Morales v. Coyle, No. 1:95 CV 2674.
| Decision Date | 29 March 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:95 CV 2674. |
| Parties | Alfred MORALES, Petitioner, v. Ralph COYLE, Warden Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Amanda Martinsek, Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, Cleveland, OH, David H. Bodiker, Laurence E. Komp, Office of the Publis Defender, Ohio Public Defender Commission, Columbus, OH, Peter T. Cahoon, Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, Akron, OH, for Petitioner.
Michael L. Collyer, Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Cleveland, OH, Charles L. Willie, Jonathan R. Fulkerson, Office of Attorney General, Columbus, OH, for Respondent.
This matter is before the Court upon Alfred Morales' Petition Under 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 For Writ Of Habeas Corpus By A Person In State Custody (Dkt.# 12) (the "Application"). Morales alleges nineteen grounds for relief in the Application.
Also before the Court are Respondent's Return of Writ (Dkt.# 14) ("ROW"), Petitioner Morales' Traverse To Respondent Coyle's Return Of The Writ (Dkt.# 25) ("Traverse"), and Respondent's Reply To Petitioner's Traverse (Dkt.# 28) ("Reply").
For the reasons which follow, the Court denies the Application.
In 1985, Morales was convicted by a jury in the Common Pleas Court of Cuyahoga County, Ohio of aggravated murder and kidnapping and sentenced to death1 for killing twelve-year old Mario L. Trevino ("Mario").
The facts as stated by the Ohio Supreme Court are as follows:
On the evening of March 2, 1985, Mario L. Trevino, age twelve, was killed in Cleveland. Ohio. The victim, five feet, two inches tall, and weighing ninety-three pounds, had been savagely beaten to death [footnote omitted]. The record reveals the following sequence of events which preceded this tragic conclusion.
Appellant, Alfred J. Morales, stands five feet, eight inches tall, weighs two hundred twenty pounds, and is an expert in the martial arts. The Trevino family, Mario being the youngest male member, had known appellant for many years prior to the evening of March 2, 1985. Through their acquaintanceship with appellant, the Trevinos were well aware of appellant's skill in the martial arts and of his ability to use a variety of weapons for their intended purposes.
For a time, Jesse Trevino, the victim's older brother, and appellant had been friends. The friendship ended at a previous time when Jesse refused to commit perjury for appellant, thereby depriving appellant of an alibi regarding the theft of a taxicab. As a result of Jesse's refusal, appellant pled guilty to the theft offense and was returned [footnote omitted] to the Mansfield Reformatory.
While in the Mansfield Reformatory, appellant wrote threatening letters to Toby Trevino, brother of both Jesse and Mario. The letters suggested revenge upon the whole Trevino family, including Yolando Trevino, sister of Jesse, Toby and Mario, who had previously refused to become appellant's girlfriend. The envelope of one letter contained both a drawing and the letters "D.W.C.S.," "B.W." and "D.O.D." The letters were later shown to mean "Death Will Come Soon," "Beware" and "Demon of Darkness," a name appellant used for himself. The drawing on this envelope depicts a heart pierced by a sword. Toby Trevino's name is printed on the heart and blood is dripping from the tip of the sword. The envelope of the second letter likewise contained a drawing. The second drawing depicts a skull, dripping blood, with a sword passing through it. Beneath the skull is printed the word "DANGER."
On February 19, 1985, appellant was released from the Mansfield Reformatory. During the three-week period between appellant's release and Mario's murder, appellant was observed watching the Trevino home while hiding in the bushes of a house near the Trevinos' residence. During this same time period, appellant stated to a variety of witnesses that he was "going to kill Toby's ass." that "he had some killing to do and that he knew he was going back to where he came from," and that "he had * * * a killing to do, and [that] he knew he was going back * * * [a]nd didn't care."
On the evening of his death. Mario left home some time after 6:00 p.m. to play video games at a nearby store. After leaving the store, Mario was confronted by appellant who told Mario that the wanted to talk with him regarding the problems between appellant and the Trevino family. Mario accompanied appellant from the store to a secretive location, approximately one and one-half to two miles from the store. It was at this location that appellant murdered Mario.
