Rainey v. Sec'y Pa. Dep't of Corr.
| Decision Date | 27 September 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 14-1541,14-1541 |
| Parties | MICHAEL RAINEY, Appellant v. SECRETARY PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; SUPERINTENDENT OF THE STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION AT GRATERFORD; THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF THE COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA; THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
NOT PRECEDENTIAL
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Before: SMITH, JORDAN, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges
Ayanna Williams, Esquire (Argued)
Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
601 Walnut Street
The Curtis Center, Suite 545 West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Counsel for Appellant
Ryan Dunlavey, Esquire (Argued)
Susan E. Affronti, Esquire
Philadelphia County Office of District Attorney
3 South Penn Square
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Counsel for Appellees
In 1991, Michael Rainey was convicted of first-degree murder in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas after a joint trial with his co-defendant George Williams. Rainey contends that his Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him was violated during his trial when the prosecution introduced an out-of-court statement given by Williams, who did not testify at trial. The statement was redacted to replace Rainey's name with an "X." Rainey seeks habeas relief, claiming that this redaction was inadequate and that the use of the statement violated the Sixth Amendment, as established by Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968) and Richardson v. Marsh, 481 U.S. 200 (1987). We agree but, nevertheless, conclude that Rainey is not entitled to relief, as the error did not have a substantial and injurious effect on the verdict. Rainey also contends that his trial counsel was constitutionally deficient for failing to move for a severance ofhis trial from Williams's. We find that any such error on counsel's part did not prejudice Rainey. We will therefore affirm the District Court's denial of Rainey's habeas petition.
Rainey and Williams were each charged with first-degree murder for their roles in the death of 72-year-old Carroll Fleming. Fleming's son found him lying face-down on the porch to the house they shared. Carroll Fleming was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. A medical examination of Fleming's body revealed that the cause of his death was a shotgun wound to his back.
Rainey, Williams, and a third individual, Alvin Morgan, were arrested and charged with murder. Morgan accepted a plea deal before trial, agreeing to plead guilty to third-degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Rainey and Williams. Rainey and Williams were tried together.
At the joint trial, two key eyewitnesses testified as to Rainey's role in the murder: Morgan and Kevin Lewis, a neighborhood acquaintance of Rainey, Morgan, and Williams. Lewis testified first. He testified that on December 7, 1989, he was walking home from his cousin's house when he came upon Rainey, Morgan, and Williams, who were walking down Sprague Street. He saw that the three were talking among themselves and heard that the conversation involved "something about money." A264. Lewis began talking with Williams. Williams told Lewis that "he was going down the street with [Rainey]," A264, and that he "[j]ust wanted his money." A265. Lewis then handedWilliams a broken .25 gun so that he could use it to scare the person from whom Williams wanted money.
Lewis testified that Williams took the broken gun and continued walking down the street with Rainey and Morgan. Lewis watched the three arrive at "the house," where Morgan stood a bit back on the sidewalk and Rainey and Williams stood on the porch. A272. Lewis saw Rainey approach the door to the house, and Lewis then heard Rainey "ask[] for his money." A272-73. He saw Rainey kick the door to the house. Lewis then saw "sparks" come from Rainey's long black leather trench coat and heard a sound like a gunshot. A273, 283. After the shot, Lewis turned away and "started walking up the street fast" away from the commotion. A273.
Lewis also testified that when he later saw Rainey in custody, Rainey confronted him about his cooperation with the investigation. Specifically, Lewis testified that Rainey A313.
On cross examination, Lewis was asked about an earlier statement in which he said he saw Williams, not Rainey, knocking on the door. Lewis explained A324. Lewis also affirmed that the government had suggested to him that if he did not "say the right thing"—in the words of Rainey's counsel—he "could be held to be part of some type of conspiracy because [he] let somebody hold [his] gun and the gun went and got involved in some kind of a incident." A319.
