Hoddenbach v. Tack

• Docket Number: 23 C 16290
• Decision Date: 10 September 2024
• Parties: KEITH HODDENBACH, Petitioner, v. ANDREA TACK, Warden, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

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KEITH HODDENBACH, Petitioner, v. ANDREA TACK, Warden, Respondent.

No. 23 C 16290

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division

September 10, 2024

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Sunil R. Harjani United States District Judge

PetitionerKeith Hoddenbach is serving a prison term of eighty years for first-degree murder and thirty years for attempted murder which are being served consecutively.Petitioner is currently in the custody of RespondentAndrea Tack, warden of Dixon Correctional Center.Presently before the Court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and Respondent's motion to dismiss.For the reasons stated below, the Court denies the petition, declines to issue a certificate of appealability, and grants the motion to dismiss.

Background^[1]

On December 11, 1984, 15-year-old Santos Martinez was shot and killed at a Vienna Hot Dog Stand.Richard Figueroa and Roberto “Keke” Rivera were also shot and wounded in the incident.On December 19, 1984, Petitioner Keith “Popeye” Hoddenbach was arrested at his residence in connection with the shooting.Co-defendant Rafael “Duce” Maldonado was also arrested in connection with the same incident.Petitioner was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, six counts of aggravated battery, three counts of armed violence, and one count of conspiracy.Defendants Maldonado's and Hoddenbach's trials were severed.Prior to trial, Petitioner filed a motion to quash and suppress his arrest.The trial court denied Petitioner's motion.

Following jury deliberations, Petitioner was convicted of the murder of Martinez, and attempted murder and aggravated battery of Figueroa.The trial court merged the two murder counts into one count, and the aggravated battery counts into the conviction for attempted murder of Figueroa.As the current Petition relies in part on Petitioner's assertion that he is actually innocent based on recantations of several trial witnesses, the Court begins by detailing the relevant trial testimony.

I.Trial Proceedings

Figueroa testified that he was 13 years old at the time of the incident, and at the Vienna hot dog stand with friends on December 11, 1984.He said that the restaurant was brightly lit and he was there watching his friend Rivera, who he met the day before, playing video games.There were six or seven other people in the restaurant, including Dwight Littleton, Jesse Lanzarin, and Martinez.Figueroa knew Rivera was a member of a gang called the Disciples.At some point, Lanzarin told Rivera that someone was pointing a gun at Rivera's head.Figueroa looked back at the door, saw no one there, and turned back to the games.Someone said “he is back” and Figueora looked at the door and saw a man standing two feet from the front door inside the restaurant wearing gloves and holding a black pump shotgun in his hands slightly above his waist.The man was wearing black pants, a black jacket that came to his thighs, a gray scarf on his face covering up to his chin, and a black ski hat that came down slightly above his eyebrows.Figueroa could see the shooter's eyes, lips, cheeks, black mustache, and mouth.He described the shooter as a husky “dark-skinned Hispanic” about 19 or 20 years old between five-foot-five and five-foot-seven.Figueroa identified Petitioner as the shooter in a photo array and in court.

Figueroa watched the shooter's face and gun as the shooter was looking from side to side and as he pointed at the counter, pumped the shotgun, and fired.After the first shot, the shooter pointed the gun towards the pay phone where Martinez was standing and then fired.After the second shot, Figueroa tried to run, but Petitioner fired two more shots and Figueroa was hit on his left leg.Rivera was shot on his buttock.Figueroa hid behind the video games consoles and did not hear anymore gunshots.When Figueroa came out, the shooter was gone, and Martinez was lying on the ground.Figueroa was taken to the hospital where he gave detectives a description of the shooter.

Figueroa identified Petitioner as the shooter in a lineup and also testified in court that neither the police nor anyone else who was a witness to the shooting told him to identify Petitioner as the shooter.On cross-examination, Figueroa testified that the shooter had been about 15 to 20 feet away from him.He denied telling the officers that the shooter was wearing a ski mask and clarified that it was a black ski hat that came down to his eyebrows and that the scarf was not covering the shooter's face.Figueroa reconfirmed that Petitioner was the individual he had identified in the lineup.

