Esparza v. Falk

• Decision Date: 05 January 2015
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 14-cv-01186-CMA
• Parties: GABRIEL ESPARZA, Applicant, v. JAMES FALK, Warden, and THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF COLORADO, Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Colorado

GABRIEL ESPARZA, Applicant, v. JAMES FALK, Warden, and THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF COLORADO, Respondents.

Civil Action No. 14-cv-01186-CMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

January 5, 2015

Judge Christine M. Arguello

ORDER ON APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

This matter is before the Court on the Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Doc. # 1) ("the Application") filed by Applicant Gabriel Esparza. Respondents have filed an Answer to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. # 21) ("the Answer") and Mr. Esparza has filed a Reply to Respondents' Answer (Doc. # 25) ("the Reply"). After reviewing the record, including the Application, the Answer, the Reply, and the state court record, the Court FINDS and CONCLUDES that the Application should be denied and the case dismissed with prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND

Mr. Esparza is challenging the validity of his conviction and sentence in the Arapahoe County District Court case number 04CR1256. In direct appeal proceedings, the Colorado Court of Appeals summarized the factual background of Mr. Esparza's conviction as follows:

Defendant, Gabriel Esparza, appeals his judgment of conviction from the Arapahoe County District Court, entered upon a jury verdict, for first degree murder after deliberation of Tina Esparza, his estranged wife, aggravated motor vehicle theft, and violation of a criminal restraining order. We affirm.

In December 2003, five months before she was murdered, Tina Esparza discovered that defendant had been secretly videotaping her daughters in various states of undress with devices hidden in a bedroom and bathroom of the family home. She notified law enforcement authorities, who filed sexual assault charges against defendant in Jefferson County, Case No. 03M6227, and obtained a protection order for herself and two of her daughters, which required defendant to vacate the family home and move to a separate resident. The couple began the process of dissolving their marriage.

During the months following the separation, defendant was seen in the neighborhood of the family home, took his wife's truck from the parking garage at the Englewood Civic Center (ECC) where she worked, and violated the protection order in early May 2004 by sending flowers to his wife for Mother's Day under the daughters' names. Shortly after noon on May 14, 2004, witnesses heard a loud noise come from the parking garage at the ECC, found Tina Esparza's body lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the parking structure, and saw a gray van speeding out of the garage. Defendant's wife was dead on arrival at Swedish Medical Center. The following day, defendant turned himself in to the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Department after seeing the murder described in a newspaper and learning that he was wanted for the murder.

Through counsel at his trial, defendant did not deny shooting his wife but argued in both opening statement and closing argument that he was guilty only of reckless manslaughter because his actions were impulsive and unexpected, not premeditated.

People v. Esparza, No. 05CA1952, slip op. at 1-2 (Colo. App. Apr. 30, 2009) (Doc. # 8-7 at 3-4). The judgment of conviction was affirmed on direct appeal. Id. On July 20,2009, the Colorado Supreme Court denied Mr. Esparza's petition for writ of certiorari. (See Doc. # 1-2).

On December 7, 2009, Mr. Esparza filed in the state district court a postconviction motion pursuant to Rule 35(c) of the Colorado Rules of Criminal Procedure. (See Doc. # 8-1 at 4). Mr. Esparza also requested appointment of postconviction counsel, but the state district court did not appoint counsel and summarily denied his Rule 35(c) motion. (See Doc. # 1-3). On January 19, 2012, the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's order denying the Rule 35(c) motion. (See Doc. # 1-4 at 2). On September 23, 2013, the Colorado Supreme Court denied Mr. Esparza's petition for writ of certiorari. (See Doc. # 1-5).

