Hansen v. Clark

• Decision Date: 15 July 2019
• Docket Number: Civil No. 4:16-CV-2223
• Parties: PAUL NELSON HANSEN, Petitioner v. MICHAEL CLARK, et al., Respondents
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania

PAUL NELSON HANSEN, Petitioner v. MICHAEL CLARK, et al., Respondents

Civil No. 4:16-CV-2223

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

July 15, 2019

(Judge Brann)

(Magistrate Judge Carlson)

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

I. Statement of Facts and of The Case

This case arose out of a tragic, fatal shooting which took place on June 12, 2010. The background of the killing of Melissa Barnes at the hands of Paul Hansen was aptly described by the Pennsylvania Superior Court in its decision affirming Hansen's conviction, where the court explained that:

The shooting and killing of Melissa Barnes occurred at a party Barnes hosted at her home ... in York Haven, Pennsylvania on June 12, 2010. The property was in a wooded area, and the roughly twenty cars parked near the house had to drive down a makeshift dirt road in order to park. The road was muddy due to rain, and thus Hansen required the help of five people at the party to push his vehicle out of the mud before he could leave as he intended. One of the five partygoers that helped Hansen move his vehicle was Holly McMichael. During the attempts to push Hansen's vehicle out of the mud, Hansen and McMichael began to argue because McMichael attempted to tell Hansen how to drive. Hansen grabbed McMichael during the argument and told her that he would "break [her] fucking neck." N.T. Trial, 7/11/11, at 183. He then twisted her around and put her in a hold so that she could not move. When a truck pulled in with its lights on, Hansen released McMichael.

Thereafter, Barnes quickly approached the scene of the altercation, swearing at Hansen and telling him, "you don't put your hands on one of my friends, my guest ... you don't touch a woman." Id. Barnes went over to Hansen, pushed him, and continued to scream profanities. Hansen pushed Barnes back, and the argument continued. According to the testimony of one witness, when Barnes pushed Hansen again:

He took a step back, took his right hand, put it in his right side, pulled out a pistol, aimed and the gun went off just that quick in one fluid motion without saying anything to her, without a warning, without saying ["]I'm gonna shoot you.["] Nothing. It was just step back, draw, point and the gun went off and the bullet entered the side of the head.

Id. at 111.

At the time that Hansen shot Barnes, she was angry and in a fighting stance. She was also little further than an arm's length from Barnes when he fired. After the gun went off, Hansen's arm remained up and he did not move for a moment. He then slowly put the gun back to his side, walked past Barnes, and continued up the road alongside the house until he was out of sight.

Witnesses testified that after Hansen shot Barnes, he made a call to his wife, and then to 911. He told his wife that he had shot Barnes, he was "pretty sure" he killed her, that he loved his wife and kids, and that he was going to jail. Witnesses testified that Hansen sounded calm on the phone.

Roughly thirty seconds to one minute after the shooting, a guest at the party sought the assistance of Barnes' neighbor, Officer Keith Farren, who was off duty. ... Officer Farren secured Hansen's gun and held him until police arrived. According to the testimony of Officer Farren, at this point Hansen's demeanor was "extremely calm. It was kind of eerie actually. He was very articulate. He spoke very clear[ly]." N.T.Trial, 7/12/11, at 239. Officer Farren also testified that Hansen told him that:

Ms. Barnes ... was bugging him or pushing him all night long and that he said that I told her that if she touched me again, then I'd shoot her. And he said that she had touched him or slapped him I believe is what he said. He had pulled his gun out and pointed it at her and the gun accidentally went off. He said that if it wasn't for her pushing me, then the gun wouldn't have went off so it was her fault.

Id. at 240.

Officer Briar of the Newberry Police Department was dispatched to the scene of the crime. When he arrived, he took possession of the gun, a .40 Smith and Wesson semi-automatic, capable of holding fourteen rounds when fully loaded. An examination of the gun after the shooting revealed that Hansen's gun had one round in the chamber and twelve in the magazine. As determined by the tool and mark examiner for the Pennsylvania State Police, Trooper Darren Mortoff, the trigger pull of the gun was a minimum of eleven pounds.

(Doc. 21-1 at 337-41.)

Following his arrest, Hansen was charged with criminal homicide, assault and terroristic threats for his role in the slaying of Barnes and the menacing of Holly McMichael. (Id., at 4.) As this case proceeded to trial, there was no dispute that Hansen had, in fact, killed Barnes since multiple witnesses described how Hansen shot Barnes in the head at near point-blank range with a .40 caliber handgun. Instead, as Hansen's defense counsel aptly observed, this case was not about what Hansendid on July 12, 20010; rather "[w]hat this case [wa]s about was what was going on inside his head." (Id., at 71.)

