Jones v. Bradshaw, 1:03CV1192.

• Citation: 489 F.Supp.2d 786
• Decision Date: 21 May 2007
• Docket Number: No. 1:03CV1192.,1:03CV1192.
• Parties: Odraye G. JONES, Petitioner, v. Margaret BRADSHAW, Warden, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

489 F.Supp.2d 786

Odraye G. JONES, Petitioner, v. Margaret BRADSHAW, Warden, Respondent.

No. 1:03CV1192.

United States District Court, N.D. Ohio, Western Division.

May 21, 2007.

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Jeffrey J. Helmick, Helmick & Hoolahan, Spiros P. Cocoves, Toledo, OH, for Petitioner.

Daniel R. Ranke, Office of the Attorney General, Cleveland, OH, Carol A. Ellensohn, Office of the Attorney General, Columbus, OH, for Respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KATZ, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Petitioner, Odraye Jones's ("Jones") Petition for a writ of habeas corpus, (Doc. No. 17), and Amended Petition, (Doc. No. 99). Respondent, Margaret Bradshaw, filed a Return of Writ, (Doc. No. 18), and Amended Return of Writ, (Doc. No. 103). Jones thereafter filed a Final Amended Traverse, (Doc. No. 114). The Respondent filed several responsive briefs, (Doc. Nos. 61, 63, 115). For the following reasons, Petitioner's motion for a writ of habeas corpus will be denied.

I. Factual Background

On November 26, 1997, Jones was indicted by an Ashtabula County grand jury on one count of the aggravated murder of Police Officer William D. Glover with prior calculation and design in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2903.01(A). That count contained the following four specifications: (1) that the offense was committed for the purpose of escaping detection, trial or punishment for another offense committed by the defendant in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2929.041(A)(3); (2) the victim of the offense was a peace office whom the defendant had reasonable cause to know or knew such and that at the time of the offense, Officer Glover was engaged in his duties as a peace officer, in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2929.04(A)(6); (3) that is was the defendant's specific purpose to kill a peace officer at the time of the offense in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2929.04(A)(6); and (4) that the defendant had a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense and displayed the firearm, ... or used it to facilitate the offense in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2941.145.

Finding that Jones was indigent, the trial court appointed David L. Doughten as lead counsel and Robert L. Tobik as cocounsel to represent him during trial. After voir dire was complete and the jury sworn in, attorney David Per Due filed a notice of appearance on Jones's behalf and asked for a four month continuance to prepare Jones's defense. The trial court offered Per Due the opportunity to work with appointed counsel, but Per Due refused. The trial court then concluded that Per Due's notice of appearance was filed for purposes of delay and barred him from representing Jones during trial.

Jones's trial by jury commenced on May 5, 1998. The jury found Jones guilty on the capital murder count and all four specifications. The mitigation hearing commenced on June 2, 1998. The jury found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors and recommended that Jones be sentenced to death. On June 11, 1998, the trial court accepted the jury's recommendation and imposed a death sentence for the aggravated murder. It also sentenced Jones to a mandatory three-year term of incarceration for the firearm specification to run consecutively to the death sentence.

The Ohio Supreme Court set out the following factual history, as adduced by the evidence presented at trial, upon considering Jones's direct appeal of his convictions and sentence:

On November 17, 1997, a dispatcher for the Ashtabula City Police Department advised officers that appellant Odraye G. Jones, an individual with outstanding felony warrants, had been spotted in the 900 block of West 43rd Street in Ashtabula. A week earlier, appellant had told his cousin, Jimmie Lee Ruth, that he was facing a lot of time for robbing Isaac Coleman and that he "was going to shoot at the police if they ever tried to arrest him."

Officer William D. Glover, Jr., responded to the dispatcher's call. Officer Glover found appellant with a friend, Anthony Gene Barksdale, and Jimmie Lee Ruth walking together on West 43rd Street. Officer Glover followed the three men to the home of one of their friends, Flo Chapman. Barksdale knocked on the door of the Chapman home while Ruth and appellant stood behind him on the porch. Officer Glover approached the Chapman home, got out of his car, and beckoned to appellant. Ruth testified that Officer Glover told appellant, "[C]ome on, you know why I'm here. I don't want no problem. I'm just doing my job." Appellant jumped off the side of the porch and began running down the side of the Chapman home. Officer Glover pursued him. Not long after the pursuit commenced, appellant turned around, pulled a .38 caliber revolver from his pocket, and began firing shots at Officer Glover.

