Chamblee54

Short Version: The state of Georgia is planning to execute William Sallie on December 6, 2016. Mr. Sallie was convicted of killing John Moore on March 29, 1990. Mr. Moore was the father of Mr. Sallie’s estranged wife Robin. Mr. Sallie has not been served well by his attorneys. “William Cary Sallie left his home near Peoria, Illinois, in 1985 to join the U.S. Army. Stationed at Fort Stewart in south Georgia, he dated an Alma woman and the two were married”
“The Georgia Supreme Court summarized the facts of the case as follows: The evidence presented at trial showed the following: William Sallie and his wife, Robin, separated in December 1989 and Robin sought a divorce. Sallie had been physically abusive to Robin during their marriage and his striking her with a belt had precipitated the separation. They had a two-year-old baby named Ryan. Robin and Ryan went to live with her parents, John and Linda Moore, in their rural house in Bacon County. Robin’s seventeen-year-old sister, April, and her nine-year-old brother, Justin, also lived there. Shortly thereafter, under the pretense of seeing Ryan at the Moores’ house, Sallie abducted Ryan and went to Illinois, where he lived. However, an Illinois court awarded temporary custody of Ryan to Robin, and she returned with him to the Moores’ house in February 1990.
In March 1990, Sallie returned to Georgia and rented a mobile home in Liberty County using the name Bill Simons. Also in March, he had a friend purchase a nine millimeter pistol for him in Illinois. On March 28, 1990, Sallie dressed in green camouflage and went to the Moores’ house at night; he carried the pistol, a roll of duct tape, and four sets of handcuffs. At approximately 10:00 p.m., April was talking to her boyfriend when the phone line went dead. She did not think this was unusual and went to bed. It was later discovered that Sallie had ripped the wires from the phone box on the outside wall. At 12:45 a.m., after everyone inside was asleep, Sallie pried open the back door and entered the house. He went immediately to the master bedroom, flicked on the lights, and shot John and Linda Moore as they lay in bed. John was struck by six bullets, including two that damaged his heart. He tried to get out of bed, but he collapsed, fell on the floor, and died. Linda was shot in the thumb, the shoulder, and both thighs. Sallie then fled outside and reloaded. When Robin and April were in the master bedroom trying to help their parents, Sallie fired two more shots through the bedroom window, hitting no one. They doused the light and pleaded with Sallie to let them get help for their parents. April tried to leave the house to get help (the nearest neighbor was 1/4 of a mile away), but Sallie confronted her on the porch and told her to stay in the house or he would blow her head off. Sallie eventually re-entered the house and handcuffed Justin and Linda, who was still bleeding from her wounds, to each other and to a bed rail. He bound Robin and April to each other with handcuffs and duct tape, and he abducted them to his Liberty County mobile home where he raped them both. He left his two-year-old son in the master bedroom. After a few hours, Linda and Justin managed to extricate themselves from the bed rail and reach a neighbor, who summoned the police. Sallie released Robin and April in Bacon County the night of March 29 after asking them not to press charges. He was arrested shortly thereafter. The police found the murder weapon in his mobile home.
In death penalty appeals, a frequent charge is inadequate representation by the attorney. In other words, the lawyer did not do their job. In Mr. Sallies case, this seems to be especially true. The man just can’t seem to get a good lawyer. In his first trial, his attorney was also working as a law clerk for the judge. Here is what SALLIE v. THE STATE had to say about this.
“Sallie contends that one of his appointed trial lawyers, Wendell Boyd English, was operating under a conflict of interest that effectively denied Sallie his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. We agree. Shortly after his arrest, the trial court appointed Earl McRae to defend Sallie. McRae asked for assistance and the trial court appointed Boyd English as McRae’s co-counsel in May 1990. English represented Sallie until the conclusion of his trial in March 1991.
The conflict arises from English’s concurrent employment as the sole judicial law clerk for the Waycross Judicial Circuit. Employment records show that English was employed as the circuit’s law clerk from April 1987 to May 1989, and from August to October 1990. He was rehired in December 1990, four months before Sallie’s trial, and continued as the circuit’s law clerk until 1996.
