Wade v. Mantello
| Decision Date | 13 June 2003 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 02-2359. |
| Citation | 333 F.3d 51 |
| Parties | Marvin WADE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Dominic MANTELLO, Superintendent, Coxsackie Correctional Facility, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Andrew E. Abraham, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Appeals Bureau, Brooklyn, NY, for Petitioner-Appellant.
Leonard Joblove, Assistant District Attorney (Joseph Huttler, Assistant District Attorney, on the brief), for Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Kings County, Brooklyn, NY, for Respondent-Appellee.
Before: OAKES, KEARSE, and B.D. PARKER, Jr., Circuit Judges.
Petitioner-appellant Marvin Wade appeals from the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Edward R. Korman, Chief Judge). Wade was convicted of the murder of Emmanuel ("Manny") Bryant in New York Supreme Court, Kings County, in 1995. He was granted a Certificate of Appealability on the issue of whether he was deprived of his right to present a complete defense when the trial court excluded testimony that the victim had been involved in a shooting with another individual several weeks prior to the murder. On direct appeal, the New York Appellate Division concluded that the testimony had been properly excluded and, consequently, that the exclusion did not violate the Constitution. Because we believe this determination was not an objectively unreasonable application of federal law, we affirm. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1).
The testimony at Wade's trial established that on October 26, 1994, Manny Bryant was shot and killed in the J&J dry cleaners in Brooklyn, New York. Bryant and an acquaintance, Robert Jones, had gone to the cleaners to collect clothing left by Bryant. The owner testified that as he was retrieving Bryant's clothes from the rear of the store, he heard gunshots, ran to the foyer, saw Bryant on the ground, and called the police.
At trial, two witnesses identified Wade as the shooter: Randy Roman and Robert Jones. The first to testify, thirty-five-year-old Randy Roman, was an admitted alcoholic and one-time heroin addict, with a lengthy criminal history.1 Roman testified that on the day of the murder he was standing with friends near the dry cleaners, drinking heavily. He heard three or four gunshots, looked around and saw a man walking towards him with a gun in his hand, approximately sixteen feet away. Roman fled the scene but later contacted the investigating officers and gave an account of what he had observed. Eventually the officers went to Roman's home and showed him a photographic array, which included photographs of Wade and Jones. Although Roman testified that he recognized the man with the gun in the array, he did not immediately mention this to the officers but later contacted the police and identified Wade.
Jones testified that, on the day of the murder, he was conversing with a friend near the dry cleaners and was approached by Bryant, who asked Jones to accompany him to the cleaners. Jones agreed and the two men walked into the store. While in the store with Bryant, Jones observed a man coming from a nearby housing complex wearing a "black hoody [hooded sweatshirt], ... black Army pants, black boots and a black hat," which was covering his face. Upon entering the store, the individual lifted the black hat, at which point Jones recognized Wade, whom he had known for approximately six months and had seen frequently. According to Jones, Wade then pulled a gun and repeatedly shot Bryant. After the shooting began, Jones pushed past Wade and ran out of the store. Several days later, Jones was questioned by the police and implicated Wade. After Wade's arrest, he was shown in a line-up at which Roman identified Wade as the man he had seen with a gun and Jones identified Wade as the shooter.
Wade advanced essentially two defenses: he attempted to establish an alibi and he attempted to suggest that another individual — a gang member named Gene — had a motive to kill Bryant and that Jones was intimidated by the gang to which Gene belonged into falsely implicating Wade. Wade's attempt to present the latter theory was unsuccessful, however, largely because the trial court excluded testimony by a defense witness, which, Wade claims, would have established Gene's motive. This evidentiary ruling is the basis of Wade's habeas petition and the issue on this appeal.
