Popal v. Superintendent
| Decision Date | 11 September 2015 |
| Docket Number | 15-CV-1167 (JG) |
| Parties | FARID POPAL, Petitioner, v. SUPERINTENDENT, Wende Correctional Facility, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
FOR ONLINE PUBLICATION ONLY
APPEARANCES:
JONATHAN ISIDOR EDELSTEIN
271 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10016
RICHARD A. BROWN
District Attorney, Queens County
125-01 Queens Boulevard
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
By: Daniel Stephen Bresnahan
Farid Popal petitions under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for a writ of habeas corpus. Popal is presently incarcerated and serving an aggregate indeterminate sentence of 26 and one-third years to life pursuant to New York state criminal convictions following trial for second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and conspiracy. He argues that he was denied federal constitutional rights before, during, and after trial. I heard oral argument on the motion on August 21, 2015. For the reasons given below, Popal's petition is denied.
On April 4, 2006, following a jury trial, Farid Popal was convicted of one count of second-degree murder, two counts of tampering with physical evidence, and one count of conspiracy in the fifth degree. He was found guilty of the November 12, 1999 murder of Samiya Haqiqi, Popal's ex-girlfriend. On May 9, 2006, Popal was sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of twenty-five years to life on the murder count, one and one-third to four years on each tampering count, and one year on the conspiracy count. The latter three sentences were imposed concurrently with each other but consecutive to the sentence on the murder count. He is currently incarcerated pursuant to this conviction. Bresnahan Aff. ¶¶ 4, 7.
Haqiqi's mother, Najiba Haqiqi ("Najiba"), testified at trial that Popal began dating Haqiqi in the summer of 1999, while Haqiqi was living with her parents in Queens. T. 936-40, 976. Haqiqi was also dating another man named Shafi at that time. T. 937, 1425. Haqiqi and Popal usually saw each other on Fridays, and the two were often accompanied by a chaperone, in accordance with Afghani custom. T. 977. Yesenia Angione, Haqiqi's best friend, accompanied Popal and Haqiqi on their first date in July 1999. She and Haqiqi met Popal in the Grand Union parking lot. During the date, Angione felt "uncomfortable" because Popal "got really close" to Haqiqi during the meal, and "kept speaking to" Haqiqi in a "native" language that Yesenia did not understand. Haqiqi asked Angione to serve as a chaperone again on subsequent dates, but Yesenia refused. T. 1421-24.
On subsequent dates, Haqiqi's younger cousin, Asiya Azizi, served as a chaperone - Azizi accompanied Haqiqi and Popal "approximately ten times." T. 225, 250. On these dates, she and Haqiqi would drive to the Grand Union parking lot where they would parkHaqiqi's car and meet Popal. T. 225-27. Najiba was aware that Azizi was accompanying Popal and Haqiqi in this capacity, and said that the reason Azizi was accompanying the pair was because Haqiqi "wanted to get to know [Popal]" before being alone with him. T. 976-77. Azizi said the reason she accompanied Popal and Haqiqi on their dates was because Haqiqi "didn't want to be alone with [Popal]." T. 229.
At one point during the summer, Popal and a number of his family members from California went to Najiba's home so that Popal could propose to Haqiqi. T. 223, 937. This type of meeting would precede an arranged marriage in the Afghan community. The marriage proposal was not accepted. T. 224.
In August 1999, Haqiqi moved to Connecticut in order to attend law school at Quinnipiac University. T. 302, 936. At law school, Haqiqi met Andrea Gatti, and the two became friends. T. 303. Gatti testified that Haqiqi used to speak with her about Popal and Shafi. T. 304. She also said that Haqiqi at times felt "uncomfortable around [Popal]," because he "wanted more from the relationship than she wanted." T. 317-18. On Wednesday, November 10, 1999, Haqiqi confided in Gatti that she no longer wanted to see Popal and was going to tell him that during a planned date on Friday, November 12. T. 304-05.
On October 30, 1999, Haqiqi went on a date with Popal that Azizi chaperoned. They met at the Grand Union parking lot and got into Popal's car. After dinner, Popal gave Haqiqi a heart pendant necklace on a gold chain. Haqiqi later told Azizi and Angione that she did not like the necklace, but that she would hang it on the rearview mirror of her car when she went to meet Popal on a date. Azizi felt uncomfortable after the October 30 date and told Haqiqi she did not want to accompany her on more dates with Popal. T. 228-30, 1428.
