Major v. Lamanna
| Decision Date | 03 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | 9:18-cv-0418 (DNH/TWD) |
| Parties | DANTE D. MAJOR, Petitioner, v. JAMIE LAMANNA, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York |
DANTE D. MAJOR Petitioner, pro se
HON LETITIA JAMES MARGARET A. CIEPRISZ, ESQ. Attorney General of the State of New York Ass't Attorney General Attorney for Respondent
REPORT-RECOMMENDATION AND ORDER
OF COUNSEL: MARGARET A. CIEPRISZ, ESQ. Ass't Attorney General
This matter has been referred for a Report and Recommendation by the Hon. David N. Hurd, United States District Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and N.D.N.Y. Local Rule 72.3(c). Presently before this Court is the second amended petition of pro se Petitioner Dante D. Major seeking a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. (Dkt. No. 35.) Respondent opposes the petition. (Dkt. Nos. 62, 63.) The state court record was filed under separate cover. (Dkt. No. 64.) Petitioner filed a reply. (Dkt. No. 69.) For the reasons that follow, the Court recommends that the petition be denied and dismissed.
Respondent has included a detailed description of the facts and procedural history of this case. (Dkt. No. 62 at 5-22.[1]) The Court summarizes and supplements the facts as necessary for clarity and to discuss the grounds raised by Petitioner.
In March 2012, Petitioner was indicted on four counts, all relating to alleged distribution of oxycodone within Otsego County. (Dkt. No. 64-1 at 92-93.) In Count One, he was charged with operating as a major trafficker, and it was alleged that, as a profiteer, he sold a narcotic drug on one or more occasions between July 1 and December 31, 2011, and the proceeds of those sales had an aggregate value of $75, 000 or more. Id. at 92. In Count Two, he was charged with first degree criminal possession of a controlled substance on December 19, 2011. Id. Counts Three and Four charged third degree possession of a controlled substance on October 13, 2011. Id. at 92-93.
In October 2012, Petitioner proceeded to a jury trial before the Hon. Brian D. Burns of Otsego County Court. Petitioner was represented by Michael Jacobs, Esq. The Otsego County District Attorney (“DA”) John Muehl, Esq.[2] was for the People. The bulk of the testimony against Petitioner was provided by nine cooperating witnesses: Christine Ramsell, Kevin Baker, Sara Baker, Shelby Mochrie, Crystal Gonsalves, Clarence Vanier, Jeffrey Vollkommer, Kate Joslyn, and Scott Burns. Two Otsego County Jail inmates and an auditor for the Oneida Indian Nation Gaming Commission also testified for the People. Numerous law enforcement personnel testified regarding their investigations, surveillance, execution of search warrants, chain of custody, and forensics. As summarized by the Appellate Division, Third Department:
Following a lengthy investigation by numerous law enforcement agencies into narcotics trafficking in Otsego County, [Petitioner] was charged with various crimes arising from his alleged possession and sale of significant quantities of oxycodone powder between July and December 2011. . . . The trial testimony established [Petitioner] sold large quantities of oxycodone to Christin[e] Ramsell and Clarence Vanier who would, in turn, sell or distribute the drugs to others in the Otsego area.
People v. Major, 143 A.D.3d 1155, 1158 (3d Dep't 2016).[3]
Ramsell testified that she first met Petitioner in February or March of 2011. She bought oxycodone from Petitioner on behalf of a drug dealer, who paid Ramsell “$250 to pick it up each time.” (Dkt. No. 64-6 at 144.) But when that drug dealer went to jail in mid-July 2011, Ramsell began buying oxycodone directly from Petitioner. Id.
Ramsell estimated that between July and October 2011, she bought oxycodone from Petitioner approximately every seven to ten days. Id. at 150-511. During each purchase, Ramsell paid $10, 000 to Petitioner for 66 grams of oxycodone. Id. at 146-48. She explained that “[n]ormally you get 50 grams [for $10, 000] but [Petitioner] threw in an extra.” Id. at 147. Ramsell and her boyfriend, Luke MacCracken would use the 16 grams of oxycodone themselves and sell the rest. Id. at 150-51.
In July 2011, Ramsell lived in a former boyfriend's house on Heritage Hill Road (“Heritage Hill”) with MacCracken and two friends, Sara Baker and her boyfriend Eric Jones. Id. at 145. All four, and two additional friends, Kevin Baker and his girlfriend Shelby Mochrie, participated in Ramsell's drug operation by counting money, packaging, and selling. Id. at 149. When Ramsell needed a fresh supply of oxycodone, she called Petitioner and “he'd show up” and bring the oxycodone powder to her in a plastic bag. Id. at 147. Ramsell and Petitioner always exchanged the drugs and money in private. After Petitioner would leave, Ramsell and her friends would repackage the bulk oxycodone for individual sale. The group would “set up an assembly line to bag out and get ready for distributing, ” measuring a small amount of powder into glassine envelopes that they would then sell for $20 each. Id. at 150, 157, 280-82, 285, 385-90, Dkt. No. 64-7 at 34, 56-58, 69-70.
