Berkley v. Quarterman

Decision Date24 August 2007
Docket NumberNo. EP-06-CV-111-FM.,EP-06-CV-111-FM.
Citation507 F.Supp.2d 692
PartiesWilliam Josef BERKLEY, Petitioner, v. Nathaniel QUARTERMAN, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent.
CourtU.S. District Court — Western District of Texas

Cori Ann Harbour, The Harbour Law Firm, P.C., Leon Schydlower, Louis E. Lopez, Attorneys at Law, El Paso, TX, for Petitioner.

Gena Blount Bunn, Office of the Texas Attorney General, Habeas Division, Tomee Morgan Heining, Office of the Attorney General, Capital Litigation Division, Austin, TX, for Respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MONTALVO, District Judge.

Petitioner William Josef Berkley filed this federal habeas corpus action pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section 2254, collaterally attacking his otherwise final, April, 2002, El Paso County conviction for capital murder and sentence of death. For the reasons set forth in detail below, petitioner is entitled to neither federal habeas corpus relief nor a Certificate of Appealability from this Court.

I. Statement of the Case
A. The Crime

Sophia Martinez left her home in El Paso, Texas at approximate ten p.m. on the evening of March 10, 2000 in her red Grand Am sports car to meet a blind date.1 Approximately twenty minutes later, bank security cameras located at an ATM near Sophia's home in El Paso recorded Sophia making a twenty dollar withdrawal from her account.2 The same security cameras then recorded a male brandishing a handgun approach Sophia's vehicle and fire a shot into the vehicle which shattered a window in Sophia's vehicle.3 The security cameras next recorded the male assailant's entry into the rear seat of the driver's side of the vehicle and a now-bloody-faced Sophia making a second withdrawal from her account, this time in the amount of two hundred dollars.4 Sophia's vehicle then departed the security cameras' field of vision.

The following morning, Sophia's abandoned vehicle was located by New Mexico State Police in a desert area not far from El Paso.5 There were numerous blood stains apparent on the interior of Sophia's vehicle.6 Later the same date, El Paso police found Sophia's lifeless body laying face up beside a dirt road in an isolated location near a well.7 An autopsy revealed Sophia had been shot five times in the head.8 Vaginal swabs revealed Sophia had engaged in intercourse shortly before her death.9

B. Petitioner's Confessions

More than six months later, El Paso police arrested petitioner, who gave a two-page written statement in which he stated (1) his gun went off as he approached Sophia's vehicle, (2) he then entered her vehicle, directed her to make a $200 withdrawal from her account, and directed her to drive her vehicle away from the ATM to a deserted area; (3) when they arrived at that location, "the girl" initiated multiple episodes of sexual relations between them, (4) when she attempted to hug him, his gun "went off" again, (5) he passed out and did not wake up for several hours, (6) when he did so, he saw "the girl" laying on the ground, (7) he "freaked out" and drove her car to another part of the desert where he drove it off the road, and (8) he then walked home.10

Two days after petitioner gave his first written statement, petitioner's father notified police petitioner wished to make another statement.11 In his second, far more detailed, written statement, petitioner stated (1) the murder weapon was a .22 caliber handgun he had secretly purloined from his father, (2) his close friend Michael Jacques had played an integral role in the planning and execution of the robbery as well as the disposal of Sophia's car, and (3) he later burned "the girl's" driver's license in a barbeque grill.12

C. Indictment

On December 19, 2000, an El Paso County grand jury indicted petitioner on a single Count of capital murder, to wit, intentionally causing Sophia Martinez's death by shooting her with a firearm in the course of committing and attempting to commit the predicate offenses of robbery, kidnaping, and aggravated sexual assault of Sophia.13

D. Guilt-Innocence Phase of Trial

The guilt-innocence phase of petitioner's trial commenced on April 15, 2002.