On Thursday, November 11, Haqiqi told Najiba that she would come home that weekend if Najiba would cook Haqiqi's favorite food, which Najiba agreed to do. T. 940. OnFriday, November 12, Haqiqi called Gatti to cancel their plans to spend time together, because Haqiqi was going to head to Queens directly. T. 308. The two planned to meet on Saturday instead, but Gatti testified that the Friday phone call was the last contact she ever had with Haqiqi. Id.
Popal's brother, Farhad "Frank" Popal ("Frank"), was working at Dr. Nick's Transmission, a car transmission repair shop, on November 12, 1999, along with Joe Miata and Seymour Morrison. T. 376-77, 1020. Miata was an owner of Dr. Nick's. T. 1014. Popal himself had worked at Dr. Nick's in the past, and continued to serve as a consultant for the shop. T. 369-74, 1015-18, 1024-25. Morrison also worked at Dr. Nick's at the time and was hired based on Popal's recommendation. T. 1018-19. Miata and Popal were very close, and both Miata and Morrison described the relationship between Miata and Popal as like "father and son." T. 370-71, 1015-16. Miata hired Frank to work at Dr. Nick's after Popal left the shop for another job. T. 1017-18.
Around 7:30 p.m. on November 12, 1999, Miata answered a call from Popal while working at Dr. Nick's. T. 1020-21. Miata felt that Popal sounded extremely nervous, and was "speaking in a way that he never spoke before." Popal asked to speak to Frank. T. 1021-22. Miata gave the phone to Frank, who spoke to Popal for "about five to seven minutes." T. 1022. Frank was not speaking to Popal in English, but Miata could hear "[Frank] screaming out Haqiqi, Haqiqi, Haqiqi." Id. Morrison also testified that the call was "[i]n another language," and that "there [was] a name inside the conversation, Haqiqi." He said Frank "called [the name out] twice . . . in a loud voice." T. 377-78. Morrison felt that the call lasted roughly ten or fifteen minutes and afterwards, Frank was "really, really upset." Id. Morrison and Miata had metHaqiqi once, and Popal had told Miata that he and Haqiqi were "going to get married." T. 1019. Morrison testified that Popal had introduced Haqiqi to him as his wife. T. 375.
Sometime after the phone call, Morrison left work and went to a diner across the street from Dr. Nick's, from which he could still see Dr. Nick's. Morrison left his car in the shop at Dr. Nick's so that he could work on it the next morning. T. 381-82. Miata remained with Frank inside Dr. Nick's after the phone call, during which time Frank acted "very nervously" and asked Miata when he would be leaving work four or five times. Frank told Miata that Popal was having a problem with their father's car, and he asked to remain late in the shop so that he and Popal could fix it. Miata said that this was fine. After that, Miata left for the night. T. 1023-24.
Roughly twenty minutes after Morrison got to the diner, he observed his car being pulled out from its place in the shop and then parked outside, while another car was swapped in. T. 382-83. Morrison went back to Dr. Nick's, and he saw Popal and Frank going into the shop. Morrison thought Frank and Popal looked scared. Morrison asked Popal what was wrong, and Popal told Morrison that he and his father had just gotten into a fight, and that Popal "almost kill[ed] him." Morrison told Popal to call him at home if he needed anything and then left. T. 384-85.
On Saturday, November 13, 1999, Morrison received a phone call from Popal around 6:30 a.m. Popal asked him to open up the shop at Dr. Nick's and to open all of the doors, no matter how cold it was outside, and then hung up. He also told Morrison to clean up anything that looked funny. When Morrison asked why, Popal responded that he had been working on the gas filter in his father's car, and that the car had almost caught fire in the process. T. 386-87. Popal called back twice more, each time requesting that Morrison go and open the shop. After the third call, when he found that Morrison still had not yet left home to attend to the shop, Popaltold him, T. 387-88.
When Morrison got to the shop, he noticed that his car was still outside, which he had not expected. He found the shop in "bad condition," meaning that it smelled powerfully of a bad odor that he likened to "if you light a stove and put your hands to the stove," but he otherwise found the smell hard to describe. T. 389-90. He also noticed a large drum with something like kerosene oil in it had been moved from where it belonged close to the first lift, which was called "Bay One." 1 He noticed a gas can had been left near the lift as well, and the surrounding floor was covered in water. He also saw that the box of latex gloves was empty, and there were at least 30 pairs of gloves in the trash. T. 394-96.
Morrison observed soot all over Miata's office. A fire extinguisher had been used and moved from its usual spot, and a box of about six cans of Lysol was on the floor. Id. There were lids to two unfamiliar aluminum garbage cans. He also noticed that the headrest from Popal's Pontiac Grand Prix was in...
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