Molineaux v. Ames
| Decision Date | 03 May 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2:21-cv-00190 |
| Parties | KEITH MARTIN MOLINEAUX, Petitioner, v. DONNIE AMES, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of West Virginia |
PROPOSED FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Pending before the court are Petitioner Keith Martin Molineaux's pro se Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and his Amended Petition, (ECF Nos 1, 21); Molineaux's Motions to Dismiss Respondent's Motion and for Summary Judgment (ECF Nos. 44, 48); and Respondent's Motions for Summary Judgment. (ECF No. 26 35). This case is assigned to the Honorable Irene C. Berger United States District Judge, and by standing order is referred to the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge for submission of proposed findings of fact and recommendations for disposition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B).
Preliminarily the undersigned notes that Respondent has made a Motion to Strike Molineaux's Motion for Summary Judgment on the basis that the motion is impertinent, scandalous, redundant, and immaterial. (ECF No. 50). Respondent's Motion to Strike is DENIED given the liberal construction afforded to the filings of pro se parties and the importance of this proceeding to Molineaux. Accordingly, the undersigned has considered the arguments asserted in Molineaux's Motion for Summary Judgment. After thorough consideration of the record, the undersigned conclusively FINDS that (1) there are no genuine issues of material fact and (2) Molineaux is not entitled to the relief requested. Therefore, for the reasons that follow, the undersigned respectfully RECOMMENDS that the presiding District Judge GRANT Respondent's Motions for Summary Judgment, (ECF Nos. 26, 35); DENY Molineaux's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, his Amended Petition, Motion to Dismiss Respondent's Motion, and Motion for Summary Judgment, (ECF Nos. 1, 21, 44, 48); and DISMISS and REMOVE this case from the docket of the court.
This case arises from Molineaux's criminal prosecution and conviction for the April 9, 2001 murders of John and Kimmie Stepp, a married couple shot to death in their Skygusty, West Virginia home. (ECF No. 26-36). On October 23, 2001, Molineaux was indicted by a grand jury in the Circuit Court of McDowell County (“circuit court”) on seven counts: (1) first degree murder of John Stepp; (2) first degree murder of Kimmie Stepp; (3) robbery; (4) burglary; (5) conspiracy to commit murder; (6) conspiracy to commit robbery; and (7) conspiracy to commit burglary. (ECF No. 26-2 at 1-3). After a four-day jury trial, Molineaux was convicted of all counts except Count Five, conspiracy to commit murder. (ECF Nos. 26-3; 26-4; 26-5; 26-6 at 96-97).
At trial, the State, represented by prosecutor Sidney Bell, called multiple witnesses. The first witness, Michael Bevins, a close neighbor and brother-in-law of the Stepps, testified that on April 9, 2001, he heard two gunshots and saw three men running out of the Stepps' trailer, followed by the Stepps' young daughter, Courtney. (ECF No. 26-3 at 147, 151-53, 155). Bevins testified that Courtney told him that four black men had come into her family's trailer and shot her mom and dad. (ECF No. 26-3 at 156). He went next door and found his in-laws' lifeless bodies and the home's furnishings in disarray. (Id. at 157-59). He testified that the three men took off in a car and he observed the direction of the taillights. (Id. at 160). On cross examination, one of Molineaux's attorneys, Stephen Paesani (“Paesani”), questioned Bevins about the adequacy of the lighting that night, and Bevins confirmed he could see the shape of the figures running from his in-laws' home and the last person to leave was tall and lanky. (ECF No. 26-3 at 161-62). Paesani questioned whether Bevins's description of the last individual to leave the trailer as tall and lanky was accurate, given that it differed from Bevins's statement to police on the night of the murders indicating that the last individual was short and thin. (Id. at 162-64).
The State then called Deputy Sheriff Tim Vineyard (“Deputy Vineyard”), an employee of the McDowell County Sheriff's Department. (Id. at 165-66). He recalled arriving on the scene to find the bodies of the Stepps, and also noted the mess in the home such as cabinets and other furniture out of place, “like somebody was looking for something.” (Id. at 167-69). On cross-examination, Deputy Vineyard testified that John Stepp was known to be a drug dealer and user and that a paper bag of marijuana was found on the couch. (Id. at 171-72).
