Johnson v. Pfister

Decision Date09 May 2017
Docket NumberCase No. 15-cv-6078
PartiesANTAWAN JOHNSON, Petitioner, v. RANDY PFISTER, Warden, Stateville Correctional Center, Respondent.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Petitioner Antawan Johnson seeks a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 [1]. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies Petitioner's application [1]. The Court declines to certify any issue for appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), and directs the Clerk to enter judgment in favor of Respondent.

I. Background
A. State Court Proceedings
1. Criminal Trial

On May 27, 2005, a Cook County, Illinois jury found Petitioner guilty of first degree murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm for the June 2001 shooting death of Cortez Bell. On July 5, 2005, Petitioner was sentenced to an aggregate term of 50 years of imprisonment.

Petitioner and co-defendant Naja Triplett were tried together. At trial, the State presented testimony from Airrion Smith and Jessie Knox—two witnesses who said they were "shooting dice" with Bell and others in Chicago Heights on June 16, 2001. According to Smith, Petitioner approached the group and offered to sell a .22 rifle and .22 shotgun for $100. When no one expressed interest, Petitioner borrowed $5 from Smith and joined the group to shoot dice. He won some money at first, but lost his winnings after moving down the block to a higher-stakes game. Shortly afterwards, Triplett approached Petitioner on a bicycle. Petitioner told Triplett that although he had lost his money, "[w]e on some bulls**t." [20-2, at 9.] Triplett responded, "I want some bulls**t too." Id. Petitioner informed Triplett that he had two guns in his backyard and the two men left. Id. About 45 minutes later, Smith and another player, Clifton Ross, left the game and walked across the street to an abandoned house, where they observed Petitioner and Triplett standing with "two long guns." [20-3, at 6.] Smith testified that he saw Petitioner and Triplett aim their guns at the group playing dice and fire three or four shots. Smith and Ross fled, but Smith later returned and found Bell on the sidewalk bleeding.

Knox's testimony largely corroborated Smith's testimony about Petitioner's request to borrow money, his loss of that money playing dice, the particulars of the conversation between Petitioner and Triplett, and their leaving together. On direct examination, Knox testified that he remained with the group shooting dice until he saw Smith and Ross running down the driveway of the abandoned house across the street. Knox then heard gun shots and ran around the corner until the shooting ceased. When he returned, he saw Bell lying on the ground bleeding. Knox was questioned by the police and later by the state's attorney, and gave testimony to the grand jury that was consistent with this version of events.

On cross examination, Knox was confronted with an affidavit that he signed on November 22, 2004—more than three years after the incident—stating that "On the night of June 16, 2001, [Triplett] and [Petitioner] tried to sell some guns to us, Money, Alonzo, Robert, Jessie, Clifton, and Cortez and Eric [Gill]. Eric convinced us to [r]ob them. We tried to and they came but everything went wrong and it resulted in the death of Cortez Bell." [20-2, at 10.] Theaffidavit further stated that Knox did not tell the police about Triplett and Petitioner trying to sell guns because Knox did not want any further problems.

On redirect, however, Knox explained that he completed the affidavit at the request of Petitioner's brother. Specifically, Petitioner's brother approached Knox with a blank affidavit and a piece of notebook paper with writing on it. At the brother's request, Knox transferred what was written on the notebook paper to the affidavit, signed it, and then was driven to a notary. Knox testified that he was not pressured to complete the affidavit, but he did not know anyone named Eric and no one named Eric was with him on the date of the shooting. Knox also reaffirmed that his grand jury testimony was correct and the information in the affidavit was not.

The State also called Petitioner's 2001 girlfriend, Tina McKee, who testified about a conversation she had with Petitioner at her mother's house on the day after the shooting. At that meeting, Petitioner purportedly told her that someone had taken his money and that he and a friend had fired their guns, although they had not fired at anyone in particular. According to McKee, Petitioner said that he fired his gun first, then Triplett shot his gun, and "when they were done shooting, the boy [Bell] fell to the ground." [20-1, at 4.] The State then confronted McKee with her prior statement to Assistant State's Attorney Alzetta Bozeman-Martin in which McKee said that the meeting with Petitioner had occurred on the day of the shooting (not after) at her aunt's home (not her mother's home). In that affidavit, she indicated that Petitioner told her, "I feel like killing these mother f**kers," and he and Triplett had gone to Triplett's grandmother's garage to retrieve a "long gun" and .22 caliber gun. McKee testified that she had lied to Bozeman-Martin (and the grand jury) when she gave this statement because she had been put in a jail cell and was told that she could return home only if she cooperated and signed this statement. McKee also denied receiving threatening letters from Petitioner following his arrest.

