The case of Patrick Horn and Chad Choice is a complex legal saga involving kidnapping and murder, leading to significant court proceedings and appeals.
On March 31, 1997, Patrick Horn was indicted for the capital murder of Chad Choice in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. Horn pleaded not guilty, and his case proceeded to trial in the District Court of Smith County, Texas, 241st Judicial District.
Horn moved to suppress the statements he made to federal authorities on or shortly after May 31, 1996. After conducting a pretrial evidentiary suppression hearing, the state trial court denied Horn's motion, finding that Horn's statements were made voluntarily. Horn also objected to the admission of testimony through two-way closed-circuit television by state prosecution witness John Birk (Birk), who was terminally ill with cancer and being treated in Ohio. The trial court overruled Horn's objection and allowed the introduction of Birk's testimony by the two-way system. Horn did not testify.
On October 4, 1999, Horn was convicted of the capital murder of Choice - specifically, murder committed in the course of committing kidnapping. TEX. PENAL CODE § 19.03(a). Horn was sentenced to death. TEX.CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 37.071. Judgment was originally entered on October 12, 1999. An amended judgment was signed and entered on March 20, 2000.
An automatic direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was entered on February 26, 2001. Horn asserted various grounds for relief - including his claims that the trial court should not have allowed prosecutors to introduce Horn's statements made May 31, 1996 or shortly thereafter because they were made involuntarily, and that his confrontation right was violated when the trial court allowed Birk to testify by two-way closed-circuit television.
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In a some thirty page unpublished opinion, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) rejected these arguments and affirmed Horn's conviction and sentence. Horn v. State, No. 73,684 (Tex. Crim. App. Dec. 4, 2002) (en banc). The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on October 6, 2003. Horn v. Cockrell, 540 U.S. 835, 124 S.Ct. 835 (2003).
Later, Horn's attorney thought he might know something about Choice's disappearance and advised Horn to consult with his attorney (Scrappy Holmes) about what he might know and whether he might be able to get immunity. Horn, Horn's defense attorney, and the federal prosecutor were present during the in camera proceeding. Later that day, Horn told the FBI the location of Choice's body.
Horn admitted that he had been involved in the drug trade with the three Colombians - Paco, Carlos, and Junior. He stated that he bought drugs from the Colombians and then sold some of those drugs to Sterling. Horn stated that Sterling owed the Colombians a substantial amount of money, and that because of this debt, the Colombians requested that Horn steal the keys to Choice's home. Horn stated that he had done so and had given the keys to Carlos.
According to Horn, Paco and Carlos kidnapped Choice in an attempt to collect Sterling's drug debt. Horn claimed that after the Colombians abducted Choice, they picked him up in their car and drove him and Choice to an isolated location in East Texas. There, Horn claimed, Paco shot and killed Choice. Also according to Horn, a few days after Choice's abduction and murder, Paco and Carlos arrived at Horn's home and ordered Horn to bury Choice in his backyard. Horn claimed that he did so because he feared losing his own life.
Horn led the FBI to the murder scene and the burial site.
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Horn then filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in federal district court. The United States Supreme Court decided Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183 (2005), holding that the Eighth Amendment forbids imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of eighteen when their crimes were committed. The Fifth Circuit remanded the case to allow him to pursue in state court his claim that because he was seventeen years old at the time he committed the murder, his execution would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Horn relief and commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment. Ex parte Horn, No. WR-54,489-03.
In a related legal action, the state trial court entered findings of facts and conclusions of law and recommended that relief be denied on December 3, 2002. The TCCA adopted the trial court's findings and conclusions and denied state habeas relief on March 5, 2003. Ex parte Horn, No. 54,489-01 (Tex.Crim.App. Mar. 5, 2003).
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