The state claims that English was a part-time law clerk who only worked for the chief judge of the circuit. English states in his affidavit that he was hired by the chief judge as his personal law clerk and that he had no contact in his capacity as a law clerk with the other two superior court judges in the Waycross Circuit, including the trial judge. Payroll records, however, show that English was expected to work at least 40 hours per week and that his monthly pay ranged from about $1,800 in 1987 to $2,350 in 1996. In addition, English’s personnel forms list his position as “Law Clerk — Waycross Judicial Circuit,” and state that he serves the circuit….Although English served at the pleasure of the chief judge of the Waycross Circuit, it is clear that his position served the entire circuit and all three superior court judges in the circuit…. We have never before addressed a conflict of interest that arises from a lawyer’s simultaneous role as criminal defense attorney and law clerk in the same court where he is trying the case. We have also not uncovered any cases in other jurisdictions that present the same issue. Most criminal conflict-of-interest cases involve one attorney representing multiple defendants…. The situation in this case is unique because English occupied the job of criminal defense attorney and law clerk in the same court at the same time.
We conclude that an actual conflict of interest existed in this case and reverse the convictions…the conflict here is obvious and, given the enormity of the penalty in this case, completely impermissible. Sallie did not waive his right to conflict-free representation. The evidence is uncontroverted that he was never informed of English’s role as the law clerk for the Waycross Judicial Circuit. Sallie’s lawyer represented a capital defendant in the same court in which he was a full-time law clerk. We cannot allow such a conflict of interest to exist in a death penalty case. … We therefore reverse and remand for a new trial.”
There were some lawyer problems at the second trial. “On direct appeal, Sallie was represented by Palmer Singleton and Christopher Johnson, both with the Southern Center for Human Rights (“Southern Center”).” The legal opinion linked to goes into great detail. The issues are convoluted and legalistic, and will cause brain damage to observers not used to legal opinions.
Then there is the juror at the second trial. “During jury selection in February 2001, jurors were asked a series of questions, including whether they’d been victims of a crime or known a crime victim, if they’d been victims of domestic violence, if a family member had a criminal history and if they’d been in a child custody fight.
Sallie’s lawyers contend a 28-year-old Houston County woman ultimately chosen to be on the jury withheld information about her “messy divorces,” domestic abuse, participation in an “ugly” child custody fight and other details that they say would have disqualified her from jury service on a case “so bizarrely similar” to her life experiences, according to the lawyers’ news release.
She “maintained positions regarding her personal experiences that are starkly at odds with the extensive court records and other public documents and information manifesting her background,” Sallie’s lawyers have written in court filings. Court records have shown the woman had been divorced four times, with the most recent divorce being finalized in Houston County during the same month as Sallie’s trial….Later asked about her answers to questions asked during jury selection, the woman submitted an affidavit affirming her answers, according to court filings in the case. … She later bragged to an investigator that she convinced an evenly divided jury to vote unanimously for a death sentence, according to the release.
Although Sallie’s trial lawyer did seek a new trial, he didn’t conduct research on the juror, even after he learned of her “adulterous liaison” with a fellow juror. The jury had been sequestered in a hotel during the trial, but was released after the sentencing. Sallie’s lawyers allege the woman enticed a married man on the jury to stay with her after the trial.
Days after Sallie’s sentencing, a juror’s wife called the judge to ask when the trial would be over. Bailiffs were sent to the 28-year-old woman’s home to inform the male juror that his wife was asking about his whereabouts, according to the release.The judge informed lawyers for both the prosecution and defense about the situation about a week after the sentencing.
As the execution date nears, more information is coming out about the wayward juror. The woman said “she would follow Biblical law over Georgia law.” This same woman had been divorced four times. The judge at the trial presided over three of the woman’s divorces. “One of those divorces … was particularly acrimonious and contained dramatic courtroom scenes.” The judge allowed the woman to serve on the jury. Mr. Sallies lawyers could not stop it, which led to these lawyers resigning from the case… they knew they would have to file a claim of inadequate representation against themselves. As a result, Mr. Sallie was without a lawyer at a critical time in the appeal process, and missed an important filing deadline by eight days.
UPDATE William Sallie died at 10:05 pm, December 6, 2016. His request for the last meal was ” a medium pizza with sausage and pepperoni, chicken wings with buffalo sauce and a large soda.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. These men fought in the War Between the States.