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TOMMY KING [268]



Davis and King went into the Third Street Inn between three and four o'clock on the afternoon of May 27 to try to sell men's blue jeans and jogging suits. A patron of the tavern, Daniel Harris, saw Lockridge and King engaged in a discussion in the kitchen area. Lockridge agreed to buy some blue jeans for approximately $60, but he produced a $100 bill in payment and neither King nor Davis could make change. Lockridge told them to come back later and he would pay them. Harris saw King and Davis return to the bar later, and he observed them with Lockridge in the kitchen area of the bar looking at "a big shiny gun," but he did not know who was showing the gun to whom. King and Davis stayed in the bar drinking beer for a while and then both left at different times. Thereafter, Lockridge tried to sell the blue jeans to patrons of the bar.




TOMMY KING [268]


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J.C. Venoi and Yolanda Williams pulled up in Williams' car at Venoi's home across the street from the tavern when the first shot rang out. Venoi crossed the street and entered the bar. He immediately ran into Davis near the door. Davis told him to "hit the back and get down." Venoi headed for the bathroom in the back of the bar. He did not know if Davis had a weapon. On his way to the back, Venoi saw Lockridge standing up near the beer cooler next to the bar. King was standing behind the bar, and Venoi saw Harris, Holt and Johnson lying on the floor in the back. Venoi dropped down to the floor in the kitchen and crawled to the bathroom, where he found Gunn sitting in the corner. Gunn was very upset and Venoi tried to quiet her. Venoi heard "a lot of talking" in the bar, but he could not identify who was saying what.


In his own defense, King explained that he and Davis returned to the Third Street Inn to collect money Lockridge owed them. When Lockridge refused to pay or produce the clothing, an argument ensued. Lockridge became angry and made a quick move to the waistband of his trousers. King grabbed Lockridge's arm, raised it into the air, and tried to twist the gun away when the gun fired, striking Lockridge in the neck. King said there was one man in front of him and one behind, so he fired a round into the ceiling and told them both to get down on the floor because he was "afraid of [his] back when [he] was going out of the door." During direct examination, King admitted his previous convictions for attempt to commit a felony, possession of burglary tools, and kidnaping.


King again took the stand. He stated he was thirty-two and had lived in Chattanooga twelve years. He talked briefly about his two brothers and two sisters, all living, and he stated both of his parents died in 1975, when he was twenty-seven. King was employed for eighteen months as an insurance salesman for Atlanta Life in Chattanooga, working on commission. He found a better paying job as a cook at the Brass Register Restaurant, where he worked for approximately two years until he had stomach surgery. After that, he helped his brother "off and on" with masonry. King stated he was divorced and had a three-year old boy who had visited the courtroom with his mother during the trial. He again admitted his "scrapes with the law": receiving stolen property over $100, possession of burglary tools, two attempts to commit a felony and kidnaping.


According to Howell's recent declaration, defense counsel focused their limited sentencing efforts on researching the statutory aggravating and mitigating factors and consulting with each other about the content of closing argument. (Docket Entry No. 79-4, Howell Decl. at 6.) Critically, Howell does not recall "making any factual investigation for the penalty phase of Tommy King's trial. The only preparation for sentencing that I am aware of took place after the jury returned their verdict of guilt." (Id. at 7.) King was a cooperative client, and he did not place any restrictions on the defense team concerning their investigation or preparation. (Id. at 4.)


King testified he provided his trial counsel with contact information for his brother, sister, and his biological father, who lived in New York. King confirmed he did not tell Brewer the trial date because he did not know it himself. On cross-examination, King admitted that he completed twelfth grade and could read and write, but he did not send his family any letters about his situation. The prosecutor asked, "So you did not really perceive [your siblings] as actually taking the witness stand on your behalf?" King replied, "Well, maybe not to testify about what happened in general, but you know, our lives together, I did have a family." (Id. at 25.) On redirect, King stated Lovell asked about family members and King told him about Bernard, Frances, another brother, and his biological father. Lovell told King he would ask them to testify "[i]f we would get in touch with them." (Id.)


The turning point in Tommy's life was the murder of Alice and Jamie Brewer in 1975. Alice helped a mentally retarded and schizophrenic family member, Arnold Hughley, with cooking, shopping and finances. According to Bernard King, Black Moslems visiting the neighborhood teased Hughley with a rubber snake. Hughley grabbed a gun from his house and killed one of them. The police arrived and a huge crowd gathered. Black Moslems pulled up in a vehicle with a loudspeaker and announced to the crowd that no one should talk to the white police; they would seek their own justice for the killing. No one would talk to the police. (Id. at 16.)


