Lenix v. Uribe
| Decision Date | 21 July 2014 |
| Docket Number | Case No.: 1:09-cv-01683-AWI-JLT |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California |
| Parties | ARTHUR LOURDES LENIX, Petitioner, v. DOMINGO URIBE, JR., Warden, Respondent. |
DENY FIRST AMENDED PETITION FOR WRIT
OF HABEAS CORPUS (Doc. 30)
ORDER DIRECTING THAT OBJECTIONS BE
FILED WITHIN TWENTY-ONE DAYS
ORDER GRANTING PETITIONER'S REQUEST
FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE (Doc. 32)
Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se counsel with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
Petitioner is in custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation serving an indeterminate sentence of 50 years-to-life pursuant. (Lodged Document "LD") 2. This sentence was imposed after he was convicted by a jury in 2005 in the Superior Court of California, County of Kern (the "Superior Court") (1) first degree murder (Cal. Pen. Code §§ 187(a)); (2) attempted first degree murder (Cal. Pen. Code §§ 187(a), 664(a); (3) conspiracy to commit murder (Cal. Pen. Code §§ 182(a)(1), 187(a); (4) possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Cal. Pen. Code § 12021(a)(1); and (5) possession of a loaded firearm in a public place by an active participant in a criminal street gang(Cal. Pen. Code § 12031(a)(2)(C). (Id.) The jury also found true special allegations (1) of intentional firearm discharge proximately causing great bodily injury or death (Cal. Pen. Code § 12022.56(d); (2) premeditation and deliberation in the attempted murder charge (Cal. Pen. Code §§ 189, 664(a); (3) personal and intentional firearm discharge (Cal. Pen. Code § 12022.53(c)); and (4) personal firearm use (Cal. Pen. Code § 12022.5(a)). (Id.). At a bifurcated trial, the trial court found true special allegations of prior prison terms pursuant to Cal. Pen. Code § 667.5(b). (Id.).
The trial court imposed a 25-year-to-life term sentence for the first degree murder conviction, a consecutive 25-to-life term for personal and intentional firearm discharge proximately causing great bodily injury or death, and a consecutive one-year term for a prior prison term. (Id.). The court also imposed a consecutive term of life with the possibility of parole for attempted murder and a consecutive term of 20 years for personal and intentional firearm discharge, a stayed 25-to-life term for conspiracy to commit murder, and a consecutive 25-to-life term for personal and intentional firearm discharge proximately causing great bodily injury or death, a concurrent aggravated term of three years for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and imposed a concurrent aggravated term of three years for possession of a loaded firearm in a public place by an active participant in a criminal street gang. (Id.). In sum, Petitioner was sentenced to a total indeterminate term of fifty years to life plus determinate terms totaling 21 years.
Petitioner subsequently filed a direct appeal in the California Court of Appeals, Fifth Appellate District (the "5th DCA"), which affirmed Petitioner's conviction on October 13, 2006. (LD 7). On November 14, 2006, Petitioner filed a petition for review in the California Supreme Court that, on January 24, 2007, was granted as to whether the prosecutor had engaged in racial discrimination during jury selection. (LD 11). The issue was briefed and, on July 24, 2008, the California Supreme Court issued a published opinion affirming the judgment. (LD 16; People v. Lenix, 44 Cal.4th 602 (2008).
Petitioner subsequently filed a series of state habeas corpus petitions aimed at exhausting additional claims contained in the first amended petition herein, the last of which was denied on August 31, 2011. (LD 20-31).
On September 23, 2009, Petitioner filed the original petition. (Doc. 1). Subsequently, Petitioner requested, and was granted, a stay of proceedings while he attempted to exhaust additionalclaims. (Doc. 12). On December 27, 2011, after exhausting additional grounds in state court, Petitioner filed the instant first amended petition. (Doc. 30). Respondent's answer was filed on March 5, 2012. (Doc. 36). On May 29, 2012, Petitioner filed his Traverse. (Doc. 42). On March 13, 2014, Petitioner filed a motion to stay proceedings until he received his legal materials, which he alleged were confiscated by prison officials. (Doc. 50). Respondent has opposed that stay request on the grounds that Petitioner does not need to exhaust additional grounds, that he does not presently need his legal materials, and that, if and when he does for preparing objections to any adverse Findings and Recommendations, he can request an extension of time. (Doc. 51).
