Coates v. Dist. Attorney of Allegheny Cnty.

• Decision Date: 26 May 2022
• Docket Number: Civil Action 2:19-cv-804
• Parties: FREDERICK COATES, Petitioner, v. DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, et al., Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania

FREDERICK COATES, Petitioner,
v.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, et al., Respondents.

Civil Action No. 2:19-cv-804

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania

May 26, 2022

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

PATRICIA L. DODGE, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. RECOMMENDATION

Pending before the Court is the Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (ECF 4) filed by Frederick Coates (“Petitioner”). It is respectfully recommended that the Court deny each of Petitioner's claims and deny a certificate of appealability.

II. REPORT^[1]

A. Relevant Background

At the conclusion of a trial held in April 2016 in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (“trial court”), a jury found Petitioner guilty of the crimes of Indecent Assault of a Person Less Than 13 Years of Age, Unlawful Contact With a Minor, and Corruption of Minors. Attorney Hannah Akintoye (“trial counsel”) of the Allegheny County Public Defender's Office represented Petitioner at his trial.

1

At trial, the Commonwealth introduced testimony from the victim (“A.W.”), her mother (“A.T.”), and Detective Nicholas Bobbs. Petitioner testified in his own defense. The trial court, in the Appellate Rule 1925(a) opinion issued on direct appeal, summarized the evidence introduced at Petitioner's trial as follows:

A.W., the victim in this case, testified at trial that she was eight years old and that her birthday is May 8th (Transcript of Jury Trial on Apr. 21, 2016, hereinafter TT at 48) A.W. testified that she used to see [Petitioner] when she visited her aunt Sharon Bass' house. (TT 50-51) Bass who A.W. calls “Aunt TT,” lived in a white house in Crafton. (TT 51-52) A.W. testified that when she was at Aunt TT's house, [Petitioner], who she called “Mr. Fred,” was also in the home and would sometimes be alone in a room with her. (TT 53) She stated that Mr. Fred touched her inappropriately on three separate occasions. Id. The first time [Petitioner] touched her she was watching cartoons in Aunt TT's room while also playing games on her phone. Id. A.W. testified that [Petitioner] entered the room [and] touched his hand to her vaginal area over her clothes. (TT 56) The touching ended when A.W. got up and left the room. (TT 57) The second instance occurred in her brother “Tom Tom's” room. (TT 58) A.W.'s sister Amonte left the room to go to the bathroom, leaving A.W. alone with [Petitioner]. Id. [Petitioner] touched her vagina with his hand over her clothes while A.W. played video games. (TT 5960) He also kissed her on the lips, which she described as different from how her mother kisses her. (TT 60) The third and final incident to which A.W. testified occurred in Tyrique's room. (TT 61) While she was watching cartoons, [Petitioner] entered the room and touched her in the same manner as he had previously. (TT 6364) A.W. identified [Petitioner] in court as the person who had touched her inappropriately. (TT 66-67)

[A.T.], A.W.'s mother, testified that Bass was [a] cousin of A.W.'s father and A.W. spent a lot of time at [Bass'] on the weekends prior to [A.T.] becoming aware of the allegations of abuse. (TT 80-81) [A.T.] testified that [Petitioner] was a childhood friend of Bass who [A.T.] did not know before last summer. (TT 82) [A.T.] noticed a change in A.W.'s behavior and asked her why she was acting so mean. (TT 85) [A.T.] testified that A.W. put her head down and said it was “the man at Aunt TT's house, the bald guy.” (TT 86) A.W. and [A.T.] went to Bass' house and A.W. said it was “Fred” and started crying hysterically. (TT 86)

Detective Nicholas Bobbs[ ] testified that he is a 15 year veteran of the City of Pittsburgh, who is currently assigned to the Sex Assault Family Crisis Unit. (TT 92) Pursuant to his investigation, Det. Bobbs interviewed [Petitioner] regarding these allegations. (TT 100) [He] testified that [Petitioner] told him “I picked her up and secured her body against mine like a baby. Her buttocks was in my hand. Yeah, I did it. It was intentional.” (TT 109) The Detective told [Petitioner] that this was not the allegation he was investigating, that the allegations were more sexual in nature. Id. [Petitioner] stated to the Detective, “I stuck my hand on the front of her

2

pants and touched her vagina.” (TT 109) [Petitioner] said that this happened in TT's bedroom. (TT 110) [Petitioner] told Det. Bobbs that he kissed A.W. on the lips at one point and told her that he loved her. Id. The Detective testified that [Petitioner] denied touching A.W. under her clothing. (TT 112)

