Thomas v. Clements, No. 14-2539 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseJoyce and Thomas divorced in 1999. Thomas continued to live in her apartment and borrow money. They occasionally had sex. Joyce threatened to kick Thomas out many times. Around 2 a.m. on December 27, 2006, Cruz, the downstairs neighbor, woke to hear screaming, choking, and thumps, followed by 10 minutes of silence, and the sound of dragging. She then saw Thomas and another leave the building. Cruz later heard someone go into Joyce’s apartment and say “oh my god move.” Police received a call from Thomas at 3:24 a.m. saying Joyce was unconscious. She was pronounced dead at 4:19 a.m. Thomas told differing stories, eventually stating: “I do believe I was accidentally responsible for the death of Joyce.” Thomas was convicted of intentional murder, first-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment. Thomas argues that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to consider and consult with an expert to review the pathologist’s report and perhaps testify consistently with the defense’s theory that Thomas unintentionally caused Joyce’s death by putting pressure on her neck for too long during sex. The Seventh Circuit reversed denial of his habeas petition. Reasonable counsel would have consulted a forensic expert; the state’s expert testified there was no evidence of external bruising but was still sure that this was intentional strangulation. Given the weakness of the case, especially concerning intent, had an expert testified, there is a reasonable probability the trial would have turned out differently.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 7, 2015.
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