Moreover, with respect to this critical issue of intent, Hansen's trial counsel was hamstrung in mounting a defense due to the statements and actions of his client in the immediate aftermath of this killing. Thus, the fact that numerous witnesses described Hansen's calm demeanor following the killing hobbled any effort to argue that he had acted out of fear or the heat of a sudden passion.¹ Hansen also made a statement to the police shortly after he killed Barnes, which further constrained defense counsel in fashioning any defense based upon his mental state when he killed Barnes, telling the arresting officer that:

Ms. Barnes ... was bugging him or pushing him all night long and that he said that I told her that if she touched me again, then I'd shoot her. And he said that she had touched him or slapped him I believe is what he said. He had pulled his gun out and pointed it at her and the gun accidentally went off. He said that if it wasn't for her pushing me, then the gun wouldn't have went off so it was her fault.

(Id., at 143.)

In this immediate post-arrest statement, Hansen made admissions consistent with some level of premeditation, stating: "Ms. Barnes ... was bugging him orpushing him all night long and that he said that I told her that if she touched me again, then I'd shoot her." (Id.) Hansen also described the shooting as an accidental discharge of the gun, claiming that "the gun accidentally went off." (Id.) Notably absent from this statement made in the immediate wake of this killing was any statement by Hansen that he feared for his safety or acted in self-defense.

Despite the obstacles to any defense presented by Hansen's words and deeds, his defense counsel explored the question of Hansen's mental state, seeking out medical treatment records and retaining an expert to evaluate Hansen's mental state. (Id., at 416-17.) Counsel reported that these efforts were entirely unavailing in developing a line of defense for Hansen, whose post-arrest statements largely confined the defense to a claim that this was an accidental shooting. (Id.)

It further appears that Hansen and his trial counsel had discussions, debates, and some disagreements regarding the course of his defense at trial. On various occasions, Hansen voiced a preference for pursuing a claim of self-defense in this case. Hansen's trial attorney counselled against this particular defense, noting that there was no evidence that Barnes was armed; that Hanson had the opportunity to retreat and deescalate the confrontation by simply leaving Barnes' property; that it was Hansen who chose to use lethal force by discharging his firearm into Barnes' skull; and that Hansen never asserted any fear or claim of self-defense at the time ofBarnes' death, insisting instead that the shooting was an accident and "that if it wasn't for her pushing me, then the gun wouldn't have went off so it was her fault." (Id., at 143.) Ultimately, at trial, Hansen agreed to a defense that focused upon his claim that this was an accidental shooting, and in a colloquy with the trial court expressly disavowed any self-defense jury instruction. (Id., at 204-08.)

Hansen proceeded to trial on these charges on July 11-13, 2011. (Id., at 22-265.) In the course of the trial, the jury heard from numerous witnesses who identified Hansen as Barnes' killer. The jury also was presented with Hansen's admissions that he had shot and killed Barnes after he told her "that if she touched me again, then I'd shoot her." (Id., at 143.) Further, the jury learned that the firearm that Hansen used in this slaying, a .40 caliber handgun, had an 11-pound trigger pull, which meant that the firearm was not a hair-trigger weapon, but required some conscious effort to discharge.

With respect to the charges relating to the slaying of Barnes, the verdict form and jury instructions provided to the jury gave the jurors the option of acquittal or finding Hansen guilty of offenses ranging from involuntary manslaughter and voluntary manslaughter to first or third degree murder. Thus, the jury could conclude that this slaying was a non-culpable accident; a reckless but involuntary manslaughter; a voluntary manslaughter, that is, killing provoked by a suddenpassion; an unpremeditated killing with malice, a third-degree murder; or first-degree murder, a killing with premeditation and malice aforethought. Having heard all of the evidence, including Hansen's statement that "Ms. Barnes ... was bugging him or pushing him all night long and that he said that I told her that if she touched me again, then I'd shoot her," the jury convicted Hansen of first-degree murder, as well as assault and terroristic threats for his assault upon Holly McMichael. (Id., at 259-61.)

On August 24, 2011 Hansen was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Barnes, and to two consecutive 1-to-12 month terms of imprisonment for his assault and terroristic threats convictions. (Doc. 1, at 1.)...