1985-04-07 1

Sentencing phase

The jury convicted Hafdahl of capital murder on April 4, 1986. During the sentencing phase, the State requested the death penalty and introduced additional evidence as to the three required "special issues":

1. Whether Hafdahl deliberately killed Mitchell;
2. whether Hafdahl's response to Mitchell's provocation, if any, was unreasonable; and
3. whether Hafdahl would probably commit criminal acts of violence in the future.

Hafdahl had a previous conviction for delivery of LSD. He received a sentence of ten years' probation. Testimony at the punishment phase of his trial indicated that Hafdahl had previously overseen a methamphetamine production operation in Colorado. He had also been charged with aggravated kidnapping and had a warrant out for his arrest at the time of Mitchell's killing.

He had dyed his hair and began using the aliases Robert Moore and Jack Douglas Cone.

Prosecutors said that Hafdahl knew that if he was caught by Mitchell, he would be arrested and tried for kidnapping.

Erdmann was not called to testify further, but the police officers testified in more detail about the kidnaping arrest.

During the punishment phase of trial, the State presented evidence that Hafdahl had been arrested on Aug. 11, 1980, in Richardson, Texas, and charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon and felony theft. The police had been conducting surveillance of Hafdahl's house on suspicion that the occupants were involved in a burglary ring.

Hafdahl and another man left the house and got into a van, which the police subsequently stopped for a traffic violation. During the stop, Hafdahl was caught trying to shove a .38-caliber gun under the seat. When the police conducted a search of the house, they discovered stolen property and narcotics.

Five law enforcement officers from both Texas and Colorado testified that they knew Hafdahl to have a bad reputation for being peaceful and law abiding, and reputation for being dangerous and violent.

Kidnapping offense

During cross examination of one of these officers, defense counsel elicited details of the kidnapping investigation for which Hafdahl was arrested in 1982. Hafdahl was charged with aggravated kidnapping, but he was never indicted.

The officer stated that the alleged kidnapping victim was forcibly taken from Grand Prairie, Texas, by Hafdahl and two others, and transported first to Colorado, then Wyoming, and eventually returned to Texas, where she escaped.

During that time, the victim claimed she was beaten, gagged and her life threatened. Hafdahl was not named as one of the two men who originally kidnapped her from the parking lot, but the victim's statement listed him as one of nine people who participated in the course of the abduction.

Bates Farm methamphetamine manufacturing

While in Colorado, Hafdahl worked at a place called the "Bates Farm." The Bates Farm manufactured methamphetamines and traded stolen guns and illegal weapons. Hafdahl was known as the "right-hand-man" and the "enforcer" for the Bates Farm. He oversaw the entire drug operation, including selling drugs and collecting debts or money for the sale of drugs. Hafdahl was known to carry a weapon on a daily basis.

Hafdahl presented several witnesses and family members who testified that they had never seen him do anything violent, even when provoked. However, on cross-examination, one relative admitted she had not seen him in the six or seven years prior to his arrest.