Marquez v. Garrett
| Docket Number | 3:15-cv-00492-MMD-CLB |
| Decision Date | 14 March 2022 |
| Parties | ALEX MARQUEZ, Petitioner, v. TIM GARRETT[1], et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Nevada |
Petitioner Alex Marquez filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (ECF No. 14.) In 2005, Carlos Ruiz drove Brian Snapp, Eduardo Camacho, and Marquez to Snapp's former apartment after Snapp was asked to move out. Snapp, Camacho and Marquez beat the apartment occupants with baseball bats and a claw hammer. One occupant was stabbed and bled to death. A jury convicted Marquez and his three codefendants of: (1) first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, (2) attempted robbery with use of a deadly weapon, (3) burglary with use of a deadly weapon, and (4) two counts of battery with use of a deadly weapon. (ECF No 20-2.) Marquez was sentenced to 47 years to life imprisonment. (Id.) Marquez unsuccessfully challenged his convictions on direct appeal and in postconviction proceedings. (ECF Nos. 20, 38-25.)
In the remaining grounds of his Petition, [2] Marquez challenges the judgment on the grounds his statements to police were obtained in violation of Miranda, the state district court erred by joining his trial with that of his codefendants, trial counsel was ineffective, and his convictions are unsupported by sufficient evidence.
This matter is now before the Court for adjudication on the merits.
The following facts describe the events leading up to the charges brought against Marquez.[3] Further factual information about Marquez's state court proceedings accompany the Court's analysis of each of Marquez's stated grounds for relief.
Robert “Bobby” Andrew Wood testified he met Brian Snapp while they worked at Target and Snapp moved into Bobby Wood's apartment in Reno, Nevada, about a month and a half before November 8, 2005. (ECF No. 17-2 at 38, 41-43.) Snapp was aware that Bobby Wood kept money in a small safe in his closet and that he had received settlement money for an auto accident. (Id. at 48-49.)
Bobby Wood expected Snapp to co-lease the apartment, but Snapp vanished, so Bobby's brother, William “Billy” Oliver Wood, and their long-time friend, Jeff Lowe, moved into the apartment instead. (Id. at 43-45, 98-99.) When Snapp unexpectedly returned, Bobby Wood permitted him to stay at the apartment for a couple of weeks to get on his feet and Snapp paid rent but did not have a key to the apartment. (Id. at 45-46, 98-100.) Snapp stayed longer than expected, and at the beginning of November, Bobby Wood told him he could stay only one more week. (Id. at 46, 113-14.) At about 4:30 p.m. on November 8, 2005, Snapp asked Bobby Wood if he might stay another week, but Bobby Wood told him he had to leave. (Id. at 46-48, 114.) Bobby Wood said Snapp was “bummed” but “all right” and mentioned getting a motel. (Id. at 48.)
Billy Wood testified that Bobby Wood, Snapp, and neighbor Alexi Chapman Capsoff visited at the apartment after 8:00 p.m. on November 8, 2005. (ECF No. 17-1 at 196-97, 211-12.) Billy Wood said Snapp was drinking alcohol and Capsoff testified Snapp was normally passive when intoxicated, but that night he was “[s]lurring his words, ” could not stand straight, and “wasn't himself.” (ECF Nos. 17-1 at 212-13; 17-2 at 7-8, 10-12, 37-38.)
Bobby Wood offered to take Capsoff out to play pool and Snapp interjected “[W]hat, you guys f'ing now?” (ECF No. 17-2 at 50.) Capsoff said Snapp came up to her, hugged her from behind, put his hand underneath her bra, and then placed his hands on her face as if he would “snap” her neck. (Id. at 13-14.) Bobby Wood ordered Snapp out. (Id. at 50-51.) Billy Wood told Snapp “You ain't doing that here, ” and Snapp left saying, “Let's see someone try to stop me.” (ECF No. 17-1 at 213-15.)
Bobby Wood followed Snapp outside, calmed him down, and everything seemed alright, until Capsoff came outside, yelled, “No one treats me like this, ” and Snapp responded by getting in Capsoff's face. (ECF No. 17-2 at 51-53.) Capsoff said she pushed Snapp, and he pushed her back and slammed himself against her, thereby slamming her against a wall. (Id. at 15-16.) Capsoff said another neighbor, Megan Borbo, got between them but Snapp slammed Borbo into Capsoff, causing Capsoff to fall down. (Id. at 8-9, 16.)
Billy Wood went outside and broke up the argument. (ECF No. 17-1 at 215-16.) Capsoff said Snapp threw a glass bottle at her and Borbo and threatened to return and “kill” her and “get everybody else” before he left in his car. (ECF No. 17-2 at 17-18.) Bobby Wood told Snapp “Just go and don't come back” and Snapp replied, “I'm gonna come back and kill you mother f'ers.” (Id. at 53.) Billy Wood also told Snapp “Get out of here, don't ever come back, ” and Snapp replied “I'll be back and I'll [sic] gonna kill all of you.” (ECF No. 17-1 at 215-16.) Neighbors summoned police, but no one filed a report. (ECF No. 17-2 at 18.)