On cross-examination, Jones testified to the existence of a gang called the "Paradise gang" operating in the area. Jones was asked whether Bryant was a member of the gang, whether a person named Gene was a member of the gang, and whether Jones was physically attacked by members of the gang the night after the murder, but the court sustained objections to these questions. After discussion at side-bar, however, the court allowed defense counsel to elicit that Jones was attacked by members of the Paradise gang the night after the murder. The court also permitted defense counsel to cross-examine Jones about whether Bryant was a member of the Paradise gang or had recent problems with Gene, allegedly a high-ranking member of the gang. But Jones denied knowing whether Bryant was a member of the gang or was having any problems with its members.
After Jones's testimony, but before the defense's case, the court ruled that, absent a more compelling offer of proof, it would not permit further comment on Bryant's alleged membership in the Paradise gang or argument that another person committed the crime:
The fact he might have belonged to a gang is not really relevant.... And I won't allow you to comment on it.... There is nothing else I would permit you to say regarding that, as far as any other evidence that there might have been another person who killed him. There is nothing to connect his connection with the gang with someone else committing this crime. Nothing at all. It is all speculative and irrelevant ... [U]nless you can make an offer of proof, then, of course, it may not remain that way. If you have evidence connecting someone else with the commission of this crime, then maybe I will.
In response, defense counsel indicated, referring to Darryl Folk, one of Wade's alibi witnesses, that she had a witness "who observed the deceased having problems with the gang," implying that another person had a motive to kill Bryant. The court ruled, however, that this proffer was insufficient:
The fact that the deceased might have had problems with the gang is irrelevant. You still have nothing to connect, and the cases are legion in this area. You have to show a clear connection between your evidence and the fact that someone else might have committed this crime.... Motive is not sufficient. You have to have clear, or evidence making a clear connection.... I will tell you right now I won't let you do it. Unless, as I said, you can offer proof, or have an offer of proof which shows a clearer connection than you have right now.
Notwithstanding this ruling, defense counsel asked Folk on direct examination whether he had witnessed Bryant "having any trouble with anybody from the Paradise gang." When the court precluded this question, defense counsel proffered that Folk would testify that three to four weeks before the murder, Folk had observed a shoot-out between Bryant and Gene. The prosecutor argued, and the court agreed, that the testimony was inflammatory and irrelevant. At the conclusion of trial, the jury found Wade guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of twenty-five years to life.
On direct appeal, Wade argued that by precluding Folk's testimony, the court violated Wade's right under the New York and federal constitutions to present a complete defense. The Appellate Division, however, affirmed Wade's conviction, holding that
[t]he trial court did not improvidently exercise its discretion by limiting the defendant's examination of one of his witnesses. Even though a defendant has a right to introduce evidence that a person other than himself committed the crime (see, Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297), the evidence must do more than raise a mere suspicion that another person committed the crime. In this case, the defendant failed to show a clear link between the third party and the crime. [citations omitted].
People v. Wade, 245 A.D.2d 473, 666 N.Y.S.2d 467, 468 (1997).
Wade sought, but was denied, leave to appeal to the New York Court of Appeals. People v. Wade, 92 N.Y.2d 862, 677 N.Y.S.2d 93, 699 N.E.2d 453 (1998). Wade filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, again arguing that the trial court's ruling violated his right to present a complete defense, as did the Appellate Division's reliance, in rejecting his appeal, upon the "clear link" test for the admission of evidence of third-party culpability.
While his petition was pending, the New York Court of Appeals granted leave to appeal in People v. Primo, 270 A.D.2d 291, 704 N.Y.S.2d 112 (2000), leave granted, 95 N.Y.2d 907, 716 N.Y.S.2d 648, 739 N.E.2d 1153 (2000), which presented the question of the appropriateness of the "clear link" test. The district court, consequently, reserved decision on the habeas petition pending the state court's decision. In June 2001, the New York Court of Appeals issued its decision in Primo, in which it concluded that the "`clear link' phraseology" does not "best articulate[] the standard that should govern the admissibility of evidence of third-party culpability" and that instead "the test is better described in terms of conventional evidentiary principles." People v. Primo, 96 N.Y.2d 351, 355, 728 N.Y.S.2d 735, 753 N.E.2d 164 (2001).2 "To the extent that the `clear link' standard implies no more than an...
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