Guzman v. Frauenheim

• Decision Date: 01 August 2017
• Docket Number: No. 1:16-cv-01608-DAD-JLT (HC),1:16-cv-01608-DAD-JLT (HC)
• Parties: ANTONIO C. GUZMAN, Petitioner, v. SCOTT FRAUENHEIM, Warden, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California

ANTONIO C. GUZMAN, Petitioner, v. SCOTT FRAUENHEIM, Warden, Respondent.

No. 1:16-cv-01608-DAD-JLT (HC)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

August 1, 2017

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO DENY PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

[TWENTY-ONE DAY OBJECTION DEADLINE]

Petitioner is currently in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation serving a sentence of 25 years-to-life plus one year for his conviction of first degree murder with enhancement for use of a deadly and dangerous weapon. In this action, Petitioner presents multiple challenges to his conviction. The state courts' decisions to reject these claims were not contrary to or an unreasonable application of, Supreme Court precedent. Thus, the Court recommends the petition be DENIED.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 29, 2014, Petitioner was convicted in the Merced County Superior Court of first degree murder (Cal. Penal Code § 187(a)), with the personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon (Cal. Penal Code § 12022(b)(1)). People v. Guzman, No. F069165, 2016 WL 1633108, at *1 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 22, 2016), review denied (June 29, 2016). On March 27, 2014, Petitioner was sentenced to 25 years-to-life for murder, plus one year for the weapon enhancement. Id.

Petitioner appealed to the California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District ("Fifth DCA"). On April 22, 2016, the Fifth DCA issued its opinion affirming the judgment. Id. Petitioner filed a petition for review in the California Supreme Court. (LD¹ 5.) On June 29, 2016, the petition for review was denied. (LD 6.)

On August 12, 2016, Petitioner filed a habeas petition in the California Supreme Court. (LD 7.) The state supreme court summarily denied the petition without comment on October 12, 2016. (LD 8.)

On October 26, 2016, Petitioner filed the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus in this Court. (Doc. No. 1.) Respondent filed an answer on February 22, 2017. (Doc. No. 13.) Petitioner filed a traverse to Respondent's answer on March 24, 2017. (Doc. No. 17.)

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The Court adopts the Statement of Facts in the Fifth DCA's unpublished decision.²

Prosecution Evidence

As of April 28, 2013, Christyn Aguilar resided in a house on Valencia Way in Atwater, with her mother, Bonnie Aguilar; other family members; and Andrew Sanchez. [FN2.] Christyn's boyfriend, Carlos Belmonte, stayed there occasionally, as did Joseph McDonald, who had been living in a detached garage since sometime in 2012.

[FN2.] Undesignated dates in the statement of facts are to the year 2013. Because several persons involved in this case share last names, we refer to them by their first names for clarity. No disrespect is intended.

On April 28, McDonald began drinking beer around 10:00 a.m. or possibly a bit earlier. He continued drinking into the afternoon, when other people started to arrive at the house for a barbecue. Rachel Sanchez, Andrew's mother, arrived about 11:00 a.m. Defendant, Andrew's coworker, arrived around noon in his red or burgundy truck, then remained outside with Bonnie, Andrew, and McDonald. All were drinking. As far as Christyn could tell as she went back and forth in and out of the house, everything was peaceful and calm.

According to Bonnie, there was a running argument between defendant and McDonald concerning defendant's boots. Over the course of several hours, the argument flared up, died down, and then flared up again a number of times. [FN3] At some point, McDonald put his hands on Bonnie in a disrespectful manner. Hekept touching her and she kept pushing him away, then finally defendant stepped in and was able to get McDonald to stop touching her. Defendant told McDonald multiple times, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." Defendant did not raise his voice. According to Rachel, however, Bonnie was intoxicated and was hitting and antagonizing McDonald, and trying to get defendant to beat McDonald up. She kept whispering in defendant's ear, then took him in a room for 30 minutes. This was about 1:00 p.m. When defendant came out, he had an attitude toward McDonald.

[FN3.] Bonnie had known defendant for at least three years. She had never seen him be aggressive, even when drinking.

Between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m., Belmonte was getting ready to start the grill for the barbecue. Bonnie, defendant, McDonald, and Andrew were sitting near the grill. All were drinking beer. Defendant and McDonald were sitting about three or four feet apart. When Belmonte first saw them, they seemed to be conversing. Within about 30 seconds, however, they started arguing. McDonald's voice was raised and he acted as if he was angry. Defendant's voice was not raised, but it appeared, from the look on his face, that he was starting to get mad.

