Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. United States District Judge
Pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. § 636, the Court has reviewed the
petition, Dkt. No. 1, the records on file, and the
Report and Recommendation (R&R) of the United States
Magistrate Judge, Dkt. No. 12. No objections were
filed.
IT IS
HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. The
Court accepts and adopts the Magistrate Judge's R&R.
2.
Judgment shall be entered denying and dismissing the Petition
with prejudice.
3. The
Clerk serve copies of this Order, the Magistrate Judge's
R&R and the Judgment herein on Petitioner and on all
counsel of record.
LET
JUDGMENT BE ENTERED ACCORDINGLY.
FIELD
03/23/2023
REPORT
AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
HONORABLE LOUISE A. LA MOTHE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
This
Report and Recommendation is submitted to the Honorable
Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr., United States District Judge, under
the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636 and General Order 194
of the United States District Court for the Central District
of California.
On
November 29, 2021, Manuel Alejandro Barrios
(“Petitioner”) filed a Petition for Writ of
Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 2254, with an attachment detailing his claims
(“Pet. Att.”) and exhibits. On March 2, 2022,
Respondent filed an Answer with an attached memorandum
(“Ans. Memo”). On April 14, 2022, Petitioner
filed a Traverse with an attached memorandum (“Trav.
Memo”). Thus, this matter is ready for decision. ///
On
September 21, 2017, a San Bernardino County Superior Court
(“Superior Court”) jury found Petitioner guilty
of the second degree murder[1] of Anthony Fuentes. (Volume 2
Clerk's Transcript (“CT”) at 230, 232; Volume
2 Reporter's Transcript (“RT”) at 452-B.) The
jury found true the allegation that Petitioner personally
used a deadly or dangerous weapon (a knife) in murdering
Fuentes.[2] (2 CT at 231-32; 2 RT at 452-B.) On
October 20, 2017, the Superior Court sentenced Petitioner to
16 years to life in state prison. (2 CT at 249-52; 2 RT at
460.)
Petitioner
appealed his conviction to the California Court of Appeal
raising three claims (which Petitioner raises as Claims Four,
Eight and Nine in this case). (Lodgments 3-5.) On July 3,
2019, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment in
a reasoned decision. (Lodgment 6.) Petitioner then filed a
petition for review in the California Supreme Court.
(Lodgment 7.) On October 9, 2019, the California Supreme
Court granted review pending consideration of a related issue
in People v. Frahs.[3] (Lodgment 8.) On August 6, 2020,
the California Supreme Court dismissed review. (Lodgment 9.)
On
December 16, 2020, Petitioner filed a state habeas petition
with the Superior Court raising seven claims (which
Petitioner raises as Claims One through Seven in this case).
(Lodgment 10.) The Superior Court denied that petition in a
reasoned decision dated January 28, 2021, finding that all of
Petitioner's claims were procedurally barred except his
ineffective assistance of counsel claims. (Lodgment 11 at
1-2.) The Superior Court also denied Petitioner's claims
on the merits. (Lodgment 11.) Petitioner then filed a state
habeas petition with the California Court of Appeal.
(Lodgment 12.) The California Court of Appeal denied that
petition without comment on June 14, 2021. (Lodgment 13.)
Petitioner then filed a state habeas petition with the
California Supreme Court. (Lodgment 14.) The California
Supreme Court denied that petition without comment on October
13, 2021. (Lodgment 15.)
III.
SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED AT TRIAL
Because
Petitioner challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, this
Court has independently reviewed the state court
record.[4] Based on this review, this Court adopts
the factual discussion of the California Court of
Appeal's opinion in this case as a fair and accurate
summary of the evidence presented at trial:[5]
On March 19, 2014, around 5:30 p.m., Anthony Fuentes paced
outside Muscoy Liquor Store, panhandling for change. Fuentes
suffered from a mental illness and had spent time in Patton
State Hospital (Patton). Surveillance video taken from the
liquor store shows [Petitioner] entering the store with his
dog while Fuentes is outside the store panhandling.
[Petitioner] then exits the store and talks with Fuentes in
front of the store for a while. About 35 minutes later
[Petitioner] is shown in the video outside the store making a
call. After the call, Fuentes walks away from the store with
[Petitioner] and his dog accompanying Fuentes.
[Petitioner's] girlfriend testified that, at around 6:00
p.m., she received a call from [Petitioner] asking for the
telephone number for the sheriff's department.
[Petitioner] told her a friend needed help. At 6:18 p.m. she
texted [Petitioner] with the requested information.
