Castillo v. Matesanz

• Decision Date: 22 October 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-2166.,01-2166.
• Citation: 348 F.3d 1
• Parties: Juan CASTILLO, Petitioner, Appellant, v. James MATESANZ, Respondent, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 1

348 F.3d 1

Juan CASTILLO, Petitioner, Appellant, v. James MATESANZ, Respondent, Appellee.

No. 01-2166.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard June 3, 2003.

Decided October 22, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Amy Baron-Evans, with whom Dwyer & Collora were on brief, for petitioner.

James J. Arguin, Assistant Attorney General, with whom Thomas F. Reilly, Attorney General, was on brief, for respondent.

Before SELYA and LIPEZ, Circuit Judges, and PONSOR, District Judge.^*

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

This petition for habeas corpus seeks relief from the denial of petitioner's motion for a new trial in the state court. In pursuing a new trial, petitioner argued that (1) the trial court's denial of defense counsel's motion for a continuance at the beginning of the trial was "so arbitrary as to violate due process," and (2) defense counsel's subsequent conduct at trial violated the petitioner's Sixth Amendment right to counsel. In asserting those arguments here, petitioner contends that the state courts' denial of his motion for a new trial was contrary to, and an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. Unpersuaded, we affirm the decision of the district court denying the petition for habeas corpus relief.

I.

On September 27, 1996, petitioner, Juan Castillo ("Castillo"), was convicted by a jury in the Massachusetts Superior Court of trafficking in a controlled substance (cocaine), and was sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years. Castillo appealed his conviction to the Massachusetts Appeals Court. On April 15, 1998, Castillo filed a motion in the Superior Court for a new trial arguing that (1) the trial court abused its discretion in denying defense counsel Christine Fernandez ("Fernandez") a continuance, and (2) that Fernandez's lack of knowledge of the law, failure to interview or prepare Castillo, mischaracterization of Castillo's testimony in closing argument, and failure to call relevant witnesses was ineffective assistance of counsel under the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights and the Sixth Amendment. By an order entered June 15, 1998, the trial judge denied the motion without discovery or an evidentiary hearing, finding that no continuance was necessary because the filing of counsel's appearance was a representation that she was "ready, willing, and able" to try the case, and that her performance was not ineffective. Commonwealth v. Castillo, No. 9477 CR 3461 (Mass. Superior Ct. June 15, 1998) (order denying defendant's motion for new trial). Castillo's appeal from this order was consolidated with his direct appeal. On June 8, 1999, the Appeals Court summarily affirmed Castillo's conviction and the denial of his new trial motion "substantially for those reasons set out in the trial judge's memorandum of decision." Commonwealth v. Castillo, 47 Mass.App.Ct. 1103, 711 N.E.2d 618 (1999)(mem. & order affirming defendant's conviction and denial of motion for a new trial). The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts denied further appellate review. Commonwealth v. Castillo, 430 Mass. 1105, 717 N.E.2d 1014 (1999)(notice of denial of further appellate review).

On September 11, 2000, Castillo petitioned the federal district court for habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, claiming that the state court's rejection of his two new trial claims — a due process violation in denying the continuance and ineffective assistance of counsel — warranted habeas relief. On March 22, 2001, the district court referred the petition to a United States magistrate judge for a recommended disposition. On July 6, 2001, the magistrate judge issued a thorough Report and Recommendation recommending that the petition be dismissed. On July 17, Castillo timely objected to three factual determinations contained in the report.¹ By an order dated July 27, 2001, the district court rejected Castillo's objections and adopted the report in its entirety.² On August 1, 2002, the district court explained its decision to grant Castillo a certificate of appealability. "While a strong case has been made that counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness because of her utter lack of preparation, I agreed (and still agree) with the magistrate judge that petitioner has not shown that prejudice resulted. Nonetheless, habeas appellate counsel has valiantly made enough of a showing to persuade me that an appeal is appropriate." Castillo v. Matesanz, No. 00-11854-PBS (August 1, 2002) (certificate of appealability).

II.

We first give a brief summary of the circumstances of the offense and some pretrial history. We then recount the facts relevant to the request for a continuance and the ineffective assistance of counsel claims.

