Jackson v. Edwards
| Decision Date | 25 September 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-MISC-0066(JBW).,No. 01-CV-0501(JBW).,01-CV-0501(JBW).,03-MISC-0066(JBW). |
| Citation | 296 F.Supp.2d 292 |
| Parties | Reginald JACKSON (97-A-6354), Petitioner, v. Ernest EDWARDS, Superintendent of Otisville Correctional Facility, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Reginald Jackson, Wallkill, NY, Pro se.
Paul M. Gamble, Law Office of Paul Gamble, Esq., New York City, for Petitioner.
Esther Noe, Phyllis Mintz, The Office of the District Attorney, Kings County, Brooklyn, NY, for Respondent.
Petitioner was charged with murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree in connection with the shooting death of Selwyn Anthony Brown on March 8, 1997. He confessed to shooting Brown, but contended at trial that the shooting was accidental and justified. Despite ample evidence in the record supporting a justification charge under New York law, the trial court refused to submit such an instruction to the jury. When given the chance to argue on his client's behalf for such an instruction, petitioner's trial counsel failed to point to the relevant supporting law and trial testimony. He instead cited only inapposite and irrelevant case-law to the court.
Petitioner was the superintendent of an apartment building at 110 Grove Street. On March 8, 1997, Brown was in apartment 1B at 110 Grove Street, his sister's apartment. He was drinking and playing cards with several family members and friends including Ula Dawn Hall and her younger sister Natalie Hall. Ula Dawn and Natalie Hall previously had lived with their mother in apartment 2E at 110 Grove Street. Although the family moved out of the apartment, they left some furniture there and returned occasionally to pick up mail. Natalie Hall retained a set of keys to the apartment.
At approximately midnight on March 8, 1997, Natalie Hall returned the keys to apartment 2E to petitioner at his request. She then left the building at 110 Grove Street to go to the store. Upon returning, she told her sister Ula Dawn Hall that she had given the keys to petitioner. Ula Dawn Hall decided to go with her sister to talk to petitioner. They found petitioner at apartment 2E changing the lock on the door, and a heated argument ensued among the three over the keys. The sisters pushed their way into the apartment, where they argued further with petitioner over food in the refrigerator. Natalie Hall left the apartment; her sister remained and continued to argue with petitioner. Ula Dawn Hall eventually decided to return downstairs, but as she was leaving she ran into Brown on his way up the stairs. Brown insisted on getting the keys back right away.
Brown and petitioner began a loud and hostile argument. A number of other tenants and guests in the building were present; some became involved in the altercation. Natalie Hall testified that she saw Brown raise his hands and push petitioner before she left to go back downstairs. A tenant in the building testified that she saw Brown punch petitioner twice, knocking him to the ground. Ula Dawn Hall, several other members of Brown's family, and another tenant in the building testified that they did not see any contact between Selwyn and Brown. All observers testified that the argument between Brown and petitioner was heated, and that Brown was motioning with his hands as he spoke.
In the middle of the argument, petitioner pulled a gun out of his pocket. The gun discharged, and Brown was shot. Brown turned and ran down the stairs, but fell before reaching the entrance of the building. He later died as a result of the gunshot wound he sustained. Petitioner followed Brown down the stairs, then continued to run out the door, through the courtyard, and away from the building. Petitioner threw the gun away while running; it was never recovered.
After the shooting, petitioner called a police officer with whom he was acquainted and told him that he wanted to surrender. After the officer picked petitioner up, he aided the police in their search for the gun. He waived his Miranda rights and confessed to the shooting.
A jury found petitioner guilty of the charged lesser-included-offense, manslaughter in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment of five to fifteen years on the manslaughter conviction and seven and one-half to fifteen years on the criminal possession of a weapon conviction. Petitioner's convictions were affirmed by the Appellate Division, Second Department. Leave to appeal was denied by the New York Court of Appeals.