On the second day of trial, the State called James Gianato, an employee of the McDowell County Emergency Communications Center. (ECF No. 26-4 at 2). After testifying to his general work duties, Gianato confirmed that on the night of April 9, 2001, the equipment used to record incoming emergency calls was in good working order, as was the recording equipment used to duplicate for trial the 911 call reporting the Stepps' murders. (ECF No. 26-4 at 2-5). The 911 call was then played for the jury. (Id. at 6).
The State next called James Day (“Day”), a longtime friend and coworker of John Stepp, who remembered stopping by to see the Stepps at around 7 or 7:30 p.m. on the night they were killed and staying about an hour. (Id. at 7-10). He testified that he received a visit from James Reginald Jones, II, also known as Jamie Jones (“Jones”), at about 9 or 9:30 p.m. that night. (Id. at 12-13). Day recalls Jones placing a telephone call using Day's phone, and heard him ask another individual to come pick him up. Day overheard Jones say something like “you know what we was supposed to do,” or something to that effect, at which point Jones left and waited until he was picked up by a white car. (Id. at 13-14). The State's next witness was Bonnie Day (“Bonnie”), Day's ex-wife, who provided testimony similar to that of her ex-husband, including about Jones's telephone conversation. She added, however, that she saw Jones being picked up by the same white car on the night before the murders, and she recalled that on April 8, 2001 the car was driven by Thomas King (“King”). (Id. at 15-18). On cross examination, Molineaux's other attorney, McGinnis Hatfield (“Hatfield”), asked Bonnie to review the statement she gave to police on the night of the Stepps' deaths and noted that the statement did not reference the contents of Jones's telephone conversation. (Id. at 21).
The State called Dennis Johnson (“Johnson”) as the next witness. Johnson was the eighteen-year-old son of Day and Bonnie and a longtime acquaintance and coworker of John Stepp, as well as a lifelong friend of Jones. (ECF No. 26-4 at 24-25). He recalled seeing Jones in a white car driven by King, another longtime friend, on the day before the murders. (Id. at 26-27). Johnson remembered that after King and Jones left in the car, Molineaux came down the road in his father's red or reddish truck asking if Johnson had seen Jones and King because the two were in Molineaux's car. (ECF No. 26-4 at 2728). Paesani objected to part of Johnson's testimony as hearsay on the basis that Johnson did not actually know Molineaux and had been told that was who he was by another person. (Id. at 29-31). Johnson remembered Jones asking him where John Stepp lived as he needed to “talk to” him and that the two were friends. (Id. at 32-33).
The State's following witness was David Pleasant (“Pleasant”), a friend and coworker of John Stepp. (Id. at 33-34). Pleasant testified that John Stepp confided in him that he owed someone in Bluefield $400. (Id. at 36). Next, the State Deputy Chief Medical Examiner testified about the injuries the Stepps sustained as well as other health indicators. (ECF No. 26-4 at 38-55). He confirmed that Kimmie Stepp was shot behind her left ear and John Stepp was shot above his left eye in the forehead, and these gunshots caused their deaths. (Id. at 44-47). After this testimony, the State called the head of the Latent Print Section of the Forensic Laboratory for the West Virginia State Police, Stephen King, who testified that a gun and dresser drawer submitted for testing yielded no identifiable prints. (Id. at 56-66). Next, the State called David Rose (“Rose”), the Stepps' neighbor. (Id. at 67-68). He testified that he heard gunshots the night the Stepps were killed, although he did not see anyone leaving the trailer. (Id. at 68-70).
The State's then offered King, who had also been charged with the same crimes as Molineaux. (ECF No. 26-4 at 74). King testified that on the day of the shooting, he, along with Molineaux, Jones, and Brandon Britto (“Britto”) went to Skygusty to buy marijuana from John Stepp. (Id. at 96-100). While there, John Stepp showed Molineaux the marijuana and Molineaux said it “wasn't no good.” (Id. at 102). After that, John Stepp said he knew where to get better marijuana, and Molineaux asked him if he had money for better marijuana. (ECF No. 26-4 at 103). King stated that he looked away for a moment, and when he looked back Molineaux had a gun to John Stepp's head. (Id.). King testified that Molineaux demanded money and took John Stepp toward the back of the trailer at gunpoint, while Britto took Kimmie Stepp and the child to the back of the trailer. King, Jones, and Britto searched the trailer for money at Molineaux's instruction. (Id. at 103-06). After Molineaux repeatedly demanded money, King says he heard a gunshot, along with screaming and crying. He ran out of the trailer back toward the car, and while running, he heard a second gunshot. (Id. at 107-08). King got into the automobile, and a few seconds later Britto came. Another...
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