Reiner v. Woods

• Decision Date: 07 April 2020
• Docket Number: No. 18-1413,18-1413
• Citation: 955 F.3d 549
• Parties: Joseph Thomas REINER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jeffrey WOODS, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

955 F.3d 549

Joseph Thomas REINER, Petitioner-Appellant,

v.Jeffrey WOODS, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 18-1413

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: March 10, 2020

Decided and Filed: April 7, 2020

ARGUED: Matthew C. Tymann, WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE AND DORR LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Appellant. Jared D. Schultz, OFFICE OF THE MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Matthew C. Tymann, WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE AND DORR LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Appellant. Jared D. Schultz, OFFICE OF THE MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: CLAY, ROGERS, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.

GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge.

In this habeas case brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, both parties agree that the admission of testimonial hearsay statements during petitioner Joseph Reiner's murder trial in Michigan state court violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers (because the declarant was never available for cross-examination). The Michigan Court of Appeals made that same determination on direct review. The issue on appeal is whether that error was harmless.

A review of the evidence presented at Reiner's trial paints the picture of a circumstantial case lacking physical evidence or eyewitness testimony placing Reiner at the crime scene. The statements that gave rise to the Sixth Amendment violation here served as the linchpin of the government's case, connecting Reiner to the fruits of the crime in a way no other evidence, testimonial or physical, could. Without those statements, the prosecution's case becomes significantly weaker, such that "grave doubt" exists as to whether their admission had a "substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict." O'Neal v. McAninch , 513 U.S. 432, 436, 115 S.Ct. 992, 130 L.Ed.2d 947 (1995) (citation omitted). We therefore reverse the district court's denial of Reiner's § 2254 petition and remand for further proceedings.

I.

Reiner's "convictions arise from the February 23, 2011[ ] home invasion of 49199 Fairchild Road in Macomb County, where 69-year-old Joanne Eisenhardt lived."

People v. Reiner , No. 313854, 2014 WL 1515371, at *1 (Mich. Ct. App. Apr. 17, 2014) (per curiam).¹ Eisenhardt was stabbed in the neck with two knives and jewelry was taken from the house, including a ring from Eisenhardt's finger. Eisenhardt survived the stabbing, but she "suffered declining health after the incident and died seven months later." Id. Police officers in New York apprehended Reiner on February 26, 2011, on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle stemming from a separate incident. He was returned to Michigan to stand trial for the home invasion and stabbing.

At trial, the prosecution sought to introduce several statements of a pawn shop owner named Hadrian Lewandowski. The Michigan Court of Appeals described his statements thus:

[A]fter [Detective] Ernatt visited the Gold Shop on February 24, 2011, Lewandowski called him and left a voicemail message. In the message, Lewandowski identified defendant as a person who had been in the Gold Shop the previous day. ...

After being shown a photograph of defendant, Lewandowski told Ernatt that defendant had been in the Gold Shop on the day of the home invasion. He further said that defendant had thrown "some items" on the counter and asked if they were worth anything. In addition, after Ernatt looked in the tin can where Lewandowski kept the scrap and costume jewelry and saw a ring that matched a description given to him as one that was stolen from Eisenhardt, and which was subsequently identified by Eisenhardt's granddaughter as belonging to Eisenhardt, Lewandowski said that it was possible that defendant had brought in the ring. Lewandowski told [Sergeant] Willis that defendant, on his last visit to the Gold Shop, which was between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., had pawned the ring and a necklace with a magnifying glass. Then, after [Detective] Hanna followed Lewandowski to his house to retrieve the necklace, Lewandowski told Hanna, when he handed over the necklace, that it was the necklace that defendant had pawned.

Id. at *4. Lewandowski died before trial, however, and Reiner never had an opportunity to cross-examine him. Id. at *3 n.2, *4. The prosecutor sought to introduce Lewandowski's statements during the testimony of the law enforcement officers he had spoken to. Reiner objected, arguing that these statements would violate his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers. The trial court overruled the objection and held "that Lewandowski's statements, although testimonial, were not barred by the Confrontation Clause because they would be used to explain why the police acted as they did and how they came to investigate defendant." Id. at *3.

