Dorchy v. Jones
| Decision Date | 23 February 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-1797.,04-1797. |
| Citation | 398 F.3d 783 |
| Parties | Charles DORCHY, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Kurt JONES, Warden, Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Janet A. Van Cleve, Office of the Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellant. Todd A. Shanker, Federal Public Defenders Office, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF:
Laura Graves Moody, Office of the Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellant. Todd A. Shanker, Andrew N. Wise, Federal Public Defenders Office, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.
Before: MOORE and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; WEBER, District Judge.*
Charles Dorchy was convicted in state court of murdering his drug supplier, Larry Adams, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. During Dorchy's trial, the prior testimony of one unavailable witness and the recorded statement of another were submitted to the jury over Dorchy's objection. On appeal, the Michigan Court of Appeals decided that the prior testimony was properly admitted into evidence. It concluded that the recorded statement, on the other hand, was improperly admitted, but determined that the error was harmless. Dorchy subsequently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court. The district court granted a conditional writ, finding that the Michigan Court of Appeals had unreasonably applied existing Supreme Court precedent. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
A. Factual background
The facts of the present case turn on the events of January 10, 1996, when Adams was shot and killed during a drug-related altercation. Dorchy, who owed Adams $10,000 in drug money, claimed that he shot Adams in self-defense. But Dorchy immediately fled to Florida, and was not located until two-and-a-half years after the killing. Once apprehended, he was charged with first-degree murder, assault with the intent to murder, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Although all parties agree that Dorchy was directly involved in Adams's death, disagreement persists over the exact sequence of events. A number of individuals who witnessed various parts of the altercation testified at Dorchy's trial. Melody Hurst, Adams's cousin, related that she got into a van on January 10, 1996 with Dorchy, Ira Oldham, and Damien Martin. (Martin was subsequently charged with and convicted of second-degree murder in connection with Adams's death.) Melody testified that, during the van ride, Oldham was paged by Adams, prompting Dorchy to call Adams back on his cellular phone. She stated that she overheard Dorchy say, "Nigger, I'll kill you," and "Nigger, I ain't got nothing," in a belligerent way. Melody then said that Dorchy asked Martin to hand him the "mag," and that in response Martin handed him a nine-millimeter semiautomatic gun. She concluded by saying that the van parked about two or three minutes away from Adams's house, and that Dorchy and Martin exited.
Two other relatives of Adams also testified at Dorchy's trial. One was Stephanie Hurst, who said that she walked by Dorchy, Adams, Martin, Ernest Knox, and Dion McCrary as they stood outside on the sidewalk when she went from her house to her brother-in-law's house on January 10, 1996. She noted that the men were not arguing or fighting, but that Adams had a "serious" look on his face. Stephanie walked away and entered her brother-in-law's house, but immediately went back outside when she heard gunshots. She stated that she then saw Adams Lying face down on the ground, his hands in his pockets.
The other relative was Robin Hurst, Stephanie's niece, who testified that she was inside Stephanie's house when she saw the same group of men standing outside. According to Robin, no one seemed upset or angry. When she heard gunshots, she looked outside to see Adams lying on the ground.
The jury also heard from Lieutenant James Thompson, the first officer on the scene. He testified that, on the night in question, he had been dispatched to an apartment complex where shots were reportedly fired. When he arrived, Lieutenant Thompson found Adams's body on the ground, his hands tucked into his coat pockets. He noted that Adams had a nine-millimeter semiautomatic pistol in his right waistband, and that scattered around were several shell casings and one spent bullet. Lieutenant Mike Thomas, the forensics expert who examined the bullets and casings found at the site, testified that three of the cartridge cases were from a nine-millimeter handgun. Dr. Mark Fischione, the county medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Adams, opined that the first wound Adams suffered came from the "end of the muzzle [being] held up against the back region."
The primary controversy in this appeal surrounds the transcribed testimony of Ernest Knox, one of the five men who were standing outside when Adams was killed. Because Knox could not be located at the time of Dorchy's trial, a court reporter instead read the transcribed testimony given by Knox in the earlier trial of Damien Martin. Knox had stated in his prior testimony that he was with Adams and Dion McCrary when Dorchy and Martin arrived. According to Knox, Dorchy and Adams discussed a drug debt that Dorchy owed, following which the group of men moved outside. The transcript of the direct examination then reads as follows:
Q. Okay. What did Mr. Dorchy do then?
A. Just kept talking.
Q. Did you see Mr. Dorchy pull a firearm out? What did you observe Mr. Dorchy do then?
A. I observed him kill Mr. Adams.
Q. Okay. How did he kill Mr. Adams?
A. Shot him in the back of the head.
Q. Okay. Did he pull a gun out of his pocket?
A. Yeah.
Q. And ... what did Mr. Adams do just prior to Mr. Dorchy shooting him?
A. He kind of like, it was turned head and he shot him in the back of the head.
Q. Okay. Charles Dorchy shot Adams in the back of the head?
The only other unindicted eyewitness, McCrary, had earlier testified outside of the jury's presence and had stated that, if called as a witness during Dorchy's trial, he would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In response, the prosecution moved to have a tape containing the statement that McCrary had made to the police immediately after the shooting admitted into evidence. The state trial court agreed. McCrary's statement to the police was then played to the jury. On the tape, McCrary said:
The jury also heard from Dorchy himself, who admitted that he owed Adams $10,000 in drug money and was therefore avoiding him. He further said that he had spoken to Adams earlier on his cellular phone, and that Adams had told him to "[b]ring my mother fuckin money." According to Dorchy, his life was in danger and he felt scared and threatened. He stated that, once the men were outside, they began conversing. Dorchy testified that, after things got tense, He then pulled his own gun out and immediately ducked and fired, thinking that Adams would also "turn around and shoot" since "he was going for something." Throughout his testimony, Dorchy repeated that he feared for his life, and that both Knox and Adams were acting in a threatening fashion toward him.
Dorchy was found guilty by the jury on one count of first-degree murder and on one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Earlier, Dorchy had pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was subsequently sentenced by the state court to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on the murder charge, and to shorter terms of imprisonment on the firearm-possession charges. The court also ordered Dorchy to pay $20,000 in restitution.
Dorchy subsequently appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which affirmed his conviction and sentence. People v. Dorchy, No. 217665, 2001 WL 1134733 (Mich.Ct.App. Sept.18, 2001) (unpublished). His delayed application for leave to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court was denied. People v. Dorchy, 466 Mich. 856, 643 N.W.2d 575 (2002). Dorchy then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, asserting that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated when the out-of-court testimony by Knox and the statement by McCrary were admitted into evidence. The district court agreed, granting Dorchy a conditional writ on May 26, 2004. Dorchy v. Jones, 320 F.Supp.2d 564 (E.D.Mich.2004). This timely appeal by the state followed.
The present case is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (AEDPA), which has increased the deference that federal courts must give to state-court decisions. Herbert v. Billy, 160 F.3d 1131, 1135 (6th Cir.1998) () (quoting Lindh v. Murphy, 96 F.3d 856, 870 (7th Cir.1996)).
Legal determinations made by state courts are entitled to substantial deference under AEDPA. Such questions are governed by § 2254(d), which provides as follows:
An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim
(1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or
(2) resulted in a...
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