The argument lasted no more than a minute, with McDonald doing most of the talking. At some point, McDonald got out of his chair and walked toward defendant, who was still seated. Standing over defendant, McDonald told him, "If you have a problem, say it to my face and we'll take it to the back." Defendant then stood up. McDonald was still angry, while defendant still appeared calm.

According to Rachel, McDonald got up when Bonnie slapped him. McDonald said that was enough, then defendant said something to him and pointed his finger in McDonald's face. McDonald responded, "No man points his finger in my face," and "Let's take it around the corner." Defendant got angry.

Belmonte recalled McDonald and defendant walking down the driveway toward the back of the house. Belmonte followed them, because he thought they were "going to go toe-to-toe." He believed McDonald was drunk. McDonald started walking first, and passed defendant's truck. Defendant went to the driver's side of his truck. He opened the door, leaned inside, and appeared to be looking for something. He emerged a few seconds later and ran at McDonald. A white plastic sheath went flying from defendant's vicinity. Defendant had to run about 15 feet to reach McDonald, who was standing with his fists clenched about the level of his waist, like he was ready to fight. McDonald did not have anything in his hands.

Defendant started swinging a machete at McDonald in an up-and-down manner. The first blow—a powerful swing—struck the right side of McDonald's neck. McDonald brought his arms up to try to defend himself, but defendant continued to swing the weapon. At least some of the blows made contact with McDonald's body. Three to four of the swings were to McDonald's left side, like defendant was trying to get the left side of McDonald's neck. The swings were too fast for Belmonte to count, but there were more than four. They were constant, fluid motions, with no pauses in between.

Rachel recalled McDonald and defendant walking toward the backyard at the same time. Rachel was walking with McDonald and trying to calm him down. Defendant, who was slightly ahead of them, went straight to his truck and reached in the passenger side. Rachel saw defendant get something out of his truck, then saw the machete strike McDonald's face. Although McDonald had squared offwith his hands up to fight, he did not push or strike defendant, or make any type of aggressive hand movement. Nevertheless, defendant went straight to the truck, then kind of ran at McDonald and struck him in the face with the machete. Defendant then "persistently" swung the machete at McDonald's upper body. McDonald had nothing in his hands and did not land any blows. Rachel believed defendant swung at least eight or nine times. Before the first blow, McDonald said to defendant, "It's like that, huh?" Defendant said nothing. During the attack, McDonald kept telling Rachel to run, but she could not, because defendant pointed the machete at her and told her not to move.

McDonald was bleeding profusely, with blood squirting from his neck. Defendant backed away from him, then quickly went toward the back of the house and tossed the machete inside the attached garage. According to Belmonte, defendant had a blank expression on his face. Belmonte did not hear him say anything. Belmonte heard Christyn start to come outside, and he told her to go back in and call 911. Defendant ran to his truck and drove away. Belmonte did not "believe that he burned rubber, but he left pretty quickly." They made eye contact for a couple of seconds. Defendant looked angry.

According to Rachel, after defendant ran toward the back of the house, he came up to her, looking confused and terrified, like he was in shock. He asked what he did, and she pointed at McDonald. Defendant looked at McDonald and then back at Rachel, and he told her to shut her mouth and not say anything. He then left quickly in his truck. McDonald asked Rachel for help. He hugged her, asked what happened and who did it, and whether he (McDonald) was wrong.

Atwater Police Officer Dasilva was dispatched to the residence at approximately 5:16 p.m. and arrived shortly after. He located a bloody machete in the garage. He received information as to two possible locations the suspect might be found. When he responded to the second one—a trailer park on Crest Road—he was informed by a neighbor that the trailer in question was occupied by an 11-year-old boy. The boy's mother was contacted and gave permission to enter.

Both doors to the trailer were locked. Dasilva knocked, but there was no response, so he kicked in the main door. He and Corporal Echevarria searched one side of the trailer, while Detective Richards and Officer Torres searched the other. Shortly after entry, Dasilva heard Torres yelling, "Show me your hands." Dasilva immediately proceeded to Torres's location in the west bedroom. There, Dasilva observed defendant and a boy lying on the bed, under the covers. Torres continued to give commands, but defendant did not comply with them. He had his hands concealed and the boy was a potential hostage, so Dasilva used his Taser on defendant. Defendant was then taken into custody. Richards did not

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