Gentry v. Sinclair

• Decision Date: 15 September 2008
• Docket Number: Case No. C99-0289L.
• Citation: 576 F.Supp.2d 1130
• Parties: Jonathan Lee GENTRY, Petitioner, v. Stephen SINCLAIR, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Washington

576 F.Supp.2d 1130

Jonathan Lee GENTRY, Petitioner, v. Stephen SINCLAIR, Respondent.

Case No. C99-0289L.

United States District Court, W.D. Washington, at Seattle.

September 15, 2008.

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Meredith Martin Rountree, Owen & Rountree, Austin, TX, Scott J. Engelhard Brian Akio Tsuchida, Federal Public Defender's Office, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

ORDER GRANTING RESPONDENT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, DENYING PETITIONER'S CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND ORDER DENYING AMENDED HABEAS PETITION

ROBERT S. LASNIK, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter comes before the Court on "Respondent's Motion for Summary Judgment" (Dkt. # 272) and Jonathan Lee Gentry's ("petitioner" or "Gentry") "Cross Motion for Summary Judgment" (Dkt. # 275). On September 8, 2008, the Court held oral argument on the motions and heard from both parties' counsel. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants respondent's motion for summary judgment, denies Gentry's cross-motion for summary judgment, and denies Gentry's amended habeas corpus petition.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Procedural history

Gentry faces a death sentence in Washington for murdering 12-year-old Cassie Holden on June 13, 1988. After approximately eight weeks of motion hearings and a six-week trial, the jury found defendant guilty of premeditated first degree murder and felony first degree murder, and also found the aggravating circumstance that the murder was committed to conceal the identity of the person committing a crime. 24 REC 13461-13462. In the penalty-phase, the jury found that there were not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency, and Gentry received a death sentence. Id. at 13591.

Gentry filed a direct appeal of his conviction and sentence to the Washington Supreme Court, presenting a total of nineteen separate issues for review. On January 6, 1995, the Washington Supreme Court affirmed Gentry's conviction and death sentence in an one-hundred-and-twelve-page, 6-3 opinion. See State v. Gentry, 125 Wash.2d 570, 888 P.2d 1105 (1995). The United States Supreme Court denied Gentry's petition for a writ of certiorari on October 2, 1995. Gentry v. Washington, 516 U.S. 843, 116 S.Ct. 131, 133 L.Ed.2d 79 (1995). Thereafter, on October 5, 1995, the Supreme Court of Washington issued its mandate, and on November 2, 1995, the Kitsap County Superior Court set December 5, 1995 for Gentry's execution. See 35 REC 18846 (Mandate); 18851-18852 (Death Warrant).

On November 6, 1995, Gentry filed a motion for stay of execution pending the filing and resolution of a personal restraint petition ("PRP"), Washington's mechanism for collateral challenges. See 35 REC 18894-18895. On November 14, 1995, the Washington Supreme Court stayed Gentry's execution pending the adjudication his PRP. Id. at 18895 (ordering stay of execution). On February 18, 1999, the Washington Supreme Court denied Gentry's PRP in a forty-eight-page, 7-2 opinion. See In the Matter of the Personal Restraint Petition of Jonathan Lee Gentry, 137 Wash.2d 378, 400, 972 P.2d 1250 (1999) ("In re Gentry"), amended by 1999 Wash. LEXIS 448 (June 30, 1999). After the decision on the PRP, Gentry filed his "First Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254" with this Court. See Dkt. # 47 (hereinafter "Amended Petition" or "Dkt. #47"). The Court stayed Gentry's execution pending resolution of this habeas proceeding. See Dkt. # 29.

In total, during the history of this case, Gentry has been represented by eight attorneys. Jeffrey Robinson and Frederick Leatherman represented Gentry at trial. On direct appeal, Robert Gombiner and Michael Iaria represented Gentry along with Mr. Leatherman. Scott Engelhard, Julie Spector,¹ and Meredith Rountree represented Gentry during the PRP proceeding. Finally, Brian Tsuchida,² Meredith Rountree and Scott Engelhard have represented Gentry in this federal habeas proceeding.

B. Factual background

On June 13, 1988, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Cassie Holden went for a walk near her mother's home in Bremerton, Washington, but did not return for dinner.³ State v. Gentry, 125 Wash.2d at 579, 888 P.2d 1105. Her body was discovered two days later behind a large log at the bottom of a footpath that extended from a trail in the woods near a Bremerton-area golf course. Id. Cassie's eyeglasses, earing, and a bouquet of flowers were found approximately 148 feet up the footpath on, and near the main trail, and she appeared to have been sexually assaulted given that she was partially undressed. Id. Her blue sweatshirt had also been removed from one arm and pulled up, partially covering her face. Id. She had been struck in the head approximately eight to fifteen times, suffering ten "significant injuries." Id.

