James v. Sec'y
| Decision Date | 24 September 2018 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 8:15-cv-2332-T-36AAS |
| Parties | DARIAN D. JAMES, Petitioner, v. SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
Darian Darneill James, a Florida prisoner, filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his convictions for racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, and felon in possession of a firearm, rendered in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit for Hillsborough County. (Dkt. 1). Respondent responded. (Dkt. 19). James did not file a reply. After review, the petition will be denied.
Procedural History
In 2005, the State charged Darian James ("Darian or James")1 and 15 codefendants with racketeering and other offenses in a 20-count information. James' charges were severed from those of the co-defendants, three of whom, Sidney Deloch, Tamiko James and Christine Pace, testified as state witnesses at James' 2007 jury trial. The state trial court granted a judgment of acquittal on count three, trafficking in cocaine. The jury found James guilty of racketeering (count one), conspiracy to commit racketeering (count two), conspiracy to traffic in cocaine (count four), and trafficking in cocaine (count ten). As to count eleven, felon in possession of a firearm, the parties agreed before trial to sever the "felon" portion. The jury found James guilty of possession of a firearm, and he stipulated that he was a convicted felon. The state trial court sentenced James to twenty years in prison on counts one, two, four, and ten, concurrently, with minimum mandatory prison terms of fifteen and seven years on counts four and ten, respectively. The state trial court sentenced James to five years in prison on count eleven, concurrently. . On March 17, 2010, the state appellate court per curiam affirmed the convictions and sentences. James v. State, 30 So. 3d 501 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010).
The state appellate court granted, in part, James' petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The state appellate court reversed the conviction on count two, conspiracy to commit racketeering and remanded for the trial court to strike the conviction. James v. State, 61 So. 3d 492, 494 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011). On August 8, 2011, the state trial court rendered an amended sentence. .
On June 12, 2012, the state appellate court dismissed James' second petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. James v. State, 93 So. 3d 1027 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012). The state postconviction court denied James' May 10 and December 7, 2012, motions for postconviction relief, which the state appellate court per curiam affirmed, James v. State, 175 So. 3d 295 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015), and issued the mandate on July 7, 2015. The state appellate court denied James' March 8, 2015 petition for writ of habeas corpus, James v. State, 210 So. 3d 667 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016), and his motion for rehearing on June 28, 2016.
In a prior order (Dkt. 14), the Court determined that the instant petition is timely.
The Facts2
Darian James' charges arose from an undercover investigation of suspected drug trafficking activities of members of the James family. Police obtained information about the James family in 2000, and in May and July 2005, confidential sources provided information on individuals connected with the organization. Initially, police identified seven to nine of the individuals, including Darian James, who were involved. During the course of the investigation, police identified three apartments connected with the organization. Darian James rented one of the apartments, located on Del Ray Court in the Brookside Apartments, and had a cellular phone assigned to his name at that location.
Darian James' mother was the subscriber for both his cellular phone and the cellular phone of James' cousin, Sidney Deloch. Police determined from controlled telephone calls with a confidential source that Deloch was using his cellular phone to conduct narcotics sales. In recorded calls with the confidential source, Deloch agreed to sell the confidential source 125 grams of crack cocaine for $3200. On August 22, 2005, Deloch sold the source the crack cocaine. The confidential source also performed controlled purchases of crack cocaine from Deloch on September 6 and 14, 2005. Police did not arrest Deloch at the time because the goal was to determine from where the supply came.
On September 7, 2005, police initiated an authorized wiretap on the cellular phone under the control of Deloch and intercepted approximately 255 pertinent (drug related) calls. On September 30, 2005, police obtained an authorized wiretap of the cellular phone under the control of Darian James. From September 30 to October 30, 2005, police intercepted 109 "drug pertinent" calls through the wiretaps on James' and Deloch's cellular phones. Among those identified on the calls were Darian James, Sidney Deloch, James Nicholas, Sonya Seago, Christina Pace, Chuckie James, Tamiko James, Donald James, and Derrick James. Police noticed the use of code words in intercepted conversations, such as references to amounts of cocaine by numbers associated with football players.