Lewandowski's statements played a prominent role in the prosecution's case. The prosecution did not present any physical evidence (like fingerprints or DNA) placing Reiner at the crime scene, and eyewitness testimony only placed him in the general area at around the time of the home invasion and stabbing. During opening statements and closing arguments, the prosecutor argued several times that Reiner's possession of Eisenhardt's jewelry at the Gold Shop provided strong evidence that he had attacked her earlier that day. And Lewandowski's statements—which the prosecutor also discussed repeatedly—provided the strongest (if not the only) evidence that Reiner possessed Eisenhardt's jewelry.

The jury convicted Reiner "of assault with intent to murder, MCL 750.83 ; first-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a(2) ; and felony murder, MCL 750.316(1)(b)." Id. at *1. The trial court sentenced him "to concurrent prison terms of 450 to 720 months for the assault with intent to murder conviction, 150 to 240 months for the home invasion conviction, and life imprisonment for the murder conviction." Id.

The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed Reiner's convictions on direct review, rejecting Reiner's argument that the admission of Lewandowski's statements warranted a new trial. The court first addressed Lewandowski's statement to Detective Ernatt in a voicemail message. "In the message, Lewandowski identified [Reiner] as a person who had been in the Gold Shop the previous day." Id. at *4. The court held that this statement's admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause because "it was offered as background evidence to explain why Ernatt acted as he did in returning to the Gold Shop on February 25, 2011, to conduct further investigation." Id. Reiner does not challenge the introduction of this statement.

As for the remainder of Lewandowski's statements to the police, the court held that they were inadmissible hearsay:

The statements, which show that defendant was in the Gold Shop on the day of the home invasion and that he pawned jewelry, which may have or did include the ring that belonged to Eisenhardt, were strong circumstantial evidence that defendant was the perpetrator of the home invasion. The statements went to the very heart of the prosecutor's case and therefore, were used for the truth of the matter asserted.

Id. The court also held that the statements were testimonial and noted that Reiner had no opportunity to cross-examine Lewandowski. Id. Thus, "the admission of Lewandowski's statements on February 25, 2011, to Ernatt, Willis, and Hanna violated [Reiner's] right of confrontation." Id.

But the court also held that the trial court's error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because "[t]here was evidence other than Lewandowski's statements that connected defendant to the Gold Shop on February 23, 2011, the day of the home invasion." Id. at *5. Specifically, the court cited the following evidence presented at trial:

• The signature on a receipt (or "purchase order") from the Gold Shop dated February 23, 2011, which "[a]s argued by the prosecutor at trial," matched the signatures from two previous Gold Shop receipts bearing Reiner's name and thumbprint. Id.

• Eyewitness Allen Pauli's testimony "that he saw defendant walking north on Fairchild Road at approximately 9:50 a.m. on February 23, 2011. Pauli thought it was unusual for defendant to be walking on Fairchild Road because the area was remote and it was very cold outside." Id.

• Eyewitness Thomas Kosciolek's testimony "that he saw defendant walking east on 22 Mile Road" and gave him a ride to a bus stop, that "defendant was sweating terribly and, once in Kosciolek's vehicle, he never took off his hat and gloves and never looked at Kosciolek," and that "Defendant told Kosciolek that he had been visiting a girl in a nearby trailer park, but [Detective] Stevens never located anybody in the trailer park who knew defendant." Id.

• Reiner's statement to police in New York, following his arrest for stealing a car in a separate incident, that there was "some big shit" in Michigan that he would deal with when he returned there. Id.

Based on this evidence, the court concluded that "it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have found defendant guilty absent the trial court's error in admitting Lewandowski's February 25, 2011 statements to Ernatt, Willis, and Hanna." Id.

After the Michigan Supreme Court denied Reiner's pro se application for leave to appeal, People v. Reiner , 497 Mich. 903, 856 N.W.2d 38 (2014) (order), Reiner filed a pro se § 2254 petition in the district court, raising four grounds for relief. The magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation recommending that the court dismiss the petition and deny any subsequent application for a certificate of appealability. Reiner v. Woods , No. 2:15-CV-125, 2017 WL 8222209, at *8 (W.D. Mich. Dec. 13, 2017) (report and recommendation). After Reiner filed timely objections, the district court adopted the report and recommendation and dismissed the petition, but granted a certificate of appealability as to Ground III, which argued that "[t]he Court denied Petitioner his 6th Amendment right...