The State also called Chicago Heights Detective Mikal El-Amin and ASA Bozeman-Martin about their interview with Petitioner on July 7, 2001, the day after his arrest. During that interview, Petitioner signed a statement confessing to shooting into the crowd of dice players. Specifically, Petitioner admitted that he, Triplett, and the other men playing dice were members of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang and there was an ongoing feud over territory. Four days prior to the shooting, in fact, Triplett had been beaten because was in the "wrong area." [20-3, at 10.] For these reasons, he and Triplett left the area where the men were playing dice, went drinking, and then returned with two .22 caliber rifles and began shooting. Id. On cross-examination, Detective El-Amin admitted that he had destroyed his original notes from Petitioner's July 7 interview and from the other interviews that he had conducted with witnesses of the shooting. [1, at Ex. S, at MM-13-14.] He testified that he reduced these original notes to a summary report and then destroyed the originals pursuant to the practice of Chicago Heights Police Department. Id. at MM-13-14.

Petitioner testified as the sole witness in his defense. He corroborated the broad contours of Smith and Knox's description of the initial events: he approached the group playing dice, asked to borrow money, lost his initial winnings after moving to a higher-stakes game, and offered to sell two .22 caliber rifles for $100. His description of later events diverges from the others. He testified that Smith requested that he get the guns and meet across the street. Petitioner then left to find Triplett, who owned the guns, and Triplett rode up on his bicycle. Petitioner said that he "got a sale for the guns," but Triplett did not believe him and accused Petitioner of being "on some bulls**t." [1, at Ex. S, at MM-145.] Petitioner responded that he "wasn't in on any bulls**t," and in fact had a buyer. Id. The two then left and returned an hour or two later. When they arrived, a group of people led by Gill approached them and asked to seethe guns and if they were loaded. Triplett removed a bullet from his gun to show Gill and asked him, "where the money at." Id. at MM-150. Petitioner then heard a noise from behind and saw Smith and Ross running towards them. Gill tried to grab the gun out of Triplett's hand, the two men struggled, and Petitioner fired his gun telling everyone to "freeze." Id. at MM-152. Triplett then placed the bullet back into the gun, shot into the crowd, and both men fled.

Petitioner testified that he saw McKee at her mother's house a "couple of days" later, but denied saying he shot anyone or into the crowd. Id. at MM-154. He also testified that he told all of this to the police, but later decided to give them a different "story," not a "confession," once Detective El-Amin confronted him with Knox's statements. Id. at MM-158-59; [20-3, at 12]. According to Petitioner, a "confession" is true, while a "story" is not. [20-3, at 12.] On cross-examination, he admitted that he and Triplett had fired their guns. [1, at Ex. S, at MM-177.]

At the jury instruction conference, the trial judge accepted the State's version of Illinois Pattern Instruction 3.11 for prior inconsistent statements. [See 20-14, at 63.] The pattern instruction distinguishes between statements used as impeachment and substantive evidence. The substantive evidence language in the instruction is bracketed, indicating that it is "alternative language" that may not be appropriate in all cases. Ill. Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal No. 1 (4th Ed. 2000). The note accompanying this instruction states, in part, that "[w]hen both kinds of earlier inconsistent statements are used for [substantive and impeachment] purposes this instruction should be given in its entirety at the close of the trial." Id. at No. 3.11 committee note. The instruction offered by the State contained the pattern instruction's concluding language stating that it is up to the jury "to determine what weight should be given to [the prior] statement" and the jury "should consider all of the circumstances under which it was made" in making that determination, but did not contain the language from the pattern instruction on howprior written or signed statements can be considered substantive evidence. [20-14, at 63.] Petitioner's trial counsel agreed to this instruction without objection. [See 1, at Ex. N, at NN-6.]

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