Respondent concedes that the all grounds for relief in the petition have been fully exhausted. (Doc. 36, p. 17).1
Curtis and Lamar Rufus were cousins who were practically like brothers. (Volume 3, Reporter's Transcript ("3 RT") 182. After 1:30 a.m. on September 19, 2002, Curtis and Lamar decided to go to a nightclub called "Rockin' Rodeo." (Id. at 182-183). The cousins drove Curtis's 1991 blue Chevrolet Caprice. (3 RT 183). After leaving the nightclub, the two men returned to where Lamar's 1990 Lexus was located and the two drove their respective cars to a Fastrip store in downtown Bakersfield. (3 RT 184). Curtis went inside the Fastrip to get a bottle of water while Lamar waited outside; however, before Curtis could purchase his water, he noticed "quick movements" outside as if people were in a hurry to leave the store. (3 RT 187). Curtis went outside to talk to Lamar and the two cousins decided it was best to leave the store, but they waited until some of the other cars cleared out of the parking lot first. (Id., p. 188). As the two men went to their respective cars, which were parked next to each other near an alleyway adjacent to the Fastrip parking lot, they encountered Petitioner and Glenn Maurice Johnson. (Id., p. 189). Curtis knew Johnson, who had attended high school with Lamar, but was not aclose friend of Curtis's and he did not recall his name that evening. (Id. at p. 190).
Curtis had first seen Petitioner about a week earlier when Curtis and Lamar were at another Fastrip store and Petitioner had walked up to the two men and greeted them. (3 RT 192). Petitioner's greeting was not friendly but abrupt and then he walked away. (Id. at 193). Curtis asked his cousin about Petitioner, and Lamar told him his nickname was "Little Mobe" or "Peanut." (Id.). Curtis also noticed that Petitioner was either missing a front tooth or it was badly decayed. (Id.).
On the night of the crimes, as Curtis and his cousin walked past Johnson and Petitioner, Curtis gently tapped Johnson on the chest to wake him up because he appeared to be intoxicated. (Id. at 194). Shortly afterward, Curtis heard a sound like a bottle hitting the ground but not breaking. (3 RT 195). Both Curtis and Lamar turned around and saw Petitioner picking something up from the ground and tucking it inside his waistband. (Id. at 195). Petitioner then walked away from the two men southbound in the alley. (Id.). Lamar told Curtis that the object Petitioner had dropped and then picked up was a .38 handgun. (Id.).
The cousins were concerned about Petitioner having a weapon so they returned to their respective vehicles and started the engines. (Id. at 196). At that point, another individual, Deshonte Grayson, came over to the passenger door of Lamar's car and opened the door, said something to Lamar, after which both Curtis and Lamar got out of their cars. (Id. at 197-198). Curtis told his cousin they ought to leave as it appeared to Curtis that Grayson, and perhaps the other two men, were attempting to "stall" the cousins and keep them from leaving. (Id. at 198). Curtis slowly drove his car away from Lamar's to give his cousin room to leave. (Id.). As Curtis started to drive up the alley, he noticed that Lamar had gotten out of his car and was now talking to Grayson. (Id. at 200). Curtis immediately backed up his car and returned to his cousin, who was standing by the driver's door talking to Grayson, who was standing near the front passenger door. (Id. at 201).
Curtis then saw Petitioner come up behind Lamar in his blind spot, raise the handgun, and shoot at Lamar's head two or three times. (3 RT 202). Lamar collapsed by his car. (Id.). Petitioner then began to slowly walk eastward, as did Grayson. (Id. at 203). Curtis drove his car toward his fallen cousin. (Id. at 204). Grayson began walking toward Curtis while Petitioner stepped off to the side of the alley and fired several shots at Curtis. (Id. at 205-206). Curtis was trying to run down Graysonwhile Petitioner was firing his weapon at the car; suddenly, Grayson disappeared and Curtis believed he had been shot by Petitioner. (Id. at 207). Petitioner then got into the passenger side of a red compact car that had pulled up to him; as the car drove off, Curtis saw that Johnson was the driver. (Id. at 209). Curtis followed the car for a short time and then returned to where his cousin had fallen. (Id. at 211). Lamar was still breathing so Curtis used his cousin's cell phone to call 911 and, later, Lamar's family. (Id. at 212). Curtis attempted CPR on his cousin until the ambulance arrived. (Id.).
When the police arrived, Curtis related the events to Detective Krueger. (3 RT at 214). Curtis told Krueger of Petitioner's gang nicknames. (Id. at 222). Lamar was later pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head. (4 RT 409).
Officer Martin Heredia testified that the police went to a Bakersfield address on information that Petitioner was present and, while surveying the scene, Heredia saw Petitioner walk furtively out the back of the apartment. (3 RT 232). Heredia announced that the police were there and prepared to arrest him, but Petitioner retreated inside the apartment. (Id. at 233). Shortly thereafter, Petitioner was taken into custody. (Id.).
Relief by way of a petition for writ of habeas...
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