OPINION
Joy
Flowers Conti, Senior United States District Court Judge
Presently
before the court is a motion for relief from judgment filed
by petitioner Pierre Pinson (“Pinson” or
“petitioner”) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 60(b). (ECF No. 40.) The motion was referred to a
United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to the Magistrate
Judge's Act, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), and Rules 72.C
and 72.D of the Local Rules of Court.
On
August 29, 2022, the magistrate judge issued a report and
recommendation (“R&R”) wherein she
recommended that Pinson's motion be denied and that a
certificate of appealability also be denied. (ECF No. 44.) On
October 19, 2022, Pinson filed a motion requesting proper
development of the record (ECF No. 47). The court construes
the motion requesting proper development of record as
objections to a portion of the R&R.
On
October 19, 2022, Pinson also filed a motion for court order
to unseal records and order the Commonwealth to turn over all
internal affairs records with respect to detective Dennis
Logan. (ECF No. 48.) On November 10, 2022, Pinson filed an
“addendum” to his “original filing.”
(ECF No. 49.) On November 29, 2022, Pinson filed a motion to
withdraw the addendum. (ECF No. 50.) On December 1, 2022
Pinson filed a motion for subpoena duces tecum. (ECF No. 51.)
For the
reasons set forth in this opinion, the R&R will be
adopted in part; Pinson's objections will be overruled;
Pinson's Rule 60(b) motion will be denied for the reasons
set forth in the R&R, as modified and supplemented by
this opinion; the motion for court order to unseal records
and order the Commonwealth to turn over all internal affairs
records with respect to detective Dennis Logan (ECF No. 48)
and motion for subpoena duces tecum (ECF No. 51) will be
denied; and the motion to withdraw addendum (ECF No. 49) will
be granted.
II.
Procedural History and Background
On
October 21, 1999, Pinson was charged in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania with four counts of attempted homicide, four
counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal
conspiracy and one count of carrying a firearm without a
license. See Commonwealth v. Pinson,
CP-02-CR-0013750-1999 (Allegheny Cty. Common Pleas Ct.). The
charges stemmed from an incident in which shots were fired
into a police station on August 27, 1999. A jury trial
commenced on July 19, 2000. The jury found Pinson guilty of
four counts of aggravated assault, one count of criminal
conspiracy, and one count of carrying a firearm without a
license. Pinson was acquitted of the four counts of attempted
homicide. The court sentenced Pinson to an aggregate prison
term of 35 to 90 years. Pinson took a direct appeal of his
conviction, which was not successful. Pinson filed three
petitions pursuant to Pennsylvania's Post Conviction
Relief Act (“PCRA”), 42 PA. CONS. STAT. §
9541. The third PCRA appeal ended on
February 26, 2014. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania
summarized the evidence produced at Pinson's trial at
CP-02-CR-0013750-1999 as follows:
The evidence presented at trial established that on August
27, 1999, Pittsburgh Police Officers Stephen Mescan, Michael
Boyd, Darlene Gardner and Tracy Carson were at work in the
Zone 6 Police Station on Northumberland Street in the
Squirrel Hill section of the City of Pittsburgh. At
approximately 3:00 a.m., numerous shots were fired at the
police station. Bullets entered through the primarily wood
and glass building front. Officers dove for cover and turned
off lights so they would not be seen. Two officers stated
that they could hear the “whiz” of a bullet
passing right by their heads. One bullet struck Officer
Steph[e]n Mescan in the foot. Witnesses could not
definitively say the actual number of shots fired at the
station, but there were (5) five holes in the front of the
police station, and at least six shots fired into vehicles
parked directly in front of the station. Casings and slugs
were found in the street in front of the station, and there
were bullet holes on the walls inside. Ballistics tests
showed that the weapons used in the shooting were a 9 mm and
a .45 caliber automatic.
Zhen Dong Ling, a delivery driver for the New York Times, was
driving on Northumberland Street approximately two (2) blocks
from the police station when he heard five to six
“pops” like a firecracker. Then a vehicle drove
past him, coming from the direction of the police station at
a high rate of speed. The vehicle was a dark sports utility
vehicle which looked like a Jeep, possibly black or dark
green. Mr. Ling could not see the occupant or occupants in
the vehicle.