The Black Moslems sought out the family and friends of Hughley for retribution. Alice and Jamie Brewer were abducted by men wearing ski masks. Neighbors witnessed the abduction. The Brewers' bodies were found a week later, shot and burned in an abandoned car in Alabama. The police arrested some Black Moslems returning to Tennessee with guns that matched the shells found at the scene. A photo lineup, which included pictures of those arrested with the guns, were shown to witnesses, who identified the men as having been in the neighborhood prior to the abduction posing as census workers going door to door asking questions about the Brewers and their friends and family. The arrested individuals were released for lack of evidence and the case was never prosecuted. Two other persons who associated with Hughley were also abducted and killed. Their bodies were found in Georgia. Four houses, including Bernard's and Vicki's, were firebombed. (Id. at 17-18.)


The injustice of the Brewers' murders overwhelmed Tommy King. His whole attitude toward life changed. He could not understand why the Brewers, who lived such good lives should have been murdered, and he who had lived a bad life should still be living. After the killings, Tommy would tell Bernard that he had seen and talked to "Mama." Bernard tried to convince him it was not possible, but he insisted he talked to "Mama." When Tommy worked at the Brass Register Restaurant in 1979, Bernard received phone calls from Tommy's boss asking him to come because Tommy was seeing and hearing *980 something that others could not see or hear. Tommy insisted he was seeing "Mama" and was having a conversation with her. Tommy began using drugs to an even greater extent than before. His relationship with the mother of his young son ended just before the robbery and shooting in Columbia. (Id. at 19-22.)


Annie Williams lived with King from 1979 to May 1982. (Docket Entry No. 72-3, Williams Decl. at 1.) King often mentioned the Brewers to her and told her how unjust it was that no one had been arrested for their murders. She believes their killings "really did something to Tommy's mind[.]" (Id. at 4.) As quickly as King would begin talking about the murders, he would stop and cry and then break off the conversation. Often he would holler "Mama" during sleep and frequently he woke up sweating from nightmares. (Id. at 2-5.)


According to Dr. Woods, King's addiction was augmented by neurologically-derived difficulties in decision-making. King had difficulty with the Category Test, an instrument designed to examine decision-making and problem solving skills. Although King's IQ is average at 100, his ability to make informed decisions is impaired. "These cognitive deficits played into both his continued addiction as well as his decision-making at the time of the offense." (Id.) Because King has been incarcerated since 1982, there apparently is no other causative factor for his poor performance on the Category Test. (Id. at 19.)


In Dr. Woods' opinion, the attacks King suffered while working at the Brass Register Restaurant were panic attacks, consistent with an anxiety disorder. (Id. at 18.) King described daily nightmares of the Brewer murders for years and occasional nightmares to this day. He "could not get away from the ruminative ... thinking of his parents being burned, and was tormented by thoughts of whether they were alive or dead as their bodies were being burned." (Id.)


*988 Instead, Lovell, King's own attorney, asked, "Tommy, you have not been a choir boy have you?" (Addendum No. 2, Trial Tr. at 594.) Counsel then led his client a second time through a litany of his prior convictions. By failing to pay sufficient attention to pertinent dates when King was working or in prison, counsel left his unprepared client exposed to a withering cross-examination. Even though King stated he was mixed up on the dates, he may have damaged his credibility when he said he was working but actually he was in jail. His inability to recall the details of his life in the previous few years might not have seemed so devious if evidence had been presented to the jury about the extent of King's addiction to heroin, his reliance on theft and robbery to support his habit, and his mental condition following the murder of the Brewers.


During a motion hearing before King's trial, one of the State's two prosecutors represented to the trial court that he met with defense counsel and the parties reached agreement on discovery material to be disclosed with the exception of two matters not at issue here. (Addendum No. 2, Trial Tr. at 4.) Turning to counsel, the prosecutor asked, "what matters did we not cover the other day that you think that we still have?" (Id.) Davis's counsel responded by asking the court to direct the State to turn over certain witness statements and "any exculpatory evidence, or any evidence that might tend to mitigate the degree of the crime in the case on the punishment to which the defendant might be subject." (Id. at 5.) Counsel repeated his motion for evidence "in the possession of the state that would tend to mitigate or exculpate the defendants." (Id. at 7.) King joined in these requests. (Id. at 10.) Although the prosecutor objected that the defendants were not entitled to the witness statements, he voluntarily turned them over and stated, "here is all that I have that was provided by the detective." (Id. at 7.) 041b061a72


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