Albanese v. McGinnis

• Decision Date: 28 May 1993
• Docket Number: No. 90 C 1556.,90 C 1556.
• Citation: 823 F. Supp. 521
• Parties: Charles ALBANESE, Petitioner, v. Kenneth McGINNIS, Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections; and James Greer, Warden, Menard Correctional Center, Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

823 F. Supp. 521

Charles ALBANESE, Petitioner, v. Kenneth McGINNIS, Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections; and James Greer, Warden, Menard Correctional Center, Respondents.

No. 90 C 1556.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, E.D.

May 28, 1993.

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J. Steven Beckett, Beckett, Crewell & Kelso, P.C., Urbana, IL, for plaintiff.

Terence Madsen, Illinois Atty. General's Office, Chicago, IL, for defendants.

Bruce H. Bornstein, Alan Michael Freedman, Freedman & Bornstein, Chicago, IL, for Andrew Kokoraleis, amicus.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BRIAN BARNETT DUFF, District Judge.

Petitioner Charles Albanese was convicted in separate trials of the murders of his father, mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law, and the attempted murder of his brother. He was sentenced to death in both proceedings. Albanese seeks habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 ("§ 2254") and asks this court to review the constitutionality of his convictions and sentences. For the reasons stated below, the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is denied.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In May 1982 Petitioner Albanese was convicted of the murders of Mary Lambert, his wife's grandmother, and M.J. Albanese, his father, as well as the attempted murder of his brother Michael Albanese, all by arsenic poisoning.¹ At the request of Albanese, the May 1982 trial was transferred from McHenry County, where the indictment was outstanding, to McLean County. The McLean County jury sentenced Albanese to death.² On direct appeal, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence, People v. Albanese, 102 Ill.2d 54, 79 Ill.Dec. 608, 464 N.E.2d 206 (1984) (hereinafter "Albanese I"). The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari, Albanese v. Illinois, 469 U.S. 892, 105 S.Ct. 268, 83 L.Ed.2d 205 (1984).

In October 1982 Albanese was convicted in Lake County of the murder of his mother-in-law, Marion Mueller. Petitioner waived a jury for sentencing, and the trial judge imposed the death sentence. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on direct appeal, People v. Albanese, 104 Ill.2d 504, 85 Ill.Dec. 441, 473 N.E.2d 1246 (1984) (hereinafter "Albanese II"), and certiorari was denied, Albanese v. Illinois, 471 U.S. 1044, 105 S.Ct. 2061, 85 L.Ed.2d 335 (1985).

Albanese filed separate post conviction petitions attacking the constitutional validity of his convictions and death sentences in McHenry and Lake Counties. The McHenry County petition was denied after a three-day evidentiary hearing held in May 1986. The Lake County petition was denied without a hearing. Both denials were appealed directly to the Illinois Supreme Court, which affirmed the denial of post conviction relief after consolidating the appeals due to the similarity of issues presented. People v. Albanese, 125 Ill.2d 100, 125 Ill.Dec. 838, 531 N.E.2d 17 (1988) (hereinafter "Albanese III"). Once again, certiorari was denied, Albanese v. Illinois, 490 U.S. 1075, 109 S.Ct. 2088, 104 L.Ed.2d 652 (1989). Petitioner now seeks federal habeas relief from the McHenry and Lake County convictions and sentences.³ Respondents (hereinafter referred to as the "State") concede that Albanese has exhausted his state remedies and have moved that the court deny the Petition.

BACKGROUND

Under § 2254(d) factual findings by a state court "are presumed to be proper in a federal habeas corpus proceeding, if the findings are made after a hearing on the merits, and they are fairly supported by the record." Wilson v. McCaughtry, 994 F.2d 1228, 1230 (7th Cir.1993). Factual findings made by a state appellate court are accorded the same statutory presumption of correctness as findings made by a state trial court. Lewis v. Huch, 964 F.2d 670, 671 (7th Cir.1992).

1. Trial Evidence.

The following facts are taken from the Illinois Supreme Court's opinion in Albanese I (McHenry County). Additional facts from this court's review of the trial transcripts have been added in brackets ({}).

In 1980, Charles Albanese was president of Allied Die Casting Corporation, a family business that manufactured trophies and loving cups. Albanese was married and lived in a large home in Spring Grove with his third wife and two daughters. Albanese had three other daughters by his first wife, and they were living in Wisconsin with their mother. Albanese maintained what can be termed a comfortable life style; he had a swimming pool, two Cadillacs leased by Allied Die Casting Corporation for the family's use, and he took frequent vacations to tropical destinations. Albanese testified that he spent everything that he earned and was not able to live on $110,000 per year "and do some of the things I want."