After firing the first shot, appellant began to approach Officer Glover, firing several more shots. Officer Glover fell to the ground. Appellant turned and fled. He ran to a nearby fence and began to climb through a hole in it. Appellant then stopped, turned around, and ran back to where Officer Glover lay. Appellant kicked Officer Glover in the chest. The kick was done with such force that it left a large bruise on Officer Glover's chest that was visible to the paramedics who later treated Officer Glover at the scene. After kicking Officer Glover, appellant fled the scene.

As Officer Glover was pursuing appellant, another Ashtabula City Police Officer, Robert Stell, was en route in his patrol car. Officer Stell located appellant several blocks away from the scene of the shooting, still running. Officer Stell got out of his car and ordered appellant to stop. Appellant ignored the command and continued running. Officer Stell pursued appellant on foot. Appellant led Officer Stell into a nearby apartment complex. He stopped at the door of an apartment and began attempting to force his way inside. While appellant managed to squeeze part of his body through the door, the occupant of the apartment prevented appellant from fully entering. As appellant was struggling to enter the apartment, Officer Stell began to approach appellant. Officer Stell drew his weapon and ordered appellant to the ground. Appellant did not immediately respond. Appellant threw his revolver behind him. The gun landed in some nearby shrubbery. Officer Stell again ordered appellant to the ground and, this time, appellant complied. Officer Stell held appellant at gunpoint until assistance arrived. Officers recovered the weapon and appellant was placed under arrest. This gun was later matched to fired cartridge casings recovered at the scene of the shooting, live cartridges found on appellant at the time of his arrest, and bullets taken from Officer Glover's body. All of the ammunition was hollow point. This type of ammunition is designed to open up on impact, causing larger wounds.

Officer Glover had sustained gunshot wounds to the top of his head and to the area just below his right eye. He also sustained a bullet wound to his right shoulder. The gunshot wound to the top of Officer Glover's head and the wound to his face were both fired from a distance of less than one foot. The suddenness of appellant's attack had apparently caught Officer Glover by surprise. Officer Glover's duty weapon was found in Officer Glover's holster. The holster's strap was snapped securely shut. Paramedics transported Officer Glover to Ashtabula County Medical Center for emergency treatment. After Officer Glover's condition had been stabilized, he was life-flighted to Cleveland's Metro-Health Hospital. X-rays and CT scans revealed substantial damage to Officer Glover's brain. Officer Glover had severe cerebral swelling and profuse bleeding from his nose and mouth. Neurological assessments revealed minimal brain stem function. Officer Glover died from his gunshot wounds the following morning, November 18, 1997.

State v. Jones, 91 Ohio St.3d 335, 744 N.E.2d 1163 (2001).

II. Procedural History

Represented by Stephen A. Ferrell of the Ohio Public Defender's Office and Robert A. Dixon, Jones filed a timely direct appeal of the trial court judgment to the Ohio Supreme Court on July 24, 1998, raising fifteen propositions of law. The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on April 18, 2001. State v. Jones, 91 Ohio St.3d 335, 744 N.E.2d 1163 (2001). Jones concluded his direct appeal by petitioning the United States Supreme Court for certiorari. The Supreme Court denied the petition. Jones v. Ohio, 534 U.S. 1004, 122 S.Ct. 483, 151 L.Ed.2d 396 (2001).

On November 5, 1999, Jones filed a petition for post-conviction relief pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2953.21 in the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas, alleging twenty-six (26) claims for relief. The court found that Jones could not substantiate his claims for post-conviction relief and dismissed the petition. Jones appealed the dismissal on November 20, 2000, to the Eleventh District Court of Appeals, raising three assignments of error. Finding that the appeal was without merit, the court dismissed it. State v. Jones, No.2000-A-0083, slip op., 2002 WL 737074 (Ohio Ct.App. Apr. 26, 2002). Jones appealed the Eleventh District's decision, filing a memorandum in support of jurisdiction in the Ohio Supreme Court on June 12, 2002. He asserted three propositions of law. The Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear the case and dismissed the petition on September 11, 2002. State v. Jones, 96 Ohio St.3d 1495, 774 N.E.2d 767 (2002)(Table).

Jones also filed an application to reopen his direct appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court, raising four propositions of law.¹ On September 26, 2001, the Ohio Supreme Court denied the application. State v. Jones, 93 Ohio St.3d 1434, 755 N.E.2d 356 (2001)(Table). Jones filed a second application to reopen his direct appeal...