Following the murder, appellant went to the nearby home of an acquaintance to wash the blood from his hands and apply ice to his knuckles to control the swelling. When appellant left that location, he left behind the towel containing the ice for his knuckles and his blood-stained white shirt. Soon after appellant's departure, the towel and blood-stained shirt were turned over to the authorities.
Later that same evening, appellant was confronted by Jesse and Toby Trevino who, having learned that Mario had been seen in the company of appellant, questioned appellant as to Mario's whereabouts. Appellant responded: "I haven't seen Mario," "I'm not taking the rap for nothing I didn't do. man." and "[y]ou know, the next time I go into jail, it's going to be for murder."
Early the next morning, March 3, 1985, Mario's body was discovered. While notifying the Trevinos of Mario's death, the authorities were informed of the threatening letters sent by appellant. Appellant was subsequently arrested and his home searched. The search produced a jacket and shoes which were still wet from having recently been washed.
After being informed of his constitutional rights, appellant therein provided police with both oral and written statements concerning the death of Mario. In both the oral and written statements, appellant admitted that he had confronted the boy at the beverage store, led him to the secluded location and then brutally beat the child, leaving Mario to die.
Appellant was subsequently indicted for kidnapping in violation of R.C. 2905.01, aggravated murder with prior calculation and design in violation of R.C. 2903.02(A) [footnote omitted], and aggravated murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02(B) [footnote omitted] with the specification that the crime was committed while appellant was committing or attempting to commit the offense of kidnapping in violation of R.C. 2905.01. At his arraignment, appellant entered pleas of not guilty to all the offenses charged. These pleas were all subsequently changed to pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The indictments were consolidated for trial which commenced on December 2, 1985. On December 18, 1985, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictments. The subsequent penalty hearing resulted in a recommendation by the jury that the appellant be sentenced to death upon the jury's determination that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court, upon completion of its required independent weighing of the mitigating factors against the aggravating circumstances, adopted the recommendation of the jury and imposed the penalty of death. Additionally, the trial court sentenced appellant to a term of confinement of ten to twenty-five years for the crime of kidnapping and life imprisonment for the crime of aggravated murder with prior calculation and design.
State v. Morales, 32 Ohio St.3d 252, 252-54, 513 N.E.2d 267, 269-70.
In addition to the procedural history of this case set forth in the Factual Background supra, the Court notes that on direct appeal the Eighth Judicial District Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County, Ohio (the "Eighth District") affirmed Morales' convictions and sentences in all respects on October 2, 1986. See State v. Morales, 1986 WL 11530 (Ohio App. 8 Dist.). Subsequently, on September 2, 1987, the Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the decision of the Eighth District in all respects. See State v. Morales, 32 Ohio St.3d 252, 513 N.E.2d 267.
Morales then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States, which denied the petition on January 25, 1988. See Morales v. Ohio, 484 U.S. 1047, 108 S.Ct. 785, 98 L.Ed.2d 871 (1988). On March 21, 1988, the Supreme Court denied Morales' Motion for Rehearing in Morales v. Ohio. 485 U.S. 972, 108 S.Ct. 1252, 99 L.Ed.2d 449 (1988).
On March 22, 1988. Morales filed for a Stay of Execution Pending Exhaustion of State Remedies in the Supreme Court of Ohio, which granted the Stay for a period of six months in order to enable Morales to file a petition for post-conviction relief.
Morales then filed his Petition to Vacate or Set Aside Sentence pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 2953.21 (the "Petition") on September 21, 1988 in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. On December 21, 1988, the trial court denied the Petition. On May 11, 1989, the trial court issued Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and again denied the Petition.
On December 13, 1989. Morales appealed the denial of the Petition to the Eighth District, which affirmed the decision of the trial court on January 31, 1991. See State v. Morales, 1991 WL 8592 (Ohio App. 8 Dist.).
On March 4, 1991, Morales appealed the decision of the Eighth District affirming the denial of the Petition to the Supreme Court of Ohio, which overruled Morales' Memorandum in Support of Jurisdiction on October 30, 1991. See State v. Morales, 62 Ohio St.3d 1446, 579 N.E.2d 491. Morales then filed a Motion for Rehearing on October 31, 1991, which the Supreme Court denied on ...
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