Jackson v. Conway, 05–CV–0571(VEB).
| Decision Date | 22 February 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 05–CV–0571(VEB).,05–CV–0571(VEB). |
| Parties | Shawn A. JACKSON, Petitioner,v.James T. CONWAY, Superintendent, Attica Correctional Facility, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of New York |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Brian Shiffrin, William T. Easton, Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin, LLP, Rochester, NY, for Petitioner.Kelly Christine Wolford, Stephen X. O'Brien, Monroe County District Attorney's Office, Rochester, NY, for Respondent.
DECISION AND ORDER
Shawn L. Jackson (“Jackson” or “Petitioner”) filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging the constitutionality of his detention state custody as the result of a judgment in Monroe County Court convicting him after a jury trial of 47 counts, including multiple counts of sodomy in the first degree (New York Penal Law former § 130.50(1)), assault in the third degree (New York Penal Law (“P.L.”) § 120.00(1)), sexual abuse in the first degree (P.L. § 130.65(1)), rape in the first degree (P.L. § 130.35(1)), rape in the third degree (P.L. § 130.25(2)), sodomy in the third degree (P.L. former § 130.40(2)), and incest (P.L. § 255.25). During the pendency of the proceeding, the Court appointed counsel from the CJA panel to represent Petitioner and held an evidentiary hearing.
The parties have consented to disposition of this matter by a magistrate judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(1).
This is a corrected Decision and Order issued following the Court's grant of Petitioner's motion for relief pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52 and 59. As explained more fully in the Rule 59 Order, the Court's finding and judgment as to the claim of prosecutorial misconduct was based on a manifest factual error which affected the legal correctness of the judgment. As discussed further below, the prosecutorial misconduct claim is fully exhausted and, in addition, warrants habeas relief.
The Court's previous Decision and Order regarding the disposition of the Petition is hereby withdrawn. Habeas relief is granted in part and denied in part, as explained below.
II. Factual Background and Procedural History
The following summary of the facts and procedural history of Jackson's case is drawn from the trial transcript, available documents from the state court record, and from the pleadings submitted by Jackson pro se, Jackson's state-court appellate counsel, Jackson's habeas attorneys, and respondent's attorney.
On November 30, 2000, police officers from the Town of Greece police department were summoned to Jackson's house on Tobin Drive, where they were met by his wife, Rebecca Jackson (“Rebecca”); his ex-wife, Karen Jackson (“Karen”); and his teenaged daughter “CJ”. All three women accused Jackson of raping them each multiple times earlier that evening. Jackson was found sleeping on the living room sofa, and was taken to the Greece Police Department for questioning. Karen and CJ were taken to Rochester General Hospital for medical evaluation.
Once at the police station, Sergeant Christopher Bittner (“Sgt. Bittner”) of the Greece Police Department spoke with Jackson in an interview room. When Jackson asked if he was under arrest, Sgt. Bittner replied no. Jackson got up as if to leave the room, and Sgt. Bittner immediately placed him under arrest and read him his Miranda1 warnings. Jackson invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and refused to speak with the police. Jackson then was placed in a holding cell.
Soon thereafter, Sgt. Bittner contacted Kathy Bonisteel, a Child Protective Services caseworker for the Monroe County Department of Social Services (“Caseworker Bonisteel”) who was investigating the allegations of abuse, and facilitated an interview between her and Jackson. Caseworker Bonisteel's report contained statements from Jackson regarding his extremely unconventional sexual relationship with his wife and ex-wife and his belief that he was the “Alpha Male” of the family. See T.27, 38.499–506.2 The report also indicated that Jackson had agreed with Caseworker Bonisteel that it was “possible he was so drunk that he wouldn't have remembered if he raped [CJ]” and that “[h]e said it was a possibility ... he said he could have been the one to rape [CJ].” T.504.
Jackson initially was charged in a five separate felony complaints with two counts of first degree rape, two counts of first degree sodomy, and one count of incest. All of these charges involved CJ, Jackson's daughter. Subsequently, on or about January 18, 2001, a 48–count indictment was issued against Jackson, which included charges of first degree sodomy, first degree rape, first degree sexual abuse, first degree coercion, attempted first degree sodomy, third degree rape, third degree sodomy, incest, third degree assault, and endangering the welfare of a child. The indictment lacked specificity as to the dates, times, and places of each alleged crime. Most of the crimes in that indictment stemmed from the incidents alleged to have occurred on the night of November 29, 2000, and the early morning of November 30, 2000, at Jackson's house.
