Arreola v. Hedgpeth, 1:10-CV-00739 GSA HC
| Decision Date | 06 May 2011 |
| Docket Number | 1:10-CV-00739 GSA HC |
| Parties | MICHAEL ANGELO ARREOLA, Petitioner, v. A. HEDGPETH, Warden, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California |
ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO ENTER JUDGMENT
Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The parties have consented to the jurisdiction of the magistrate judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
Petitioner is currently in the custody of the California Department of Corrections pursuant to a judgment of the Superior Court of California, County of Kings, following his conviction by jury trial on September 26, 2007, of first degree murder. On November 9, 2007, he was sentenced to serve an indeterminate term of 25 years to life in state prison.
Petitioner filed a timely notice of appeal. On January 27, 2009, the California Court ofAppeal, Fifth Appellate District ("Fifth DCA"), affirmed Petitioner's judgment in a reasoned decision. Petitioner then filed a petition for review in the California Supreme Court. The petition was summarily denied on April 22, 2009.
On April 28, 2010, Petitioner filed the instant federal habeas petition. He presents the following claims for relief: 1) The trial court violated Petitioner's constitutional rights by precluding relevant, admissible reputation evidence that a key prosecution witness was a liar and a thief; 2) The trial court violated Petitioner's constitutional rights when it allowed the admission of irrelevant, inflammatory evidence of telephone conversations in which Petitioner used profanity, referenced mental health issues, promised not to fight in jail, and implied he was affiliated with a gang; 3) The trial court prejudicially erred by failing to instruct on the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter based on imperfect self-defense; and 4) The trial court prejudicially erred when it refused a defense instruction on motive.
On October 27, 2010, Respondent filed an answer to the petition. Petitioner did not file a traverse.
Steven Gonzales was murdered in the early morning hours of February 15, 2007. (RT3202.) Ashley Martinez was Steven Gonzales' former girlfriend. (RT 351.) They had two children together. (RT 351.) At the time of Steven's murder, Ashley and Steven were only friends. (RT 351, 353.) Beginning in November or December of 2006, Ashley began dating Petitioner. (RT 354.) She lived with Petitioner at his residence. (RT 356.) Steven and Petitioner had an understanding that Steven would come around Ashley and their children for the sake of the children. (RT 355.)
Michael Velasco was a friend of Steven Gonzales. (RT 321-322.) On the night Steven Gonzales was murdered, Michael last saw him heading toward Joel Espinoza's home. (RT 328329.) In an interview with Deputy Sheriff Thomas Wilcox, Michael stated Steven told him hewas going to Joel's home. (RT 478.)
Destiny Sandoval lived at Joel's home. On February 15, 2007, Destiny Sandoval woke up in the middle of the night. (RT 202.) She got up and went to return her phone to the phone charger. (RT 202.) As she was doing so, she ran into her brother Joel Sandoval. (RT 204.) He told her that he had just gotten into a fight with "some guy." (RT 204-205.) Destiny then heard what sounded like someone being shoved into the exterior garage door. (RT 205.) Moments later she heard the whistling sound of a baseball bat being swung and the sound of a bat hitting something. (RT 205-206.) Joel immediately opened the door leading to the garage and Destiny saw Petitioner standing over the victim while holding a baseball bat. (RT 206.) Petitioner looked at them with the bat in his hand and said, "That fool rushed me." (RT 210.) Destiny described Petitioner as having an "evil look on his face." (RT 211.) Destiny could hear the victim making gurgling sounds as if he was struggling to breathe. (RT 210.) Destiny backed away from the garage door and Petitioner entered the house. He told her, "Tell your mom I'm sorry, I didn't choose the place or the time, whatever happens, happens in the past." (RT 211.) She immediately went to her room and locked the door. (RT 211.) Later, after Petitioner had been arrested, Destiny went to the police and provided this information. (RT 214.)
In an interview with Clovis Police Officer Jaime Ramirez, Ashley Martinez stated that on the night of the 14th leading into the morning of the 15th, Petitioner was not home with her. (RT 524.) She told Officer Ramirez that she believed Petitioner was at Joel Espinoza's house. (RT 524.) She stated that Petitioner did not return home until five or six o'clock in the morning. (RT 524.) When Petitioner did return home, his aunt Jessica Modesto and Ashley were at the home. Jessica Modesto testified that when Petitioner returned home, he had a "scary look on his face." (RT 760.) He immediately came up to Jessica and stated, "We just killed Ashley's baby daddy." (RT 761-765.) He told Jessica that they killed the victim because he had been talking to the police about Petitioner. (RT 765-766.) Jessica then left. (RT 766.)