Fifty-five calls intercepted from the wiretap on James' phone were introduced at trial. In one of the calls, Sonya Seago negotiated with James to sell her an ounce of crack cocaine for $750 instead of $800. Darian had conversations with several of his codefendants, including James Nicholas, Chuckie James, Derrick James, Tamiko James, and Christine Pace, concerning quantities of drugs and money. In one of the calls, James Nicholas and Darian James discussed monies that James owed Nicholas.
Police determined from information obtained in the investigation that the James family had two organizations, one including Deloch and his girlfriend, Rhonda Hunter, and the other including Darian James and his cousin, James Nicholas. Police received information from the confidential source that Deloch obtained kilograms of cocaine from John Young. Police determined that James Nicholas obtained cocaine from Lonnie Tinge and Cedric Lamb and supplied cocaine to Darian James, who distributed crack cocaine to Sonya Seago, Christine Pace, James Nicholas' brothers, Derrick and Tamiko James, and to Donald Ray James, an uncle of Deloch and Darian James.
At trial, Detective Peters testified that the common purpose of those involved was to acquire and cook powder cocaine, yielding crack cocaine that would be distributed to others for street sales. The drug proceeds were reinvested to purchase more cocaine. The detective testified that based on his knowledge, the activities of cooking and distributing cocaine were performed on a daily basis.
At trial, Deloch testified that he obtained powder cocaine in amounts of half a kilogram and a kilogram of cocaine from John Young, who charged him $24,000 for a kilogram. Deloch further testified that James Nicholas received cocaine from Cedric Lamb and Lonnie Tingle and that on one occasion, Deloch obtained cocaine from James Nicholas. Deloch cooked the cocaine at his house on Broad Street in Tampa, yielding more cocaine than supplied. From August through October 2005, Deloch distributed approximately ten kilograms of crack cocaine. Among those he distributed crack cocaine to were Allen Johnson (Deloch's cousin) and Myron Grooms (Deloch's brother-in-law). Deloch also distributed an ounce of cocaine at a time to Geremi Pierce, who sold cocaine on Deloch's behalf. Deloch knew that Darian James was selling cocaine between August and November 2005. During this period, Deloch spoke with Darian James daily. Deloch would loan Darian James and other individuals money that came from drug sales.
At trial, the State introduced a compact disc containing recorded phone calls. The prosecution played for the jury five phone calls between Deloch and Darian James. In one of the intercepted calls, Darian James asked Deloch if he could call a third person about obtaining drugs, and in another call, Darian asked to borrow "fifteen bucks," meaning $1500. In a recorded call on September 8, 2005, Darian said that "Bone" (Tamiko James) said he was "thirsty" and "hollering" at Darian, meaning that Tamiko wanted some drugs. In a September 10, 2005, phone call with Larry James (Deloch's and Darian James' uncle), Deloch discussed an argument that he had with James Nicholas at Brookside Apartments. In the conversation, Deloch stated that Deloch paid for half of the furniture in Darian James' apartment, that Deloch had talked Darian James into letting James Nicholas have access to the apartment, that James stated there were too many people in and out of the apartment, and that James wanted everyone to stay out. In a September 11, 2005, phone call with Deloch, Darian asked to borrow $100 and discussed others who were selling drugs in the "country" (Thonotosassa) and who did not want the James family selling drugs there. In a September 25, 2005, phone call, Darian asked Deloch to help post bond for Christine Pace's daughter.
Deloch testified that from August to November 2005, he went to the Morro Manor apartment often and placed calls to individuals about drugs. Deloch would provide the individuals with crack cocaine that he obtained from the Broad Street house.
During redirect examination of Deloch, the State played for the jury a phone call in which Darian James spoke about not having money. In an October 26, 2005, phone call played for the jury, James asked Deloch to call someone to get drugs.
Christine Pace testified that during the latter part of 2005, she obtained crack cocaine from Darian James on numerous occasions. Pace called him several times a day and indirectly told him what she wanted. She purchased cocaine from him at the Brookside Apartments and other places, including her home. She testified that she would secure buyers of large amounts and sell them portions of...
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