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Final Copy 291 Ga. 202

S12A0154. HUMPHREY v. LEWIS. THOMPSON, Justice. Christopher K. Lewis was convicted of malice murder, burglary, and other related offenses in 1998, and he was sentenced to death for the murder. After reversing and remanding for a new hearing on Lewis' motion for new trial, see Lewis v. State, 275 Ga. 194 (565 SE2d 437) (2002) (Lewis I), this Court unanimously affirmed Lewis' convictions and sentences in 2004. See Lewis v. State, 277 Ga. 534 (592 SE2d 405) (2004) (Lewis II). After Lewis filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the habeas court granted Lewis habeas relief with respect to his malice murder conviction and death sentence. See Hall v. Lewis, 286 Ga. 767, 768 (692 SE2d 580) (2010) (Lewis III). The warden appealed only the habeas court's grant of relief as to Lewis' murder conviction, and this Court reversed that portion of the habeas court's order and remanded the case to the habeas court for consideration of several unresolved claims that Lewis had raised in his amended petition. See id. at 784 (II) (D), (III). In accordance with the directions from this Court, the habeas court on remand ruled

on Lewis' remaining claims in an order filed on August 17, 2011. The habeas court again granted Lewis habeas relief, this time vacating all of Lewis' convictions on several grounds. The warden appeals. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the habeas court's ruling and reinstate Lewis' convictions. I. Factual Background The evidence adduced at trial showed the following. Lewis and the victim, Cheryl Lewis, were married but had been living apart for approximately a year, and there were several incidents of domestic violence over that time. Ms. Lewis and her two children from a previous marriage, 13-year-old Kellee Dunn and 10-year-old Sean Dunn, were staying with a friend in her apartment. On December 19, 1996, the children were alone in the apartment while Ms. Lewis was attending a Christmas party with a male co-worker, Robbie Epps. At approximately 11:00 p.m., Lewis began banging on the apartment door, cursing and yelling, but the children did not open the door pursuant to their mother's instructions. Eventually, the banging ceased, and the children went to sleep. At 1:45 a.m., Kellee was awakened by her mother's screams and went to a bedroom, where she saw Lewis holding a knife over her mother, who was on the floor. Kellee ran next door to call the police. When the police arrived, they
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found Epps standing in the parking lot. Appearing frightened and intoxicated, Epps told police that there was a man in the apartment. Police discovered Ms. Lewis' body inside. She had suffered 42 injuries and had bled to death because her carotid artery and jugular vein had been severed. After Kellee identified Lewis as her mother's attacker, police went to Lewis' apartment complex and arrested him in the parking lot. DNA taken from bloodstains on Lewis' shoe and pants matched Ms. Lewis' DNA profile.1 II. Standard of Review "In reviewing the grant or denial of a petition for habeas corpus, this Court accepts the habeas court's factual findings and credibility determinations unless they are clearly erroneous, but we independently apply the law to the facts." (Citation omitted.) Henderson v. Hames, 287 Ga. 534, 536 (2) (697 SE2d 798) (2010). III. Brady Claim The warden contends the habeas court erred in granting Lewis relief on his claim that the State suppressed evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373

For a more-detailed description of the facts of the crimes and the evidence against Lewis, see Lewis III, 286 Ga. at 768 (I), and Lewis II, 277 Ga. at 535-536 (1). 3

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U. S. 83 (83 SC 1194, 10 LE2d 215) (1963). The habeas court found the State violated Brady in its suppression of two pieces of evidence, namely: (1) notes reflecting an out-of-state investigator's interview with Ms. Lewis' roommate, Kimberly Silinzy, regarding Lewis' relationship with Ms. Lewis; and (2) a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) report stating that Lewis' shoe did not make a bloody shoe print found at the crime scene. The warden correctly points out that the habeas court failed to address the fact that Lewis' Brady claim was procedurally defaulted, at least as an initial matter, because he did not raise it at trial or on direct appeal. See Turpin v. Todd, 268 Ga. 820, 824 (2) (a) (493 SE2d 900) (1997); OCGA

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