Massey v. McGinley
| Decision Date | 05 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 16 - 345 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
| Parties | JAYQUON MASSEY, Petitioner, v. TOM MCGINLEY, Respondent. |
MEMORANDUM OPINION1
Pending before the Court is a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus ("the Petition") filed by Petitioner Jayquon Massey ("Petitioner") pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"). (ECF No. 17.) Petitioner, through counsel, challenges his judgment of sentence of life in prison without parole imposed following his conviction for first-degree murder and other related offenses. See Commonwealth v. Massey, CP-02-CR-0003771-2008 (Ct. Common Pleas Allegheny Cty.)2 For the reasons stated herein, his Petition will be dismissed as untimely, and, in the alternative, denied.
The trial court set forth the facts of this case as follows:
. . . . The incident in question occurred on November 21, 2007, at approximately 6:15 PM at a bus stop on the north side area of the city ofPittsburgh. The victim was struck in the neck by a bullet fired by the defendant, while she and her boyfriend were walking from the bus stop with their Thanksgiving groceries. The defendant had fired at a burgundy SUV that had driven by. The general facts are as follows: The defendant would visit this north side neighborhood on a daily basis because his girlfriend at the time had lived there. The defendant knew the victim as well as the victim's children, given his testimony that the victim was his cousins' mom. The defendant on the day prior to the incident had been in this neighborhood with a friend and was robbed at gunpoint by unidentified persons in a burgundy SUV. The following evening (November 21, 2007) the defendant was again in this north side neighborhood. The victim's 14-year-old son had observed and encountered the defendant in the neighborhood every day, and on the night of the incident he observed a burgundy Escalade which he had seen the last several days in the area. He testified that the driver of the burgundy Escalade at some point got out of the vehicle and was taunting the defendant. The 14-year-old also testified that after the vehicle had passed, the defendant was in the middle of the street trying to shoot at the vehicle. The witness testified that the defendant had said his gun had jammed and did not discharge. At one point, the defendant asked to use his cell phone. The defendant denied the allegations that he attempted to shoot at the vehicle while standing in the middle of the street or that the gun had jammed. Subsequently, when the vehicle passed again the defendant fired shots that ultimately struck the innocent victim across the street. Various witnesses testified that they heard multiple shots fired. Their recollections varied from four to six shots. The Pittsburgh Police recovered two .38 caliber shell casings from where the defendant was believed to be standing in a grassy area. The defense contended that the victim's son had given him the gun, and the defendant had initially pointed it at the SUV in an attempt to scare them away. When the vehicle returned, the defendant testified that an arm protruded from the vehicle with a gun pointed at him. At that time the defendant shot twice. No other witnesses observed the arm with a gun from the Escalade window.
(Resp't Ex. 6, Tr. Ct. Op. dated 7/30/09, ECF No. 22-1, pp.28-30.)
Petitioner was charged by criminal information filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Criminal Division with having committed one count each of Criminal Homicide, 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 2501; Firearms Not to be Carried without a License, 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 6106; and Recklessly Endangering Another Person ("REAP"), 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 2705. (Resp't Ex. 2, Criminal Information, ECF No. 22-1, pp.15-18.) Petitioner, through counsel, sought recusal of all judges of Allegheny County as the homicide victim, Ms. Cheryl Wilds, wasan Allegheny County court reporter who had served in each of the judges' courtrooms. (Resp't Ex. 1, Docket Sheet, ECF No. 22-1, p.4.) The Honorable Jeffrey Manning recused himself from the case, and it was subsequently assigned to the Honorable John K. Reilly ("the trial court").
On October 14, 2008, the trial court issued an order granting special relief directing "[a]ny and all employees of Allegheny County Courthouse . . . to immediately remove any and all posters, photographs or otherwise of [the victim] from Courthouse walls, bulletin boards, and the like." Id., p.5.
At trial, which began on October 20, 2008, Petitioner was represented by Noah Geary, Esq., and Deputy District Attorney Bruce Beemer represented the Commonwealth. On October 23, 2008, at the close of all the evidence, Petitioner was adjudged guilty of first-degree murder and the other two offenses. (Resp't Ex. 3, Verdict, ECF No. 22-1, p.19.) On December 19, 2008, the trial court sentenced Petitioner to a mandatory sentence of life without parole for first-degree murder and a concurrent two to four years of incarceration for the firearms violation. He received no further penalty for the REAP offense. (Resp't Ex. 4, Sentencing Order, ECF No. 22-1, pp.20-21.)
