State v. Mack

1

The State, Respondent, v. Terriel Leshawn Mack, Appellant.

No. 6031

Appellate Case No. 2019-000521

Court of Appeals of South Carolina

July 12, 2023

Appeal from Florence County William H. Seals, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

Heard March 16, 2022

Withdrawn, Substituted and Refiled November 1, 2023

Kathrine Haggard Hudgins, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson, Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Melody Jane Brown, Senior Assistant Attorney General W. Edgar Salter, III, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Edgar Lewis Clements, III, of Florence, for Respondent.

GEATHERS, J.

Terriel Leshawn Mack appeals the result of a resentencing hearing required by our supreme court's decision in Aiken v Byars, 410 S.C. 534, 765 S.E.2d 572 (2014). Mack argues that the circuit court (1) erred by sentencing Mack to life without parole without finding that he was irreparably corrupt; (2) did not properly consider the "hallmark features of youth" in its decision; (3) improperly rejected Mack's argument that he could be rehabilitated because of his relative youth at the time of the crime; (4) faulted Mack for not overcoming the circumstances of his upbringing; and (5) erred in finding that Mack's youth did not hinder his ability to present a defense in his original trial. We reverse and remand for reconsideration under the standards laid out by our supreme court.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 2003, Terriel Lashawn Mack and two co-defendants, Islam Horn and Gregory Johnson, were indicted for the murder of Joseph Todd Wilson (the victim) and for conspiracy. Mack was seventeen years old at the time of the victim's death.

At trial, Horn and Johnson testified that on the day of the victim's death, they drove to North Florence with Mack. At some point, Mack saw the victim and "wanted to holler at" him. Mack and Johnson got out of the car. Not long after, Horn "heard the first gunshot." Moving his car slightly, Horn saw Mack "stand over [the victim] and shoot him three more times in the back."

According to Johnson, when Mack first saw the victim, "he ask[ed] me was that [the victim] who snitched on somebody else[,] a guy by the name of White Boy[.]"^[1] Johnson testified that he and Mack exited the car, and, a few moments later, Mack shot the victim in the head. Johnson said he was running away by the time Mack fired the last three bullets.

At trial, Horn also read and helped decode an incriminating letter he said Mack wrote to Horn while the two of them were in jail following the crime. The contents included:

I got out the car me and [Johnson] and I call [the victim] like, Yo, that my n** Tellie. Then he started walking back towards me. [Johnson] was like, Yo, the jakes is over there.^[2] I was like f*** that n**. I ain't got no time to waste. Plus, I don't give a f*** about no jakes anyway. Son, I had hollows in the chamber and I blew that b**** n** brains out . . . . That n** s*** splattered everywhere and he drop like a rag doll, like he had spaghetti legs or some s***, put three in his back.

The letter also suggested that Mack killed the victim "for WB and my n** BG rest in peace . . . ." Mack also allegedly wrote: "I told myself the only thing I was coming back to jail for was either bricks or bodies and I stuck to my word."^[3] During a hearing on his post-conviction relief application, Mack denied being the author of the letter.

The jury found Mack guilty of murder. The court sentenced Mack to life in prison without parole (LWOP). This court affirmed in an Anders appeal.

In 2014, Mack and fourteen other individuals challenged the legality of their LWOP sentences in Aiken v. Byars, 410 S.C. 534, 765 S.E.2d 572 (2014). A divided South Carolina Supreme Court found that they were entitled to new sentencing hearings under either the U.S. Supreme Court's recent interpretations of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or under a similar provision of the South Carolina Constitution.^[4] Id. at 545-46, 765 S.E.2d at 578. The plurality held that circuit courts must consider the following factors (Aiken factors) when sentencing a juvenile to LWOP:

(1) the chronological age of the offender and the hallmark features of youth, including "immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate [] risks and consequence[s]"; (2) the "family and home environment" that surrounded the offender; (3) the circumstances of the homicide offense, including the extent of the offender's participation in the conduct and how familial and peer pressures may have affected him; (4) the "incompetencies associated with youth-for example, [the offender's] inability to deal with police officers or prosecutors (including on a plea agreement) or [the offender's] incapacity to assist his own attorneys"; and (5) the "possibility of rehabilitation."