Charles Albanese began experiencing serious economic problems in July of 1980. He was behind in his mortgage payment and six months' delinquent in child-support payments to his first wife. He also owed a $15,000 note at the State Bank of Richmond, due on August 14, 1980. In July of 1980, his ex-wife's lawyer filed a petition requiring him to appear in court on a rule to show cause, and a body attachment was issued when he failed to appear.

On August 3, Marion Mueller, Albanese's mother-in-law, and Mary Lambert, Mrs. Albanese's grandmother, came to the Albanese home for Sunday dinner. Mueller and Lambert lived together in a condominium at Leisure Village, a retirement complex in Fox Lake, and often visited the Albanese home for Sunday dinner. The family ate Polish sausage and sauerkraut family style from the same platter, so it appears the arsenic was ingested from another source. Charles Albanese testified that, to his knowledge, the two guests had nothing to drink. Charles Albanese insisted this was the case even though the 87-year-old Mary Lambert was working in the yard on a hot day for several hours prior to eating dinner.

On August 4, 1980, Charles Albanese sent his ex-wife's lawyer a postdated check for $3,648, the amount of the child-support arrearages, along with a note that informed the attorney that the check was dated August 15 because a deposit would be made to his account around August 13. Charles also sent him a postdated check for $500. On August 5, 1980, Mary Lambert was admitted to the emergency room at McHenry Hospital with a history of vomiting and diarrhea for the preceding 36 to 48 hours. On August 6, 1980, Mrs. Lambert died leaving Marion Mueller and Virginia Albanese as her heirs. Charles Albanese's wife, Virginia Albanese, closed out her grandmother's checking account and transferred $3,600 to the joint-tenancy account she shared with her husband. This amount helped to cover the postdated check for Charles Albanese's child-support payments.

Charles Albanese was arrested for his child-support arrearage on August 8, 1980, while on the way to Mary Lambert's funeral. He was released when it was made clear that he would pay the delinquent child support. Marion Mueller experienced vomiting and diarrhea shortly after the August 3, 1980, meal at the Albanese home, and she was hospitalized at St. Therese's Hospital in Waukegan on August 16, 1980. Her condition deteriorated and she died on August 18, 1980. On August 20, 1980, money held in a joint-tenancy account with Virginia Albanese and Marion Mueller was transferred to the joint-tenancy account of Charles Albanese and Virginia Albanese.

The body of Marion Mueller was exhumed on August 31, 1981, and the body of Mary Lambert was exhumed on August 13, 1981. The official cause of death for both women was acute gastroenteritis due to arsenic poisoning. Mary Lambert had approximately eight times the normal amount of arsenic in her body and Marion Mueller had five times the normal concentration of arsenic. Forensic chemist Joerg Pirl testified that the two women died of a massive dose of arsenic.

Virginia Albanese received $6,000 in life insurance proceeds and pension fund proceeds from Marion Mueller's death, and the money was used to make the delinquent payments on the Albaneses' mortgage. The State Bank of Richmond granted Charles Albanese two extensions on the note due August 14, 1980, because Charles Albanese told the bank that he had some real estate that he was trying to sell. Charles and Virginia Albanese sold the Leisure Village condominium owned by the two dead women for $50,000 in October of 1980. Virginia Albanese inherited the condominium by intestate succession. Twenty thousand dollars from this sale was deposited in the joint account of Charles and Virginia Albanese, and this amount was used to satisfy the $15,000 note due at the Richmond State Bank.

In 1980, Allied Die Casting was owned by three stockholders: Charles Albanese, M.J. Albanese (Charles' father), and Michael Albanese (Charles' brother). The three men made up the board of directors and each held an executive office. Charles Albanese was president of the corporation, Michael Albanese was vice-president, and M.J. Albanese held the office of secretary-treasurer. The shareholder agreement, approved by the board of directors, gave special powers to M.J. Albanese. He had absolute power to control and manage the company, including the power to veto or negate the decision of any other officer or employee. This arrangement was consistent with the origins of Allied Die Casting. M.J. Albanese was the moving force behind the business, and Charles had joined the family business when a previous job had not worked out. Charles Albanese did not have a good relationship with his brother, Michael Albanese, but conflicting testimony was offered concerning the relationship between Charles Albanese and M.J. Albanese.

A. Donald Fishbein, attorney for Allied Die Casting, testified that he attended a corporate meeting on September 4, 1980. Fishbein, Michael Albanese, Charles Albanese, M.J. Albanese, and M.J.'s wife, Clara Albanese, were in attendance. Fishbein testified that the purpose

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