Next, Dante Carranza testified that he was at the restaurant watching his friends play video games when he heard someone say “somebody is at the door with a gun,” looked at the door, and saw a person with a gun standing there.Carranza identified Petitioner as the shooter in a lineup and in court.Carranza testified that the shooter's black hat came down to his eyebrows and a scarf covered his ears, but he could see the shooter's cheeks, chin, and nose.

George Cordova testified that he was sitting in the front seat of a parked car on the street where he could still see the restaurant.Cordova testified that a light blue Monte Carlo car pulled into the alley behind the restaurant.He observed someone emerged from the passenger seat while the car was still running.The individual wore black clothes, a black jacket, and a scarf which was hanging from his shoulders.He did not see a hat, but he noticed that there was “something in his hands that was long.”Cordova saw another person in the car but could not identify them.Cordova observed the first individual walk up to the front doors of the restaurant, open the door, and point a gun.The individual then left the restaurant and walked to one side of it.Cordova saw that “he was doing something to whatever was in his hands.”Cordova watched the individual walk back into the restaurant, open the door, and point a gun.Cordova heard “loud noises,” and then saw the individual leave the restaurant and run back out to the parked car in the alley.The individual got back into the passenger seat, and the car drove off quickly.Cordova testified on cross examination that the car was about 75 feet away and he was 50 feet from the restaurant and could not see the shooter's face.

Dwight Littleton was also in the restaurant during the shooting and testified at Petitioner's trial.Littleton overheard Lanzarin say that a man had come into the restaurant and pointed a gun at Rivera.When Littleton looked towards the door, he did not see anyone.He turned back towards the game and then someone said, “here he comes again.”Littleton turned back to the door and saw a man wearing gloves, a black jacket, a black skull knit cap that came down to his eyebrows, and a gray scarf that covered his chin and ears, who was holding a black pump shotgun at his waist.He could see the shooter's mouth, nose, half of his cheeks, and black moustache and that his right eye was “cross-eyed.”The shooter was 20 to 21 years old, was about five foot six or seven inches, and was chubby, between 150 to 160 pounds.Littleton testified that he could see Petitioner's face “the whole time,” and observed Petitioner point a gun at the counter, pump and fire.Littleton went with the police officers to the station that night and gave a statement.Littleton told police that the shooter's right eye was “kind of crooked.”Later, Littleton identified Petitioner as the shooter in a lineup and in court, and he picked the Petitioner's photo out of a photo array.

Chicago Police Officer William O'Connor testified that he responded to the homicide at the hot dog stand on December 11, 1994.He located a fired shotgun shell in the parking lot and three shells inside the restaurant.

Officer Howe was a gang crimes specialist and detective.On December 11, 1984, at 11:30 p.m., he and his partner began investigating a homicide.The suspect's description was a white Hispanic male, 17 to 18 years old, five-foot-four to five-foot-seven inches, between 140 and 160 pounds, a moustache and was wearing dark clothing, a knit dark hat, and a gray scarf.They did not locate anyone that night.On December 19, 1984, Howe located and arrested Petitioner at an apartment.Petitioner asked for the police to retrieve a jacket from his bedroom, which is where Howe saw a black shotgun propped up against an open closet door, as well as a shotgun shell.Howe took custody of both for processing.

Howe was present for the lineup consisting of five people, including Petitioner.Littleton and Lanzarin viewed the lineup separately, and both identified Petitioner as the shooter.Howe testified that he had been given a composite description of the shooter after the incident, but that the description did not include any description about the offender's right crossed eye, which he said he would have included if a hypothetical witness had given him that detail.

Jesse Lanzarin testified at trial that he had been about 20 feet away from the door and that the shooting lasted 30 seconds and that he could see the shooter throughout the entire incident.Lanzarin saw a white man, dressed in black, with a ski hat on his head, black gloves, and a gray scarf that covered from his ears to his chin, with a gun come through the front door.The man pointed the gun at Rivera and cocked it, but nothing happened.The man then backed outside, but Lanzarin did not see where he went.Lanzarin went over to Rivera and told him that someone had cocked a gun at him.Both he and Rivera looked at the door, and the man came back inside the restaurant.Lanzarin could see his face from his...