1. The Prosecution's Evidence

In addition to the testimony summarized above, petitioner's jury heard the estranged wife of Michael Jacques testify that, the day after the robbery and murder, she observed a set of car keys and a driver's license belonging to Sophia Martinez lying on the counter of her kitchen and Sophia's driver's license was later burned in a barbeque grill.14

An El Paso Police officer and FBI agent both testified regarding the discovery of a .22 caliber handgun and ammunition for same inside a night-stand drawer in the master bedroom of petitioner's parents' home.15

An El Paso Police officer testified regarding the discovery on the roof of the apartment building where Michael Jacques and petitioner had resided in March, 2000 of a set of car keys which fit the ignition and trunk of Sophia's vehicle.16

A firearms expert testified (1) the .22 caliber handgun located in the Berkley home had a trigger pull of over nine pounds on double-action and over six pounds on single-action and (2) she was unable to perform a comparison between bullets she test-fired from that handgun and the four bullet fragments removed from Sophia's head because the latter were too badly damaged to permit comparison.17

An FBI DNA examiner and a Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab employee testified petitioner's DNA matched that of the sperm fraction recovered from Sophia Martinez's vaginal swabs.18

2. The Defense's Evidence

Petitioner's father testified (1) petitioner introduced him to a girl named "Sophia" in February, 2000 whom he believed to be Sophia Martinez and (2) he did not believe his .22 caliber handgun had been out of his home during March, 2000.19 However, during cross-examination petitioner's father admitted that (1) he could not be certain his .22 caliber handgun had not left his home in March, 2000 and (2) neither of petitioner's confessions included any indication petitioner knew his victim.20

Douglas Bosanko, the owner of a wrecker and locksmith company, testified that (1) on the night of Sophia's robbery and murder, he passed the location where Sophia's vehicle was abandoned at a high rate of speed and observed a vehicle 25-30 feet off the roadway and saw the dome light inside that vehicle come on and saw a figure get out of the vehicle, (2) about an hour to eighty minutes later, as he returned past the same location, he observed the vehicle again but saw no one near the vehicle, (3) when he drove on to an intersection three-to-four miles down the road, where he observed a Hispanic male pacing back and forth, (4) he stopped to ask this person whether he needed a ride, (5) the Hispanic male said he was waiting for his buddy to give him a ride, (6) the person he saw pacing at the intersection was not petitioner, and (7) he could not identify the Hispanic male he observed pacing at that location was the same person he had seen more than an hour before exit the abandoned vehicle several miles back up the road.21 Bosanko testified he contacted police shortly after learning of Sophia's murder and helped police develop a composite sketch of the Hispanic male he had observed on the night in question.22 He also testified he subsequently was unable to identify anyone in a pair of police photo arrays but, later, identified a person whom he observed through a glass window.23

3. Prosecution's Rebuttal Evidence

A pair of El Paso Police officers each testified (1) Bosanko was unable to identify anyone in the lone photo array shown to him on March 13, 2000, (2) Bosanko was later taken to police headquarters and given an opportunity to view a former boyfriend of Sophia Martinez named Jose Hernandez, but (3) Bosanko was unable to identify Hernandez as the person he had seen several miles from the location where Sophia's vehicle was abandoned on the night of her murder.24

Sophia's mother testified she was very close with Sophia, she had never heard of petitioner before Sophia's murder, and she was not aware of Sophia ever having dated petitioner.25

Jose Hernandez testified (1) his romantic relationship with Sophia had cooled months before her murder, (2) he spent the evening before and the night of Sophia's murder with his girlfriend at his parents' home, watching television, (3) he took his girlfriend home around 2 a.m., and (4) he had nothing to do with Sophia's murder.26

4. Verdict

On April 19, 2002, the jury returned its verdict, finding petitioner guilty of capital murder.27

E. Punishment Phase of Trial

The punishment phase of petitioner's capital trial commenced later that same date.

1. The Prosecution's Evidence

One of petitioner's former neighbors testified that (1) one evening in March, 20000, petitioner borrowed a dark sweatshirt and knit cap from her and her roommate, (2) the following afternoon, petitioner asked her to give him an alibi if the, police asked her where he had been the previous night, and (3) she had twice seen petitioner under the influence of narcotics.28

Sophia Martinez's mother testified Sophia's younger siblings had suffered since Sophia's violent death and that Sophia had been a good student who planned to attend college and study to become a teacher.29

Petitioner's former supervisor at the Army Exchange service testified she repeatedly counseled petitioner regarding his poor attendance, rude behavior with customers, and fighting with co-workers during the few months he worked under her but petitioner was non-responsive to her counseling and petitioner's reputation for being peaceful among his...

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