Coleman v. Warden

• Decision Date: 02 May 2014
• Docket Number: Case No. 2:12-CV-1213a
• Parties: DRED COLEMAN, Petitioner, v. WARDEN, TRUMBULL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

DRED COLEMAN, Petitioner, v. WARDEN, TRUMBULL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent.

Case No. 2:12-CV-1213a

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION

Date: May 2, 2014

Judge Marbley

Magistrate Judge King

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

This is an action for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. This matter is before the Court on the Petition, Doc. No. 1, Respondent's Return of Writ, Doc. No. 5, Petitioner's Traverse, Doc. No. 7, and the exhibits of the parties. For the reasons that follow, the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that this action be DISMISSED.

Petitioner's renewed request for the appointment of counsel (see Traverse) is DENIED.

I. Relevant Procedural History

This case involves Petitioner's convictions, following a jury trial, on charges resulting from the murder of Darryl Wood. After the joinder of indictments against Petitioner,

the cases came for trial before a jury beginning October 28, 2009. At trial, the state presented evidence that Darryl Wood ("Wood"), Rudolph Lynch, and Keith James were each indicted on drug charges in Franklin County in June of 2008. Those three individuals appeared in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on December 8, 2008, at which time the prosecutor "made Keith James' attorney aware that Darryl [Wood] intended to cooperate against the two co-defendants." (Tr. 470.) The case was then continued because of Wood'sindication of cooperation. On December 9, 2008, Wood was shot and killed at his residence on 2320 Argyle Drive, Columbus. Appellant, the nephew of Rudolph Lynch, and another individual, Ramon Blevins, were arrested shortly after the shooting. Blevins entered a guilty plea to a charge of murder, with a firearm specification, in connection with the shooting death of Wood, and is currently serving a sentence of 18 years to life at the Ross Correctional Institute.

Blevins, age 25, testified on behalf of the state at appellant's trial, and gave the following testimony. Blevins, an acquaintance of appellant, is a resident of Cleveland. Blevins first met Lynch at appellant's residence in early December of 2008. On Friday, December 5, 2008, the three men got into a van driven by Lynch and traveled from Cleveland to Columbus, where they rented a room at a Motel 6 on Brice Road; Lynch paid for the room.

On the morning of Monday, December 8, the three men drove to Wood's neighborhood and parked several houses away from his residence. Lynch watched Wood's house from the van; Blevins believed they were watching the house "[f]or a burglary to occur." (Tr. 498.) Lynch told Blevins that Wood usually went to work in the morning, but Wood did not leave for work on this particular date. After approximately one hour, Lynch drove appellant and Blevins back to the motel.

The next morning, December 9, the three men returned to Wood's neighborhood and sat in the van near his home. They watched Wood and his wife leave their residence that morning. Blevins and appellant then went to the rear of the house, while Lynch remained outside. Blevins was wearing a gray hoodie, a tan coat, white tennis shoes, blue jeans, gloves, and a mask. Appellant was wearing a gray hoodie, gloves, dark pants, and black tennis shoes with white soles. Blevins jimmied the back door and they entered the residence. Blevins began searching the house for marijuana. He went to the basement and tossed two items to the floor, not realizing they were bales of marijuana. Blevins then went upstairs to tell appellant he could not find anything.

At about that time, Wood returned to his residence, and appellant and Blevins ran downstairs and hid in a laundry area. Blevins heard two voices upstairs. Wood started to come downstairs, but he noticed appellant. Wood asked appellant what he was doing there, and Wood then ran upstairs and yelled to someone "[g]et my gun." (Tr. 516.) Appellant went up the stairs directly behind Wood. Blevins began running up the stairs, but, halfway up the stairway, he heard a couple of gunshots from the front yard. He went outside and saw Wood lying on the ground. During the shooting incident, Blevins heard Wood pleading: "Don't kill me." (Tr. 549.) Blevins had earlier observed a .357 revolver in the van in a box.

Appellant started running across the backyard, and Blevins followed after him and jumped over a fence. (Tr. 518.) A short time later, Blevins threw his tan coat, gloves, and mask into a trash can. Appellant gave Blevins his gloves, and Blevins also threw those into a trash can. Blevins observed the revolver in appellant's hand, and appellant threw the weapon into a nearby sewer. (Tr. 525.)

At the time the shots were fired, several neighbors called 911, and police officers soon arrived and were given a description of "a couple of suspicious male blacks" in a backyard residence. (Tr. 103.) One officer observed the two suspects and gave chase on foot. Appellant was arrested after a brief foot chase. Blevins hid underneath a van, but was soon discovered by police officers and arrested.