During the recording of [Petitioner's] call to the
sheriff's department at 6:27 p.m., [Petitioner] stated
there was a man next to him who was “going to go
hostile any moment” and might be under the influence of
drugs. [Petitioner] is heard during the call telling Fuentes
he was going to get him help. [Petitioner]
advised the dispatcher that Fuentes needs help;
“It's bad”; Fuentes could get violent.
[Petitioner] asked the dispatcher to send someone as soon as
possible.
Shortly thereafter, an eyewitness who was in his car stopped
at a nearby intersection, saw [Petitioner] and Fuentes
fighting in the middle of the street. [Petitioner] had a dog.
[Petitioner] was arguing with Fuentes and pushing him towards
a field. Fuentes was trying to defend himself as [Petitioner]
pushed him into the field. The eyewitness then saw Fuentes on
the ground while [Petitioner] stabbed Fuentes multiple times
in the chest and head. The eyewitness ran over to stop
[Petitioner].
Meanwhile, a second eyewitness saw the fight while getting
gas across the street. The second eyewitness saw
[Petitioner's] dog attack Fuentes, grabbed a knife, ran
over to the dog, and stabbed the dog when it latched onto his
foot.
At 6:49 p.m., 911 received a call from [Petitioner's]
cell phone, during which [Petitioner] and Fuentes could be
heard speaking to each other. Fuentes said, “F- off.
What are you going to do?” [Petitioner] responded,
“I got you out here, motherf-er. I got you now.”
Fuentes said, “No, what you doing motherf- er, what you
doing?” [Petitioner] told Fuentes, “F- that! You
better get the f- back, motherf-er. . . . Don't make me
crazy again, bitch. Don't make me crazy. I'll f-ing
slice your ass up, homie.” Fuentes sounds as if he is
hurt and says, “oh, no, no, oh.” [Petitioner]
tells Fuentes twice, “I f-ing kicked your ass or
what?!” A third person can be heard saying,
“Leave him alone.” At the end of the call,
[Petitioner] stated, “This motherf-er . . . comes at me
all crazy . . . .”
At 6:53 p.m., 911 received a call from someone reporting
seeing a lot of men fighting. The caller said there were
initially two men and a dog, and then three more men joined
in. One of the men ([Petitioner]) had a knife. The other man
looked drunk and had a stick. The caller said it looked like
[Petitioner] stabbed a man while the man was on the ground.
There were numerous people at the scene when the first
officer arrived. Fuentes was on the ground bleeding and
appeared to have been stabbed multiple times, including
sustaining fatal stabs to his heart, lung, and liver.
[Petitioner] admitted he had stabbed Fuentes. There was a
knife and a wooden stake on the ground near [Petitioner].
[Petitioner] admitted that the knife was his and that he had
used it to stab Fuentes.
After waiving his Miranda[6] rights, [Petitioner] told a
detective that, while walking his dog, he stopped at the
liquor store to buy beer. [Petitioner] saw Fuentes, whom
[Petitioner] knew from high school, panhandling. When Fuentes
asked for change, [Petitioner] told him he did not have any.
[Petitioner] tied up his dog and went inside the liquor store
to buy beer.
After purchasing beer, [Petitioner] sat by Fuentes, drank
beer, gave Fuentes a beer, drank another beer, and talked
with Fuentes. Fuentes became belligerent and started saying
strange things that were threatening. [Petitioner] thought
Fuentes was on drugs and was trying to get money for his next
fix. Fuentes tried reaching into [Petitioner's] pocket.
[Petitioner] suggested Fuentes go to the hospital or a
treatment facility. Fuentes did not like this suggestion and
suddenly stood up.
When [Petitioner] called his girlfriend and asked her for the
number for the sheriff's department, Fuentes became
belligerent. [Petitioner] called the sheriff's department
and asked the dispatcher to have someone pick up Fuentes
because of his threatening behavior. When Fuentes heard this,
he became angry, “flipped out,” and tried to get
away from [Petitioner]. [Petitioner] followed Fuentes across
the street. [Petitioner] remained on the cell phone with the
sheriff's department so that law enforcement would know
where to pick up Fuentes. [Petitioner's] dog was tied
around his waist.
Fuentes grabbed two large rocks from the field by the street
and threw one of the rocks at [Petitioner], hitting him in
the face. [Petitioner] grabbed a stick and hit Fuentes on the
knee. At one point, [Petitioner] and Fuentes were arguing in
the street. [Petitioner] said his memory was blurry as to
where they were. [Petitioner] believed they went to the
field, moved to the street, and then moved back to the field,
where Fuentes grabbed the stick and stabbed [Petitioner] in
the back. [Petitioner] then grabbed his knife and fatally
stabbed Fuentes in
...