Petitioner subsequently moved to vacate his judgment of conviction pursuant to New York Criminal Procedure Law section 440.10. The motion was denied by the New York Supreme Court, Kings County. Leave to appeal was denied by the Appellate Division. The instant habeas petition was held in abeyance pending the resolution of these proceedings.
In the instant application for a writ of habeas corpus as amended, petitioner claims (1) that the trial court erred in refusing to charge the jury on the justification defense; and (2) that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.
Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), a federal court may grant a writ of habeas corpus to a state prisoner on a claim that was "adjudicated on the merits" in state court only if it concludes that the adjudication of the claim "(1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).
An "adjudication on the merits" is a "substantive, rather than a procedural, resolution of a federal claim." Sellan v. Kuhlman, 261 F.3d 303, 313 (2d Cir.2001) (quoting Aycox v. Lytle, 196 F.3d 1174, 1178 (10th Cir.1999)). Under the "contrary to" clause, "a federal habeas court may grant the writ if the state court arrives at a conclusion opposite to that reached by [the Supreme Court] on a question of law or if the state court decides a case differently than this Court has on a set of materially indistinguishable facts." Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 412-13, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000) (). Under the "unreasonable application" clause, "a federal habeas court may grant the writ if the state court identifies the correct governing legal principle from this Court's decisions but unreasonably applies that principle to the facts of the prisoner's case." Id. at 413, 120 S.Ct. 1495. Under this standard, Id. at 411, 120 S.Ct. 1495. In order to grant the writ there must be "some increment of incorrectness beyond error," although "the increment need not be great; otherwise, habeas relief would be limited to state court decisions so far off the mark as to suggest judicial incompetence." Francis S. v. Stone, 221 F.3d 100, 111 (2d Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted).
"[F]ederal law, as determined by the Supreme Court, may as much be a generalized standard that must be followed, as a bright-line rule designed to effectuate such a standard in a particular context." Overton v. Newton, 295 F.3d 270, 278 (2d Cir.2002); see also Yung v. Walker, 341 F.3d 104 (2d Cir.2003) (amended opinion) (). The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has also indicated that habeas relief may be granted if a state court's decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of "a reasonable extension" of Supreme Court jurisprudence. Torres v. Berbary, 340 F.3d 63, 72 (2d Cir.2003). Determination of factual issues made by a state court "shall be presumed to be correct," and the applicant "shall have the burden of rebutting the presumption of correctness by clear and convincing evidence." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).
In the past, a state prisoner's federal habeas petition had to be dismissed if the prisoner did not exhaust available state remedies as to any of his federal claims. See Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 522, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982). "This exhaustion requirement is ... grounded in principles of comity; in a federal system, the States should have the first opportunity to address and correct alleged violations of [a] state prisoner's federal rights." Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 731, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991). The exhaustion requirement requires the petitioner to have presented to the state court "both the factual and legal premises of the claim he asserts in federal court." Daye v. Attorney General, 696 F.2d 186, 191 (2d Cir.1982) (en banc).
Pursuant to AEDPA, a district court may now, in its discretion, deny on the merits habeas petitions containing unexhausted claims—so-called "mixed petitions." See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(2) (). In addition, the state may waive the exhaustion requirement, but a "State shall not be deemed to have waived the exhaustion requirement or be...
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Jackson v. Edwards
...of trial counsel in relying on inapposite case law to support his request for a justification charge." Jackson v. Edwards, 296 F.Supp.2d 292, 308 (E.D.N.Y.2003). The District Court reasoned that Jackson was entitled to have the jury instructed on a justification defense with regard to the h......
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Sheehan v. Powers, 14 CV 2898 (DLI) (CLP)
...degree, after the state trial court refused to charge the jury on the defense of justification in regards to any count. Jackson v. Edwards, 296 F.Supp.2d at 296, 300. granting a habeas petition as to the weapons charge, the district court explained that if the jury had found the defendant w......
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Sheehan v. Powers
...the jury on the defense of justification as to the petitioner's murder, manslaughter, and weapons possession charges. See, Jackson, 296 F.Supp.2d at 296, 300. The in Jackson was convicted of manslaughter in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree but acqui......