One of the two men waiting to be executed for the murder of a Jones County family had another day in court last week while the family of his victims watched and listened. A Habeas Corpus Review of Brandon Joseph Rhode was held April 1 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson.
Habeas Corpus is Latin for ‘that you have the body’. A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine if the person’s detention is lawful. One of the steps in the appeals process for a person sentenced to death is a state habeas corpus review, which is basically an additional appeal. It differs from the direct appeal in that the defendant may raise claims based on facts outside the trial record, and they must be claims that could not be raised in the direct appeal.
Gerri Moss attended the proceeding that was conducted in the courtroom of the prison for added security. She sat three to four feet from the man who is on death row for murdering her family.
Moss came home from work April 23, 1998 to find her 11-year old son, 15-year old daughter and husband dead. The family members were shot a total of 13 times.
Rhode, who was 18 at the time, and Daniel Anthony Lucas, 19, were arrested for the triple murder and tried separately for three counts of felony murder, two counts of burglary, and one count of kidnapping. Lucas was tried in September of 1999, and Rhode’s trial took place in February of 2000. Both men were found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death.
Rhode and Lucas filed for retrials and appealed to the Georgia State Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. In each instance, the courts have upheld the verdicts of the original trials, and Gerri Moss has attended the proceedings when allowed.
“I feel like I’m still putting Kristen, Bryan and Steven out there so they won’t be forgotten,” the wife and mother explained.
She stated that following the sentencing of Rhode and Lucas she made the decision to stay in Georgia until justice is served and the pair executed.
“I’m alone here, my family lives in California,” Moss said. “But I am determined to see this thing through. When they were put on death row, a huge burden was lifted. At least I know they won’t be hurting anyone else.”
Moss said a lot of information presented at the review was not discussed at the trial. Five years after Rhode’s trial, she listened while his mother, father and aunt talked of his childhood in a world of drugs and alcohol.
“His mother went so far as to testify under oath that all drugs should be legalized,” Moss said. “The things they were bringing up; I’m sorry, but they dropped the ball while they were raising him, and it’s too late to try do something now.”
Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright was the sole witness for the state, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge John Gogor presided over the appeal.
Rhode was represented by Brian Kammer of the Georgia Resource Center.
Two expert witnesses, a doctor from Vermont and staff member from the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital were called in Rhode’s defense.
Bright said Kammer claimed ineffective counsel, an expected argument in death penalty appeals. Rhode’s trial attorneys were Frank Ford and Jack Nebl.
“Discovery was another point argued, but we made sure that ‘every sheet of paper’ was turned over to the lawyers,” he added.
Bright said he was questioned about the lack of plea bargaining in the case, and the prosecutor said he did give Rhode the offer of death. Because of the brutality of the crimes, Bright was not interested in offering a lesser penalty.
“I vividly remember in the guilt-innocence portion of the trial, when the jury had been out five hours, the attorneys asked me about a manslaughter plea. My response was ‘read my lips, I’m not even interested in offering life without parole’.”
Bright noted that Rhode was the first to escape from the Jones County Law Enforcement Center, which was new at the time, as well as an incident when the prisoner was moved to the Putnam County facility.
“He attempted an escape but was not successful,” the district attorney said.
Another issue Bright was questioned about was an outing for the jury during the trial.
“Back in those days there wasn’t much of a selection of places to eat in Jones County, and on Thursday of the trial they took jurors for a barbecue at Bill Lucado’s farm,” he recalled. “The defense argued that the sheriff fed the jury.”
Bright said jurors were segregated from court officials, and the outing was planned to give them some fresh air and something different to eat.
“There was nothing improper at that barbecue,” he stated. “Judge (Hugh) Wingfield actually ate with defense counsel.”
Bright said he does not expect a decision in the habeas for months. Transcripts of the appeal are sent to both sides, and each is given time to respond. The D.A. said the State Attorney General’s office will notify him when the decision has been reached.
Bright said he told Moss that any movement in the case is a good sign, and he is confident the court will uphold the verdict.
“I always tell the victim’s family to be prepared for years of endless appeals, but we will be there every step of the way,” he said. “This case was tried clean as a whistle. We bent over backwards to ensure that Brandon Rhode received a fair and just trial.”