Later that evening, Blevins and appellant were released from police custody. They went to a nearby restaurant, and appellant called his uncle. Lynch arrived a short time later, but when appellant and Blevins went to the parking lot, Lynch was gone. Blevins and appellant then boarded a COTA bus; after a few stops, Lynch got on the same bus and handed appellant some clothes.

Blevins and appellant eventually got off the bus and began walking toward Brice Road. They returned to the Motel 6, but were informed that their room was no longer rented. Appellant phoned his brother and arranged to have money sent bywire to pay for bus fare for Blevins and appellant to return to Cleveland. At the Motel 6, appellant told Blevins that Wood "was supposed to testify against his uncle." (Tr. 543-44.) The two men began walking toward a nearby store, but they were again taken into custody by police officers who had been following them. At trial, Blevins denied firing the shots that killed Wood.

Ronald Jones, the uncle of Wood, had accompanied his nephew to the Franklin County Courthouse on the morning of December 8, 2008. At that time, an individual named Keith James "made threatening statements to my nephew." (Tr. 335.) Jones was at Wood's residence on the date of the shooting, and gave the following testimony of the events that day. On the morning of December 9, Wood drove to Jones' residence and picked up his uncle at approximately 8:30 a.m. Wood drove to a nearby gas station, but after receiving a telephone call from "Butch," a friend, Wood drove back to his residence. (Tr. 284.) Butch arrived at Wood's residence in a green pickup truck, and the three men then went inside the house.

Jones began watching television in the living room, while Wood and Butch went into the kitchen area. Wood walked toward his bedroom, but then returned to the kitchen. Wood then stated, "[s]omeone is in my house, they have a gun, get out." (Tr. 289.) Jones heard a gunshot and exited the house through the front door. Jones went to the next-door neighbor's house and knelt behind an SUV. Jones heard at least four or five gunshots. Jones also heard his nephew fall down and yell out: "No, man, no." (Tr. 291.) Jones saw Wood on the ground and his body shaking. Jones observed someone wearing white tennis shoes "walk up on him." (Tr. 292.) He heard two more shots after seeing the individual approach his nephew. Jones then observed two men running away. One of the individuals ran toward Meredith Avenue. Jones was unable to see the faces of these individuals, but he observed that they were both black males.

Charles "Butch" Martin, age 43, a high school acquaintance of Wood, was also at Wood's residence on the date of the shooting. Martin testified that he drove to Wood's house on December 9, shortly before 9:00 a.m. Wood's uncle was at the residence when he arrived. While standing in the kitchen, Martin heard Wood screamout: "Uncle Ron, get the gun, there is somebody in the house." (Tr. 357.) Martin ran toward the back door, attempting to unlock it. The screen door was locked, so Martin threw himself against the screen and knocked the screen out. Martin ran toward a hill in the backyard and heard five shots. He then heard three more shots, and as he jumped over a fence he heard two more shots. Martin asked a neighbor to call 911.

At the scene of the shooting, police officers recovered several bales of marijuana from Wood's residence. Police officers found a firearm in a sewer near Bethesda Avenue and Elton Road. Officers also found a coat, a pair of brown gloves, and a mask while searching a trash can.

Dr. Tae Lyong An, a deputy coroner with the Franklin County Coroner's Office, conducted an autopsy on Wood. Dr. An noted five entry wounds and two exit wounds on the body. The entry wounds were to the victim's left front chest, the back of the head, the right upper back, the left mid-back area near the spine, and the right forearm. The bullet wound to the chest lacerated the left lung, while the wound to the head lacerated the victim's brain. Dr. An opined that the cause of death was the "multiple gunshot wounds, laceration multiple internal organs." (Tr. 456.)

Mark Hardy, a forensic scientist with the Columbus Police Department, opined that five bullets retrieved from the victim following the autopsy had been fired from the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver recovered from the sewer. (Tr. 739.) A forensic scientist testified that swabs taken from the hands of Blevins and appellant both tested positive for gunshot residue.

Andre Brown, age 20, is currently incarcerated for murder. In November of 2008, Brown was incarcerated in the Franklin County Jail, where he met appellant. Brown watched a newscast involving the shooting of Wood. Brown told appellant that he knew a girl who lived near the house where the shooting occurred. Appellant wanted to know the name of the girl "to use the girl [Brown knew] as an alibi." (Tr. 634.) Appellant told

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