On April 28, 2014, Mr. Esparza filed the § 2254 Application asserting seven claims for relief. He asserts in Claim One that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when he was arrested without a warrant and searched. He contends in Claim Two that the trial court violated his Fourth Amendment rights by denying his motion to suppress evidence from invalid searches. Mr. Esparza asserts in Claim Three that he was tried before a biased judge who should have recused himself in violation of his due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. He asserts in Claim Four that the trial court violated his due process rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments by making prejudicial evidentiary rulings. He alleges in Claim Five that his due process rights were violated because the prosecution misled defense counsel and the trial court refused to hold a suppression hearing. Mr. Esparza asserts in Claim Six that his due process rights were violated by prosecutorial misconduct. Mr. Esparza finally contends in Claim Seven that he received ineffective assistance of trial counselbecause (a) counsel did not conduct a sufficient investigation into his casino alibi defense; (b) counsel failed to secure a Gun Shot Residue expert to challenge the State's interpretation of the CBI test results; (c) counsel did not represent him during the motions hearing concerning a forced handwriting exemplar; and (d) counsel infringed on his right to plead not guilty and to testify on his own behalf by admitting his guilt to the jury in opening statements. The Court previously entered an Order to Dismiss in Part dismissing Claim 7(c) as unexhausted and procedurally barred. (See Doc. # 19).

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

The Court must construe the Application and other papers filed by Mr. Esparza liberally because he is not represented by an attorney. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21 (1972) (per curiam); Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991). However, the Court should not be an advocate for a pro se litigant. See Hall, 935 F.2d at 1110.

Title 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) provides that a writ of habeas corpus may not be issued with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in state court unless the state court adjudication:

(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 decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.

28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Mr. Esparza bears the burden of proof under § 2254(d). See Woodford v. Visciotti, 537 U.S. 19, 25 (2002) (per curiam).

A claim may be adjudicated on the merits in state court even in the absence of astatement of reasons by the state court for rejecting the claim. Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770, 784-85 (2011). In particular, "determining whether a state court's decision resulted from an unreasonable legal or factual conclusion does not require that there be an opinion from the state court explaining the state court's reasoning." Id. at 784. Thus, "[w]hen a federal claim has been presented to a state court and the state court has denied relief, it may be presumed that the state court adjudicated the claim on the merits in the absence of any indication or state-law procedural principles to the contrary." Id. at 784-85. Even "[w]here a state court's decision is unaccompanied by an explanation, the habeas petitioner's burden still must be met by showing there was no reasonable basis for the state court to deny relief." Id. at 784. In other words, the Court "owe[s] deference to the state court's result, even if its reasoning is not expressly stated." Aycox v. Lytle, 196 F.3d 1174, 1177 (10th Cir. 1999). Therefore, the Court "must uphold the state court's summary decision unless [the Court's] independent review of the record and pertinent federal law persuades [the Court] that its result contravenes or unreasonably applies clearly established federal law, or is based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented." Id. at 1178. "[T]his 'independent review' should be distinguished from a full de novo review of the petitioner's claims." Id.

The Court reviews claims of legal error and mixed questions of law and fact pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). See Cook v. McKune, 323 F.3d 825, 830 (10th Cir. 2003). The threshold question the Court must answer under § 2254(d)(1) is whether the applicant seeks to apply a rule of law that was clearly established by the Supreme Court at the time his conviction became final. See Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 390(2000). Clearly established federal law "refers to the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of [the Supreme] Court's decisions as of the time of the relevant state-court decision." Id. at 412. Furthermore,

clearly established law consists of Supreme Court holdings in cases where the facts are at least closely-related or similar to the case sub judice. Although the legal rule at issue need not have had its genesis in the closely-related or similar factual context, the Supreme Court must have expressly extended the legal rule to that context.

House v. Hatch, 527 F.3d 1010, 1016 (10th Cir. 2008). If there is no clearly established federal law, that is the end of the Court's inquiry pursuant to § 2254(d)(1). See id. at 1018.

If a clearly established rule of federal law is implicated, the Court must determine whether the state court's decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of that clearly established rule of federal law. See Williams, 529 U.S. at 404-05.

A state-court decision is contrary to clearly established federal law if: (a) "the state court applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in Supreme Court cases"; or (b) "the state court confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a

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