Ashley also saw Petitioner enter the residence that morning. She stated that Petitioner was acting strange and pacing back and forth in the apartment. (RT 526.) She did not talk with Petitioner, but she heard Petitioner whispering with Jessica in another room. (RT 526.) Petitionerleft shortly thereafter and Ashley asked Jessica what Petitioner had said, to which Jessica replied, (RT 526-527.)
A couple of days later, Jessica returned to the house to get her clothes. (RT 776-777.) She made contact with Joel Espinoza. (RT 777.) Jessica told Joel, "Please tell me you didn't have nothing to do with Steven." (RT 778.) Joel stated, "I had to do it." (RT 778-779, 781.) Jessica asked him why, and Joel stated it was because the victim had been talking to the police. (RT 779.) Jessica asked him where the body was and Joel replied that it was in his garage. (RT 779.) Joel also told her that his mother had witnessed the incident. (RT 779-780.) At that point, Petitioner arrived at the home. (RT 780.) Joel asked for a ride to his home, and Jessica drove him there. (RT 780.) Jessica also spoke with Petitioner. (RT 771.) Petitioner stated to Jessica, "Fuck, Tia, I still can't get rid of the body." (RT 771.) A few days later, Jessica gave Joel a ride to the Dollar Tree store so Joel could pick up his mother's blue pickup truck. (RT 783-784.) Jessica subsequently contacted her parole officer and asked that she be placed in another home. (RT 773.)
Steven's body was found in an orchard in Kings County. (RT 390.) The body was wrapped in carpeting and tied in knots with white extension cord and green extension cord. (RT 404.) It had been set on fire. (RT 390.) A bloodstained piece of plywood painted with a peach and/or pink color was found underneath the body. (RT 409.) A cigarette butt was located in the wrappings around the victim. (RT 416.) Shoe patterns matching the K-Swiss brand of shoe were located near the body. (RT 423-424.) Shoes belonging to Joel Espinoza were recovered from a garbage receptacle outside Joel's house. (RT 424-426.) They were of the K-Swiss brand, covered in blood, and matching the shoe tread patterns at the murder scene. (RT 424-426.) A tire track was also found at the murder scene. (RT 429.) It matched the tire tread of a blue truck normally driven by Joel's mother. (RT 430.) Plywood matching that found under the victim's body was found in the bed of the truck. (RT 436.)
A search warrant was executed at Joel's house. (RT 440.) Pieces of the same green extension cord used to tie up the body were discovered at the house. (RT 440, 455.) Officers located various blood spots and stains inside the garage of the residence. (RT 440-441.) Bloodyclothing and a sawed-off shotgun were recovered. (RT 441.) Bedding sheets and towels of the same brand, type, color, and pattern as those used to wrap the victim's body were located in the residence. (RT 441.) Pieces of the same plywood found under the victim were also located in the alley behind the residence. (RT 447.) Blood was also found on and underneath a gray pickup truck in the garage. (RT 451.) A criminalist testified that blood evidence taken from the garage was in all probability4 from the victim. (RT 648.) The criminalist also testified that the cigarette butt located with the victim's body contained DNA matching Joel Espinoza. (RT 652.)
A pathologist testified that the victim died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and neck. (RT 679-688.) The blunt force applied to the victim would have been consistent with impact by, inter alia, a two-by-four, a baseball bat, and stomping and kicking by foot. (RT 680681, 687-688.) When Petitioner was arrested, he had a broken middle toe. (RT 551.) The victim also had a high level of methamphetamine in his body at the time of death. (RT 693.) The pathologist stated the high level could have been due to the drug having been administered to the victim by another prior to death. (RT 698.)
Relief by way of a petition for writ of habeas corpus extends to a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court if the custody is in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a); 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3); Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 375 n.7 (2000). Petitioner asserts that he suffered violations of his rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. He was convicted in Kings County Superior Court, which is located within the jurisdiction of this Court. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a); 2241(d).
On April 24, 1996, Congress enacted the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), which applies to all petitions for writ of habeas...
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