Id. at 544, 765 S.E.2d at 577 (first and second alterations added) (quoting Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 477-78 (2012)).^[5] Following our supreme court's decision, Mack filed a motion for resentencing that was granted.

At Mack's resentencing hearing, the State attempted to portray Mack as a remorseless killer. Mack presented an array of evidence about aspects of his first trial, the offense, and his life both before and after the murder.

Testifying for the State, Detective Melvin Godwin said Mack had confessed to the murder in a statement to police and that Mack said he murdered the victim to prevent him from testifying against "White Boy," whose real name was Marcus Martin.^[6] However, under cross-examination, Godwin was forced to concede that Mack had asked for a lawyer, but law enforcement had continued questioning him anyway.

The State also introduced Mack's disciplinary record in prison, which included charges and allegations of weapons and drug possession, fights with guards, threats to guards, property damage, being part of a "security threat group," and eight instances of public masturbation. He once allegedly attempted to bribe a prison guard to bring money into the prison for him. In all, Mack had twenty-seven reports over more than twelve years. Mack was also investigated for homicide in an investigation related to a riot at Lee Correctional Institute. At his resentencing hearing, Mack said that "some [of the incidents were] entirely my fault"; additional incidents were caused by "misunderstandings"; and other disciplinary actions included times he was "falsely accused and unable to prove my innocence."

Mack presented the testimony of Dr. Geoffrey McKee, a forensic psychologist. Dr. McKee testified about Mack's complicated relationship with the father figures in his life. Mack's biological father denied paternity even after testing confirmed he was Mack's father. A romantic partner of his mother, a man named Nathaniel, acted as a "father figure" to Mack and was abusive to his mother. A subsequent romantic partner of his mother insisted on removing any trace of Nathaniel, forcing Mack to deny the existence of the man he viewed as a "father figure" and "role model."

Dr. McKee also testified about the abuse Mack experienced and witnessed. Mack once defended his mother from an abuser. Mack was also abused by his mother on at least one occasion. At the age of twelve, Mack was sexually assaulted by a seventeen-year-old female.^[7] Around the same time, Mack began using alcohol and marijuana. Dr. McKee testified that he believed Mack could be rehabilitated.

After the end of testimony and evidence, Mack addressed the court.

I would like to sincerely apologize for my involvement in the death of Mr. Wilson . . . . At the time of my arrest, I was a 17-year-old child that was under the false impression that I was a grown man because at least since the age of 13[,] I have been running around town with people I thought were my friends doing what we thought grownups did[:] alcohol, doing drugs[,] and living every day like life was a game people press restart-press a restart button on.

Mack also discussed his involvement in the prison ministry and his efforts to tutor fellow inmates.

Both sides also introduced dozens of pages of documentary evidence. A Department of Juvenile Justice report prepared when Mack was fifteen and had been charged with petit larceny stated that he was "cool and indifferent to the feelings and welfare of others." The report also said Mack "does not appear interested in developing close relationships with others, and [his] ties to others are generally based on sharing similar antisocial or unempathetic attitudes." The report indicated that Mack had been charged with multiple counts of damaging or tampering with a vehicle and larceny in a December 2001 incident. There were also assorted assault charges listed.^[8]

The defense introduced a psychiatric evaluation by Dr. Matthew Gaskins noting an incident in which Mack told a nurse practitioner that "'he was found hanging in the shower' and had to be cut down." Dr. Gaskins also noted Mack had an array of diagnoses-including posttraumatic stress disorder, psychosis, antisocial personality disorder, and malingering-and prescriptions for Mack. Gaskins's report also noted Mack said he once kept a sharpened stick at prison because "he had shoulder surgery and 'was a one-armed man' making him feel 'like a sitting duck.'" Gaskins added: "His experiences have led him to knowingly push boundaries and break rules in order to 'survive' while incarcerated (i.e.[,] have a potential weapon when limited physically, fight an officer/inmate who disrespects him publicly)." Gaskins also wrote: "the most common form of malingering is exaggeration and should not be dismissed." As to the personality disorder diagnosis, Gaskins emphasized Mack's incarceration and prior experience. ...