Petitioner filed a timely pro se appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, which was docketed at 608 WDA 2009.3 (Resp't Ex. 5, Appeal Docket Sheet, ECF No. 22-1, pp.22-25.) The trial court issued its Pa. R.A.P. 1925(a) Opinion on July 30, 2009, and, on August 27, 2009, Judge Manning issued a separate Opinion regarding his ruling on Petitioner's pre-trial recusal motion. (Resp't Ex. 6, Tr. Ct. Op. dated 7/30/09, ECF No. 22-1, pp. 26-33; Resp't Ex. 7, Op. dated 8/27/09, ECF No. 22-1, pp.34-37.) Following briefing (Resp't Ex. 8, Br. for Appellant, ECF No. 22-2; Resp't Ex. 9, Br. for Appellee, ECF No. 22-3, pp.1-30), the PennsylvaniaSuperior Court affirmed Petitioner's judgment of sentence on February 24, 2011. (Resp't Ex. 10, Memorandum dated 2/24/11, ECF No. 22-3, pp.31-39.) A Petition for Reargument/Reconsideration en banc (Resp't Ex. 11, Petition, ECF No. 22-3, pp.40-54) was denied on May 6, 2011, (Resp't Ex. 12, Order, ECF No. 22-3, p.55).
On June 3, 2011, Petitioner, through Attorney Debbis, filed a timely Petition for Allowance of Appeal ("PAA") to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which was docketed at 286 WAL 2011. (Resp't Ex. 13, Appeal Docket Sheet, ECF No. 22-4, pp.1-3; Resp't Ex. 14, PAA, ECF No. 22-4, pp.4-35.) In response, the Commonwealth filed a "No Answer Letter" on June 6, 2011 (Resp't Ex. 15, No Answer Letter, ECF No. 22-4, p.36), and the court denied the PAA on October 14, 2011, (Resp't Ex. 16, Order, ECF No. 22-4, p.37). Petitioner did not file a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.
Next, on September 12, 2012, Petitioner filed a pro se petition pursuant to Pennsylvania's Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"). (Resp't Ex. 17a, PCRA Petition, ECF No. 22-5, pp.1-12.) Scott Coffey, Esq., who was appointed to represent Petitioner for post-conviction proceedings, filed an Amended PCRA Petition on March 14, 2013. (Resp't Ex. 17b, Amended PCRA Petition, ECF No. 22-5, pp.13-37.) The Commonwealth filed their Answer on May 1, 2013. (Resp't Ex. 18, Answer, ECF No. 22-6, pp.1-25.) Judge Beth A. Lazzara ("the PCRA court")4 issued her Notice of Intent to Dismiss the Amended PCRA Petition on September 22, 2014, (Resp't Ex. 19, Order dated 9/19/14, ECF No. 22-6, p.26), and she issued the PCRA court's Order denying the Petition on October 10, 2014, (Resp't Ex. 20, Order dated 10/10/14; ECF No. 22-6, p.27).
Petitioner filed a timely appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, which was docketed at 1752 WDA 2014. (Resp't Ex. 21, Appeal Docket Sheet, ECF No. 22-6, pp.28-31.) The PCRA court issued its Pa. R.A.P. 1925(a) Opinion on January 21, 2015. (Resp't Ex. 22, Op. dated 1/21/15, ECF No. 22-6, pp.32-41.) Petitioner, through Attorney Coffey, filed his Brief on February 18, 2015, (Resp't Ex. 23, Br. for Appellant, ECF No. 22-7, pp.1-33), and the Commonwealth filed its Brief on March 18, 2015, (Resp't Ex. 24, Br. for Appellee, ECF No. 22-7, pp.34-61). On June 30, 2015, the Superior Court affirmed the PCRA court's order denying Petitioner post-conviction relief. (Resp't Ex. 25, Memorandum dated 06/30/15, ECF No. 22-7, pp.62-73.)
Petitioner filed a PAA to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which was docketed at 255 WAL 2016. (Resp't Ex. 26, Appeal Docket Sheet, ECF No. 22-8, pp.1-3; Resp't Ex. 27, PAA, ECF No. 22-8, pp.4-38.) It was denied by the court on November 16, 2015. (Resp't Ex. 28, Order dated 11/16/15, ECF No. 22-8, p.39.) Petitioner did not seek certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.
The original Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus ("the original Petition") in this case was filed by Petitioner, through counsel Craig M. Cooley, Esq., on March 24, 2016. (ECF No. 1.) On August 3, 2016, Petitioner, through counsel, filed an Amended Petition ("the Petition"), (ECF No. 17), and Respondent's filed their Answer to it on November 10, 2016, (ECF No. 22).
AEDPA imposes a one-year limitations period for state prisoners seeking federal habeas review. It is codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) and it provides:
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