Jordan v. Epps et al

Filing 54

ORDER granting 53 Motion for Expert Access; Robert Stanulis, Ph.D. and William Brown, Ph.D. to have access to Richard Jordan to conduct evaluations. Signed by District Judge Keith Starrett on November 22, 2017 (Rushing, Terryl)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
SOUTHERN DIVISION
RICHARD JORDAN

PETITIONER

VS.

CIVIL ACTION NO.: 1:05CV260KS

PELICIA HALL, Commissioner,
Mississippi Department of Corrections,
and JIM HOOD, Attorney General

DEFENDANT

ORDER GRANTING EXPERT ACCESS
This matter came before the Court on the Petitioner’s Motion for Expert Access [Doc.
#53], by which Richard Jordan seeks an Order allowing William Brown, Ph.D., a sociologist,
and Robert Stanulis, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist, access to Jordan for an evaluation. Jordan is
not seeking funding for this expert, and the Respondents have not opposed this request. Jordan is
a death-sentenced prisoner whose execution has been stayed pending the disposition of his
challenge to Mississippi’s protocol for lethal injection, which is pending in another case before
this Court (Jordan, et al. v. Hall; 3:15cv295HTW). Should his challenge be unsuccessful,
Jordan anticipates submitting an application for clemency to the Governor of the State of
Mississippi. Dr. Stanulis’s and Dr. Brown’s evaluations may be used to support that application.
The regulations of the Mississippi Department of Corrections require that a prisoner
seeking to be evaluated by an expert present a court order allowing the visit. MDOC SOP No.
20-01-01. This Court is not required to enter such an order, as Jordan’s right to seek clemency
does not depend on its entry. Turner v. Epps, 460 F. App’x 322, 2012 WL 398236 at *8 (5th Cir.
2012). In the context of preparing a petition for post-conviction relief, however, the Mississippi
Supreme Court would grant access. “Prisoners sentenced to death should be granted access to

their experts so long as the access complies with the rules and regulations of the Mississippi
Department of Corrections and so long as those rules and regulations do not violate petitioners'
due-process rights.” Grayson v. State, 118 So. 3d 118, 147 (Miss. 2013). Given the
Respondents’ lack of opposition to this Motion, the Court is of the opinion that the state court’s
rationale may be extended to this context, so long as the visit complies with MDOC’s rules and
regulations. The Court will approve the visits, to be scheduled at a time mutually agreed upon
by counsel for Jordan and the Department of Corrections.
Jordan requested that the evaluations be conducted as contact visits, with no hand
restraints. He has also asked that these experts be permitted to bring the appropriate equipment
into the penitentiary with them. These requests should be honored, so long as they do not
contravene any regulations or policies of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Motion for Expert Access [Doc. #53] be
granted, and Robert Stanulis, Ph.D. and William Brown, Ph.D., shall have access to Richard
Jordan for the purpose of conducting evaluations, under the terms and conditions outlined above.
IT IS SO ORDERED this the 22nd day of November, 2017.

s/Keith Starrett
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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