Sara Baker testified that Petitioner came to Heritage Hill approximately 20 times between July and early September 2011. (Dkt. No. 64-7 at 33-34.) Petitioner would pick Ramsell up, and, when Ramsell returned, she “had a plastic baggy of the powder and when it was gone, [Ramsell] would meet with [Petitioner, ] and then she would come back and it would be full again and she'd get everything ready to sell it.” Id. at 51.
In early September 2011, Ramsell, MacCracken, Sara Baker, and Eric Jones were asked to leave Heritage Hill. On September 7, 2011, and the four moved to a mobile home in Wells Bridge, New York that Petitioner owned (“Wells Bridge”). Ramsell testified that “there was no agreement” on rent, and when asked if she did anything for Petitioner while living at the house, she responded that “I just bought and sold drugs.” (Dkt. No. 64-6 at 154.) Ramsell continued to pay Petitioner $10, 000 for 66 grams of oxycodone. Id. at 148.
Ramsell testified that at first, Petitioner would bring the oxycodone with him to Wells Bridge, but then Petitioner “brought a big bag of it to the house and after that he would just weigh it out.” Petitioner kept the bag in Ramsell's room underneath the dresser. Id. at 153-56. She explained that if she wanted some, she “would have to call him up or he'd stop by, just tell him I need more, ” then Petitioner “would weigh it out and [she] would buy it.” Id. at 156. The bag of oxycodone hidden beneath Ramsell's dresser belonged to Petitioner; Ramsell could not take or sell any of it until she had purchased it from Petitioner. Id.
Shelby Mochrie testified that she saw Petitioner at Wells Bridge about three times and he brought drugs to the house once. (Dkt. No. 64-7 at 59, 68.) Sara Baker also saw Petitioner frequently at Wells Bridge. Petitioner would arrive early in the morning, Sara Baker would wake Ramsell up, and Petitioner would meet with Ramsell either in Ramsell's bedroom or [Petitioner] would tell us to go in our bedrooms or whatever.” Id. at 35.
Kevin Baker, in addition to working on the assembly line packaging the oxycodone for sale, sold oxycodone for Ramsell. (Dkt. No. 64-6 at 282-84.) From approximately July to mid-October 2011, Kevin Baker would sell between 10 and 20 bundles-between 100 and 200 glassine bags of oxycodone-a day. Id. at 283. Ramsell charged Kevin Baker $150 per bundle; he would re-sell each bundle for either $200 or $250. He estimated that during this time period he sold approximately $2000 in oxycodone every day. Id. at 284.
Crystal Gonsalves testified that she met Petitioner, whom she referred to as “D”, in August 2011. (Dkt. No. 64-7 at 80-81, 84.) From August through October 2011, Gonsalves purchased oxycodone from Ramsell, MacCracken, and Jeffrey Vollkommer for her personal use. Id. at 85-87. She testified she went with Petitioner to Ramsell's house on Heritage Hill once. Id. at 85. While there, Gonsalves saw Ramsell “bagging up the Oxy powder and D sitting there.” Id. Gonsalves also went with Petitioner to Wells Bridge on two occasions. Id. at 80-81. In late August 2011, she went with Petitioner to Wells Bridge. On the way, Petitioner gave her oxycodone, which she snorted in the car. Id. at 83. Once at Wells Bridge, she “did a couple more lines of Oxy” that Petitioner had retrieved from the bedroom. Id. Gonsalves went with Petitioner to Wells Bridge a second time to pick up money from Ramsell, who was then living there. When they got there, Gonsalves and Petitioner went into the living room and Ramsell started to give Petitioner money. Petitioner stopped her, saying ‘“not here' and they went to the bedroom.” Id. at 83. Gonsalves did not see what happened in the bedroom. She eventually asked Petitioner where he was getting his supply of oxycodone from and she was told “Covidien[4] is a great place.” Id. at 89.
In total, Ramsell testified she made approximately 10 purchases at Heritage Hill and 8 to 10 purchases at Wells Bridge. She continued to purchase oxycodone powder from Petitioner until October 13, 2011, when the OCSO executed a search warrant at Wells Bridge and she was arrested. (Dkt. No. 64-6 at 158.) Between July and October 13, 2011, Petitioner sold Ramsell at least $90, 000 worth of oxycodone. Id. at 150-52, 154, 158, 166.[5]
OCSO Investigator Michael Ten Eyck testified that Ramsell and MacCracken had become suspects in a narcotics investigation conducted by its office following undercover buys of oxycodone powder that was traced back to the pair. (Dkt. No 64-5 at 157-58.) During the execution of the search warrant at Wells Bridge on October...
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