A. The Offense and Some Pretrial History

At about 8 p.m. on October 30, 1994, two police officers for the city of Lynn received a radio report of a disturbance at 102 Cottage Street. Upon arrival, the residents of the first floor apartment let the officers into the three-unit building and directed them upstairs. The officers proceeded to the second floor, which was empty and unlit, where they heard footsteps coming from the third floor. Officer Griffin proceeded to the third floor apartment and knocked on the door, identifying himself as "policia." Officer Hogan went up the back stairs to the third floor, where he heard the back door unlock and saw Castillo begin to emerge from the doorway. Castillo then turned and went back into the apartment. Officer Hogan entered through the back door, saw a second man in the apartment's bathroom holding a plastic bag containing a white substance, and heard the toilet flushing. The officer then saw a third man in the kitchen making a throwing gesture towards the window. On the ground beneath the kitchen window, the police later recovered two clear plastic bags containing approximately 169 grams of cocaine. Castillo and a fourth man were standing next to the kitchen table, on which Officer Hogan observed a partially open brown paper bag containing several plastic sandwich bags filled with a white powder, and two digital scales. Castillo was never seen in physical custody of any controlled substance. The officers arrested Castillo and brought him to the police station, where officers found a beeper and $467 in cash on his person.

On December 14, 1994, a Massachusetts grand jury indicted Castillo for trafficking in 200 grams or more of cocaine, and conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act. Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 94c, §§ 32E, 40 (2003). At Castillo's arraignment on January 11, 1995, attorney Kirk Bransfield was appointed to represent him. After deciding a variety of pretrial motions and after a number of continuances, the trial court scheduled the beginning of trial for December 13, 1995.³ Castillo failed to appear on December 13, and an arrest warrant issued. Approximately six months later, Castillo was arrested at a New York airport and remanded to Massachusetts for trial. Trial was scheduled to begin on September 23, 1996.

B. Attorney Fernandez's Appearance

On August 5, 1996, Christine Fernandez, an attorney with the New York law firm of Aranda & Guttlein, filed a motion to appear pro hac vice in this matter. On the same day, attorney Andres M. Aranda, a partner of the Aranda & Guttlein law firm, also moved to appear pro hac vice but his motion was not docketed or acted upon by the court. In an affidavit filed in support of her motion, Fernandez stated that she had been a member in good standing of the New York bar since 1996 and that she "specialize[d] in criminal and federal law." On September 9, Fernandez appeared in person before a Superior Court judge, who allowed the motion to appear pro hac vice on the express "condition that the trial date of September 23, 1996 remain the scheduled trial date and that the allowance of this motion not delay the trial." On that same day, Fernandez filed a notice of appearance, and attorney Bransfield, the court-appointed counsel, withdrew.

On September 12, 1996, attorney Jorge Guttlein ("Guttlein"), another partner of the Aranda & Guttlein law firm, sent a letter to the court together with an undated motion to appear pro hac vice. In the letter, Guttlein acknowledged that Castillo's trial was scheduled for September 23, 1996, but requested that trial be continued until October 17 because he had a scheduling conflict. The trial court treated this letter as a motion for a continuance, which it denied. Castillo's case was subsequently transferred from Essex Superior Court to Lawrence Superior Court for trial on September 24, 1996. Guttlein appeared before the Lawrence Superior Court on September 24, 1996, and his motion to appear pro hac vice was allowed that day. Castillo's case was not called for trial that day but was continued to the next morning.

Fernandez appeared in court the next morning and informed the judge that Guttlein had been "called back to New York late yesterday afternoon because his wife was ill." Fernandez stated that she was appearing on Castillo's behalf and that she had reviewed all the pretrial motions and was prepared to argue them, but that she had a "series of requests" regarding her "late entry into the case this morning." She sought a further delay in the trial:

I arrived in Massachusetts last night at about four a.m. because the roads were awful with the rain and everything else. I have had very little opportunity to review this file. I understand that we're scheduled to go forward, and I'm prepared to at least go forward with jury selection. However, I would ask your Honor please not to go forward with any testimony until I've had an opportunity to further review this file.

The trial judge responded that Fernandez's motion to appear was allowed several weeks ago "with the specific condition that it not delay the trial." Fernandez argued that at the time she was admitted to appear pro hac vice, she "was not under the...