Kitsap County sheriff deputies investigated the murder scene and determined that there was blood extending from the main trail, down the footpath about 148 feet to where Cassie was discovered. Id. They found a 2.2-pound rock that was believed to be the murder weapon—it had blue fibers matching the sweatshirt embedded into it, and also red marks that looked like blood. Id. The autopsy revealed that Cassie had been killed by one of the blows to her head, but it did not show the order in which the blows were delivered or which blow killed Cassie, and it did not conclusively show that she had been raped. Id.

As part of the autopsy, several loose hairs consistent with Cassie's hair were removed from her body. Id. Two "Negroid" hair fragments were also recovered from her t-shirt, a coarse brown hair believed to be Caucasian pubic hair was found on her thigh, and a red pigmented hair was found on her shoe. Id. at 580, 888 P.2d 1105. There was no identification linked with the Caucasian hair, but the Negroid hair was determined to be consistent with Gentry's brother's arm hair. Id. Gentry's brother was not in Kitsap County at the time of Cassie's murder, however, evidence showed that Gentry lived with his brother's family and Gentry occasionally wore his brother's clothes. Id.

After the investigation focused on Gentry, his residence was searched and clothing, including a pair of shoes, was seized. Id. Examination of the shoes indicated that blood had been wiped from them. Id. Bloodstains were found on the shoe's laces and these stains were subjected to a series of scientific tests, including: ABO, gamma marker (GM), haptoglobin (Hp), DQ-alpha polymerase chain reaction DNA (PCR DNA), and phos-phoglucomutase (PGM). Id. According to the State's experts, none of the tests performed on the bloodstains from Gentry's shoelaces eliminated Cassie as the source of the blood. Id. Because ABO, GM, Hp, and PCR DNA are genetically independent factors, the State's experts used the product rule to derive a cumulative frequency showing the percentage of the population from which the blood found on Gentry's shoelaces could have originated. Id.

For the ABO test, one of the bloodstains was type O and Cassie had type O blood, which is found in 44.5% of the Caucasian population. Id. GM testing revealed that both shoelace bloodstains were type 1,2,3,11, as was Cassie's blood, and this type is found in 14% of the Caucasian population. Id. The Hp test showed that one of the shoelace bloodstains was Hp type "2," the same as Cassie's blood, and Hp type "2" is present in 36.1% of the Caucasian population. Id. at 581, 888 P.2d 1105. The PCR DNA testing on the bloodstains from both shoelaces showed PCR type 1.2, 3, the same as Cassie's blood. Id. The frequency of occurrence of type 1.2, 3 is approximately 8% in both the Caucasian and African American populations. Id. The scientist who conducted the PCR DNA testing testified that the percentage of Caucasians with type 0 blood with GM 1,2,3,11, Hp type "2," and PCR DNA of 1.2, 3 was 0.18%. Id. The hair found on Cassie's t-shirt was subjected to PCR testing and showed a PCR type 1.2, 1.2, which did not match Gentry, but matched his brother's type. Id.

There was other evidence presented at trial linking Gentry to the murder, including three people who reported seeing a man matching Gentry's description near the crime scene around the time of the murder, and three former jailmates of Gentry who testified that he admitted to them that he had killed someone. Id. The factual background regarding the jailhouse witnesses is detailed in the Court's prior rulings on Gentry's Brady/Napue claims involving these witnesses. See Dkt. # 283 at 3-6; Dkt. # 284.

C. Gentry's habeas claims

In his Amended Petition, Gentry presents twelve separate claims for relief. As the Court explains in Section II.2.D below, the Court has denied some of these claims in prior orders. Given that respondent has moved to dismiss Gentry's entire Amended Petition on summary judgment, for clarity in the record, the Court in this order discusses each claim. Listed below are the twelve claims and the corresponding paragraphs from the Amended Petition pertaining to each claim.⁴

A. Potential Juror No. 22 was erroneously excused (¶¶ 11; 30-43);

B. Ineffective assistance of counsel ("IAC") for failing to investigate and present expert testimony regarding the crime scene evidence (¶¶ 14.3; 44-60);

C. IAC for failing to rebut the State's evidence that the fatal head injuries were caused by two blows rather than one (¶¶ 14.4; 61-79);

D. IAC for failing to rebut the State's DNA and serological statistical probability evidence (¶¶ 14.5; 80-111);

E. The State violated Brady v. Maryland by failing to disclose impeachment evidence about the three jailhouse witnesses and two detectives (¶¶ 12; 112-222);

F. The State violated Napue v. Illinois by presenting false testimony from the three jailhouse witnesses (¶¶ 13; 223-225);

G. IAC for failing to fully investigate the three jailhouse witnesses and Detective Wright (¶¶ 14.1; 14.2; 226-232);

H. IAC for failing to present mitigating evidence in the...