A suppression hearing was held pursuant to People v. Huntley on March 23, 2001, before Justice Stephen R. Sirkin in New York State Supreme Court, Monroe County, to determine the admissibility of Jackson's statements contained in Caseworker Bonisteel's report. The judge heard testimony that Sgt. Bittner was aware that Caseworker Bonisteel was conducting a parallel Child Protective Services investigation of the same incident underlying Jackson's arrest. Sgt. Bittner told Caseworker Bonisteel that Jackson had refused to speak with the police, and arranged for Caseworker Bonisteel to have access to Jackson to interview him in connection with her investigation on behalf of Child Protective Services. Although the police did not officially take part in this interview, several officers, including Sgt. Bittner, overheard the 45–minute conversation between Jackson and Caseworker Bonisteel, in which Jackson made inculpatory statements. See Huntley Transcript dated March 23, 2001 (“ Huntley Tr.”) at 12–13, 7–21, 27, 33–34, 38.
Trial counsel, who at that time was Matthew Clark, Esq., of the Monroe County Public Defender's Office, argued that the investigations being conducted by Child Protective Services and the Greece Police Department were concurrent, obviously involving the same incident. Attorney Clark argued that Caseworker Bonisteel essentially was acting as an agent of the police when she spoke with Jackson on the night of his arrest at the police station. Huntley Tr. at 42–46. The suppression court held that Caseworker Bonisteel's investigation was part of a “completely separate civil proceeding” and was not “part of any criminal proceeding.” Id. at 49. The suppression court specifically found that Caseworker Bonisteel “was not a public servant and, in this case, did not act as a law enforcement officer, but [as] a child protective worker.” Id. As such, there was “no requirement on the part of the protective worker to give any Miranda warnings.” Id. at 48–49. Accordingly, the suppression court ruled that Jackson's constitutional rights were not violated, and his statements to Caseworker Bonisteel could be used against him at trial by the prosecutor as evidence-in-chief. Id. at 45, 48–49.
On May 31, 2001, Associate Justice Peter E. Corning—the third trial judge to be assigned to the case—addressed the prosecutor's intended introduction of testimony concerning numerous prior bad acts and uncharged crimes on Jackson's part. T.201–20. Initially, the trial court ruled that it would not admit every act the prosecution intended to introduce, but rather would rule on the admissibility of each incident as it was adduced by the witnesses, leaving it to trial counsel to object. T.206. Newly assigned trial counsel Joseph D'Amelio, Esq., opposed the prosecution's motion to introduce the prior bad acts evidence and moved in limine to preclude the prosecutor from asking any questions of her witnesses in regard to those alleged acts. Trial counsel argued that the only purpose of the prior bad acts would be to demonstrate Jackson's alleged criminal propensity, and that the prior bad acts would unduly prejudice the jury against him and make the jurors believe that he was more likely to have committed the crimes with which he was charged. Trial counsel argued that the inflammatory and prejudicial nature of the prior bad acts clearly outweighed any probative value they might have. Finally, trial counsel argued that the prior bad act testimony did not fall within any of the exceptions set forth in People v. Molineux, 168 N.Y. 264, 61 N.E. 286 (N.Y.1901), and should be excluded. T.207–09.
The trial court ruled that evidence of Jackson's alleged prior bad acts was admissible to show “background information relevant to the issues of forcible compulsion and delayed disclosure” at trial, since the prosecution's theory was that “forcible compulsion is based upon the implied threats of violence provided by [Jackson] if the victim did not comply.” T.211–12. Essentially, the trial court ruled that the prior bad act testimony could be introduced to establish certain elements of the crimes charged. T.212. 3 The trial court noted, however, that its decision was “not a blanket order that all and any such testimony is admissible,” and that such testimony would be “taken from a witness as it comes, subject to decision and ruling.” T.214. Finally, the trial court decided that while prior alleged acts and threats of violence were admissible, acts committed “any further back from five years” prior to the alleged crimes were too remote. Accordingly, the trial court stated that it was “going to confine such testimony to a period subsequent to 1994.” T.214. The prior bad acts testimony would be “subject to proper presentation, proper objection.” T.219.
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