The prosecution next called Morgan. Morgan, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, was 16 when he testified. He had not yet been sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to third-degree murder, but he knew that his minimum possible sentence would be 5-10 years and his maximum possible sentence would be 25-50 years. He testified that he had known Rainey (who was four years older) for years and, prior to the shooting, would spend time with him every day. He had also known Williams for years but would see him less frequently than he would see Rainey.
Morgan testified that on the evening of December 7, 1989, he was with Rainey at Rainey's house. Rainey told Morgan that earlier he had been out buying alcohol and saw a man pull out "a lot of money." A337. After this conversation, Rainey brought out a sawed-off shotgun and began A339. Later that night, Williams arrived at the front porch of Rainey's house. Rainey and Williams began talking, and Morgan heard Rainey say "if he had to shoot somebody he was going to shoot them." A341. Rainey then went back in the house and came back outside, this time walking with one leg remaining stiff and his hand holding that leg. Morgan observed that Rainey was wearing a long black trench coat. Rainey and Williams began to walk down the street and Morgan followed.
Morgan testified that he then saw Lewis walking the opposite way along the street. Williams and Rainey talked briefly with Lewis, and Lewis gave "something shiny" to Williams. A345. Williams, Rainey, and Morgan then continued down the street; Lewis continued in the opposite direction.
Rainey and Williams then crossed the street away from Morgan. Morgan saw Rainey take the shotgun out of his pants and put something "yellow, like a shell," into the shotgun. A347.
Morgan testified that Williams then walked up on the porch of the house and knocked on the door. When nobody answered, Williams kicked the door and the door came open. A man came running out of the house, and Williams pulled the gun on him. Williams pulled the trigger, and the gun clicked but did not fire. Then Rainey, standing "[j]ust off the porch," shot the man in the back. A350. Rainey was about three feet away and shot the gun only once. The man fell on the porch. Williams told Rainey to "check his pockets." A353. Morgan heard police sirens shortly after the shot, however, and began to run, as did Rainey and Williams before they had checked the man's pockets. Morgan saw Rainey throw the gun onto the roof of a school.
Morgan testified that he saw Rainey the next day on Rainey's porch. Rainey "said the man was dead." A357. Then a week later Morgan saw the shotgun again at Rainey's house. Rainey A357.
Morgan also testified that Rainey had made several attempts to dissuade him from cooperating with the investigation and prosecution. Morgan had received letters from Rainey that encouraged Morgan to "do [his] part" meaning, according to Morgan, that Rainey "wanted [him] to blame it on [Williams]." A394. Morgan also said that one letter from Rainey had a number for a person named "Capon,"—Capon and Rainey were "like best friends," A396—and when Morgan called Capon, Capon told him to "blame it all on[Williams]." A395. On the day Morgan testified, when he saw Rainey and Williams in their cells outside the courtroom, they told him to "[p]lead the Fifth." A359. Morgan also testified that Rainey had also told two other potential witnesses (Jonathon and Philip, who had been at Rainey's house with him and Morgan the day of the shooting) that "if anybody asks any questions, tell them that George [Williams] shot the man." A372.
The prosecution's next witness after Morgan was Detective Joseph Walsh of the Philadelphia Police Department. Detective Walsh testified about the arrest of Williams and how Williams was taken to into an interview room and read his Miranda rights. Williams then agreed to make a statement. As Detective Walsh was preparing to read the transcript of the interview with Williams to the jury, Rainey's counsel objected and the lawyers and the judge met at sidebar. At sidebar, the lawyers and the judge agreed that Rainey's name should be redacted from the transcript and replaced with "X."
Detective Walsh then read the transcript of Williams's interview to the jury. Williams said in the transcript that he and "X" and others were standing in front of "X's" house when "X" said, "Let's go stick somebody up." A411. "X" went into his house and came out wearing a long black trench coat and with a rifle down his pant leg, which caused him to walk with a limp.
The statement then read:
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