Donald Edward Beaty v. Terry Stewart, Director

In this capital habeas case, we must decide whether the admission of a confession obtained by a jail psychiatrist constitutes prejudicial error. We also consider several other claims, including whether trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to pursue allegations of juror misconduct.

I

On May 9, 1984, thirteen-year-old Christy Ann Fornoff disappeared at a Tempe, Arizona apartment complex while making collections for her newspaper route. Donald Beaty, a maintenance person for the complex, actively assisted the police in searching for Fornoff. Although the police located her collection book near the complex, she was nowhere to be found.

In the early morning of May 11, Joseph Kapp, a tenant, encountered Beaty while throwing out his trash. Beaty told Kapp that he had found a body behind the dumpster and that he had called the police. Kapp observed the body, spoke with Beaty for a few minutes, and then returned to his apartment.

The police later arrived and determined that the body was Fornoffs. A medical examiner concluded that Fornoff had been asphyxiated by smothering and that she had been sexually assaulted, either contemporaneously with or…