long he would be in prison. In the
words of my appeal:
‘ The very fact that the jury is told that the Board of Pardons and Paroles
controls the actual length of the sentence without telling the jury the limits
of that power invites speculation by the jury and creates uncertainty in their
minds on how long a Defendant would actually serve as a minimum on a life
sentence.’
This claim is supported by what the United States Supreme Court wrote in
the decision of a previous case (Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154,
114 S.Ct. 2187, 129 L. Ed. 2d 133, 1994):
‘Where a defendant’s future dangerousness is at issue, and state law prohibits
his release on parole, due process requires that the sentencing jury be informed
that the defendant is parole ineligible.’
In my case, the outcome might very well been different if the jury instruction
had been correct. The words of my appeal sum it up:
‘ In the instant case, had the trial court instructed the jury on the correct
meaning of a “life” sentence, jurors would have been faced with a choice of
sentencing Applicant to death or sentencing him to a life behind bars in
a maximum security prison until he was, at the very minimum, over fifty years
old. One or more jurors very well may have voted for a life sentence had
they been informed of this information, since it would have provided a rational
basis for jurors to conclude that Applicant would not be a future danger
if a “life” sentence were imposed.’
Insufficient evidence in the punishment phase
A person might be found guilty of capital murder. In the then following
punishment phase of the trial, the jury asks itself if there are mitigating
circumstances; is the answer to this question ‘yes’, they cannot give that
person the death penalty. As my appeal states, citing the previous case Valdez
v. State, 776 S. W. 2d 162 (Tex. Crim. App 1989) ,in my case the jury was
not given these evidences :
‘The reviewing court could consider factors such as: 1) the circumstances
of the capital murder offense; 2) the calculated nature of the defendant’s
conduct; 3) the deliberateness exhibited in the crime’s execution; 4) existence
and severity of the defendant’s previous offenses; 5) whether the defendant
was acting under duress or the domination of another at the time of the crime;
6) the defendant’s age and personal circumstances; 7) psychiatric evidence;
and, 8) character evidence.
Concentrating on only the areas where the evidence falls substantially below
that which should be necessary to justify the death penalty in this case,
Applicant would show that there was no probative, reliable, competent evidence
that he had a history of violence, that he entered the Canada household on
the evening in question with the specific intent to harm anyone, that the
only psychiatric testimony showed that the Applicant had specific, identifiable,
and treatable problems that impacted his ability to judge the situation appropriately
on the night in question, and that his age and personal circumstances mitigated
against the imposition of the death penalty.
When the evidence is viewed in accordance with the Valdez factors, one is
left with the conclusion that either there is insufficient evidence to conclude
that Applicant was a continuing threat to society or that the mitigating evidence
neglected by trial counsel would have been of paramount importance in the
trial below, in the light of the way the evidence came before the jury. In
either event, with either conclusion, the imposition of the death penalty
on Applicant was inappropriate and violated his rights under the federal
and state constitutions.
Compounding the errors committed during the trial, one must also view the
problematic admission of certain hearsay evidence from Lynn Clark, the Applicant’s
probation officer. APO Clark testified, over trial counsel’s objection, that
Applicant had said he had shot some man in “self-defense.” No charges had
ever been filed, no victim was ever identified, there was no conviction, no
date of the alleged “offense” and no location for the alleged “offense”. Put
simply, Clark ’s evidence did not show an “extraneous offense”. ‘
Still, after that, my original trial lawyers tried to argue that this alleged
shooting was self-defense, which made things worse for me:
‘ Trial counsel argued, to the trial court and the jury, an implied acceptance
of the existence of the extraneous offense with a justification that it was
“self-defense.” This particular piece of evidence was the only direct evidence
that Applicant may have been violent at some point in the past.’
PENPAL REQUEST
Well, let me introduce myself. I'm
a 33 yr old African American here on Texas'
death row. I've been here for the last
past ten years...I really don't have too much to
say at this present moment, however I'm very engaging
with conversation once I become friends with
someone. Snail mail's address :
Willie
Tyrone Trottie 999085
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston Tx
77351-9630
email: willie@hawksflying.com
("I do not have direct access to my email
or any computer for that matter.
It is all handled through a third party. Which,
would be some delay in replying
back to any emails sent to me...allow some time
for me to first recieve the
message, and then reply back." )
The CCADP offers free webpages to over 500 Death Row Prisoners
Contact us for more information.
"The Eyes Of The World Are Watching Now"
This page was
last updated April 12, 2005
Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
This page is maintained and updated by Dave
Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie in Toronto, Canada