[Petitioner] testified that he had been friends with Bass as a child and reconnected with her in 2014. (TT 143) He stated that he frequently visited her house where they would play cards with several other people. Id. He testified he saw A.W. while at Bass' house. (TT 144) In addition, [Petitioner] indicated that he and A.W. are “distant cousins.” Id. He testified that he did not have any memory of any of the allegations of sexual abuse. (TT 144-145) [Petitioner] agreed to be interviewed by the police. (TT 147) [He] testified that after approximately 25 minutes of denials, his emotions got the better of him and he said that he “did it.” (TT 151) He told the Detective that he touched A.W. on her vagina on the inseam of her pants. (TT 153) [Petitioner] stated that he told the police that he kissed A.W. on the cheek but did not tell them that he kissed her on the lips. (TT 154) [Petitioner] told A.W. that he loved her after A.W. had broken her arm. (TT 155) On the witness stand, he flatly denied touching A.W.[ ] in any type of sexually inappropriate manner. (TT 156-157)

(Resp's Ex. 34 at 202-04.)

After the trial, Attorney Lisa Perlow, also with the Public Defender's Office, entered her appearance on Petitioner's behalf. The trial court sentenced Petitioner on July 19, 2016 as follows: Count 1, Indecent Assault, 20 to 40 months of incarceration, to be followed by a period of three years of probation; Count 2, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, no further penalty; Count 3, Corruption of Minors, three years of probation, to be served concurrent to the probation imposed at Count 1. Petitioner was also ordered to register for life under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) as a Tier III sex offender in accordance with 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 9799.14 and 9799.15.^[2] (Resp's Ex. 9 at 61-66.)

At the sentencing hearing, Attorney Perlow advised the trial court that Petitioner wanted to challenge the validity of his judgment of sentence by raising claims of trial counsel's

3

ineffectiveness. Attorney Perlow could not raise these claims because both she and trial counsel worked for the Public Defender's Office. Thus, the trial court appointed Attorney Lisa Leake of the Office of Conflict Counsel to represent Petitioner. (Resp's Ex. 8 at 54, 58-59.)

The trial court also ordered the Sexual Offender Assessment Board to produce a report on Petitioner's potential status as a Sexually Violent Predator (“SVP”). (Resp's Ex. 10 at 67.) However, in February 2017 the Commonwealth moved to withdraw its Praecipe for a SPV hearing, thereby ending the Commonwealth's efforts to classify Petitioner as such. (Resp's Ex. 21 at 10913.) In the meantime Petitioner, through Attorney Leake, filed a direct appeal with the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Petitioner, through counsel, withdrew this appeal in March 2017 after the Commonwealth ceased its efforts to classify him as an SVP. (Resp's Ex. 18 at 89-97; Resp's Ex. 24 at 117-18; Resp's Ex. 25 at 119.)

Later that same year, Petitioner filed a pro se motion for collateral relief under Pennsylvania's Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”), 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9541 et seq. (Resp's Ex. 26 at 120-41.) The trial court appointed Attorney Suzanne M. Swan to represent Petitioner. Petitioner, through counsel, filed an amended PCRA petition asserting that Attorney Leake was ineffective for failing to properly preserve and pursue on direct appeal the claim that the jury's verdict was against the weight of the evidence. (Resp's Ex. 27 at 142-60.) The trial court granted Petitioner's amended PCRA petition and reinstated his post-sentence and direct appeal rights. (Resp's Ex. 29 at 174.)

Petitioner, through Attorney Swan, then filed a post-sentence motion in which he asserted that the jury's verdict was against the weight of the evidence. (Resp's Ex. 30 at 175-81.) The trial court denied this motion and then Petitioner, through counsel, filed an appeal with the Superior Court. In this appeal, Petitioner raised two claims: (1) the jury's verdict was against the weight of

4

the evidence; and (2) the trial court imposed an illegal sentence because the lifetime registration requirement under SORNA exceeded the statutory maximum sentences possible for his convictions. (Resp's Ex. 36 at 211-81.) The Superior Court denied both claims on the merits in Commonwealth v. Coates, No. 1506 WDA 2017, slip op. (Pa Super. Ct. Oct. 16, 2018), affirming Petitioner's judgment of sentence. (Resp's Ex. 38 at 321-29.)

After the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania denied a petition for allowance of appeal (Resp's Ex. 42 at 402), Petitioner filed with this Court the pending Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in which he raises three claims for relief, some of which contain subclaims. (ECF 4 at 5-9.) Respondents have filed their Answer (ECF 11) and the state court record. Petitioner did not file a reply. LCvR 2241(D)(2) (“the petitioner may file a Reply (also known as ‘a Traverse') within 30 days of the date the respondent files its Response.”). (See also ECF 14, advising Petitioner of his right to reply).

III. Discussion

A. Jurisdiction

The Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the federal habeas statute applicable to prisoners in custody under a state-court judgment. It permits a federal court to grant a state prisoner a writ of...