Crysta Oliver testified that on the night of November 8, 2005, she was sharing an apartment in Reno, Nevada, with (1) Ruiz, her boyfriend; (2) Marquez and his sister, Enlinda Marquez, their roommates; and (3) Camacho, who was a guest. (ECF No. 17-2 at 131-32, 134-37.) Oliver said Snapp and Ruiz were friends and Snapp arrived at the apartment very upset that evening. (Id. at 139-40, 142-44.) Oliver heard Snapp say he had been in a fight and his two best friends turned on him, kicked him out, and would not allow him to retrieve his possessions from the apartment. (Id. at 144.) She heard Snapp ask Ruiz to drive him to the apartment to get his property, “fight with them, ” get them back, and do something about the situation. (Id. at 144, 148-149.) She also overheard Snapp tell other men in the apartment about a safe with marijuana in it. (Id. at 154-55.)
Enlinda Marquez testified she was in the apartment that night and heard Marquez ask Camacho to go with him to help Snapp “get this [sic] stuff out of the apartment” because Snapp was “kicked out or something.” (ECF No. 17-4 at 39-40, 49, 53.) Enlinda Marquez did not hear anything about stealing. (Id.) She heard Camacho say, “No, I'm not gonna go, it's not worth it, ” but Marquez said he was going, and Camacho changed his mind and went with him. (Id. at 54.)
Billy Wood testified he and Lowe were inside the apartment sometime after 9:40 p.m. when they heard a knock at the door. (ECF No. 17-1 at 217-19.) Billy Wood answered the door, saw Snapp, Marquez, and Camacho, and without a word, they kicked in the door, knocked Billy Wood to the ground, and immediately started beating him. (Id. at 218-21, 235, 246.) Snapp came through the door and was the first to strike Billy Wood on the head with a “claw hammer” followed by Marquez and Camacho who each hit him in the head with baseball bats. (Id. at 222-24, 294.) Billy Wood was stabbed but did not know when or by whom. (Id. at 266.) Camacho continued to hit Billy Wood on the head with a baseball bat while Snapp and Marquez went for Lowe, and Billy Wood said he heard Lowe scream, and begging for his life. (Id. at 221-23, 233.)
Billy Wood managed to get into Bobby Wood's bedroom and held the door closed with his foot while someone beat holes in the door. (Id. at 224-25, 232-34.) With his foot holding the door shut, Billy Wood grabbed a “really long” weight-lifting bar, bashed the window out, and screamed, “Call the cops, call the cops, ” and then tried to scare the assailants away by yelling, “The cops are here.” (Id. at 224-25, 240.)
Bobby Wood and Capsoff, who were upstairs at Borbo's apartment, heard a loud noise and the sound of fighting coming from the apartment downstairs, and knew something was wrong. (ECF No. 17-2 at 18-19, 57-58.) Bobby Wood grabbed a baseball bat and he and Capsoff ran downstairs to his apartment, but the door was locked. (Id. at 19-20, 58.) Bobby Wood used his key, went inside, and someone locked the door so Capsoff could not open it. (Id. 21, 58.) Bobby Wood saw Snapp and “those guys” standing over Lowe, so he hit Snapp, but then Marquez hit Bobby Wood, and the two struggled back and forth until Bobby Wood was hit from all directions and lost consciousness. (Id. at 59-60, 64-69.)
Billy Wood testified he looked out from Bobby Wood's bedroom and saw Snapp beating Bobby Wood against the refrigerator with a claw hammer. (ECF No. 17-1 at 224.) Billy Wood ventured out, and Camacho swung a baseball bat at him, but Billy Wood blocked it, hit Camacho in the side, and Camacho ran out of the apartment. (Id. at 224-25, 234.) Billy Wood then saw Marquez watching Lowe, who was bleeding from a chest wound, and swung the weight-lifting bar at Marquez, but Marquez caught it, and the two struggled until Marquez ran out of the apartment. (Id. at 225-26, 234, 256, 299-300.) Billy Wood saw Lowe go into Bobby Wood's bedroom, and then Billy Wood walked behind Snapp, who was beating Bobby Wood's head with the hammer by the refrigerator, took the hammer out of Snapp's hand, hit Snapp in the head with it, chased Snapp outside the apartment, and threw the hammer at him. (Id. at 227-28, 234, 247, 254.) Billy Wood said he ran back into the apartment, tried to stop Lowe's bleeding, covered Bobby Wood's bleeding ear, called his mother and told her, “We're all bleeding, we're all dying, you know, call the cops, ” and then heard sirens. (Id. at 228.)
Billy Wood never heard anyone demand any property, clothes, the safe, the...
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