A few hours later, Megan Siegal awoke to find that her Black
Jeep Cherokee had been stolen. Ms. Siegal, who lived five (5)
blocks from the Zone 6 police station, had last seen her
vehicle parked outside at approximately 11:00 p.m. on August
26, 1999. When she awoke to find the Jeep gone, she called
police and reported [it] stolen. She received a call around
4:30 p.m. on August 27, 1999, from police informing her that
her vehicle had been recovered in a post office parking lot
in the East Liberty section of the City of Pittsburgh. Postal
workers had called to report that a black Jeep Grand Cherokee
had been left in the lot all day with its engine running. One
postal worker had noticed the Jeep parked in the lot when he
arrived for work at 5:45 a.m. Ms. Siegal met a police officer
in the post office parking lot and confirmed that it was her
vehicle. However, Mrs. Siegal noticed that there was a
plastic Snapple brand iced tea bottle that did not belong to
her, and there were bullet casings in the vehicle. Also,
someone had written on the headliner (felt covering of the
roof inside the vehicle) in the front seat area, writing
which had not been there the night before when she left her
car in her parking space. The writing on the headliner on the
drivers side was “thank you.” The writing on the
passenger side headliner was “Fucc the Piggz”,
spelled and written in a very distinctive manner.
Ballistics test later showed that the casings found inside
Ms. Siegal's Jeep matched those found at the scene of the
Zone 6 shooting.
During the investigation police received information that
[Pinson] and his codefendant had perpetrated the shooting at
the Zone 6 police station. Acting upon the information,
police detectives visited Pinson's codefendant, Ricky
Boyer, approximately two (2) weeks after the incident. Boyer
agreed to be interviewed at the detective's office and,
after waiving his rights, confessed to the shooting, as well
as other crimes. Boyer detailed his involvement, as well as
that of [Pinson.] An arrest warrant was issued for [Pinson]
and he was taken into custody on September 19, 1999. He was
interviewed by detectives after he waived his rights and
signed a preinterrogation warning form. [Pinson] then
confessed to his involvement in the shooting, as well as the
other crimes he committed with Boyer.
Pinson confessed to being a passenger in the stolen jeep
during the shooting. Several witnesses testified to seeing a
similar, dark colored jeep near the scene of the crime.
Pinson also admitted firing shots at the police station from
a .45 caliber weapon (the same caliber as the shell casings
found at the scene), and writing “FUCC THE PIGGZ”
(the same language used in his tattoo) on the headliner of
the stolen jeep. In addition, various drawings were recovered
from Pinson's cell in which he stylized the words
“FUC” and “THE PIGZ.” The confession,
along with the eyewitnesses' statements, and the physical
evidence recovered from the scene, constituted overwhelming
evidence of Pinson's guilt.
(ECF No. 9-6 at 2-4, 17-18.)
On
October 27, 1999, Pinson was charged in the Allegheny County
Court of Common Pleas with three counts of robbery, two
counts of criminal conspiracy and one count of attempted
robbery. The charges stemmed from Pinson's attempted
robbery and actual robbery of a QwiCash store. See
Commonwealth v. Pinson, CP-02-CR-0014157-1999 (Allegheny
Cty. Common Pleas Ct.). A jury trial commenced on July 26,
2000. The jury convicted Pinson of all counts. The court
sentenced Pinson to an aggregate prison term of 15 to 60
years, which he was ordered to serve consecutively to the
sentence imposed at CP-02-CR-0013750-1999, which is detailed
above. Pinson filed a direct appeal of his conviction and
sentence and a PCRA petition. The PCRA petition at this case
number was the same as the third PCRA petition filed at
CP-02-CR-0013750-1999. His PCRA
appeal ended on February 26, 2014. The Superior Court of
Pennsylvania summarized the evidence presented at
Pinson's trial at CP-02-CR-0014157-1999 as follows:
Terry Williams was the manager of a QwiCash store. The store
provided money services such as check cashing and Western
Union Moneygrams. On August 30, 1999, Mr. Williams witnessed
two men wearing bandanas attempting to break into the QwiCash
before normal business hours. Mr. Williams fled to the back
of the store and called 911. The two men were unable to gain
entry to the store at that time. The following day, Pinson
and his accomplice, Ricky Boyer, entered the store during
business hours. Boyer began firing a silver handgun at the
security windows inside the store which separated the
customers from the employees. Witnesses testified they saw
Pinson brandishing a black handgun during the robbery. It is
unclear, however, whether Pinson actually fired his weapon.
One customer, Bridget Ways, was caught in the melee. She
dropped her money on the floor during the
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