Rhines v. Morgan
Decision Date | 03 December 2013 |
Docket Number | Case No. 3:13-cv-238 |
Parties | ANTWAN RHINES, Petitioner, v. DONALD MORGAN, Warden, Respondent. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
This is an action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for a writ of habeas corpus.On the Court's Order for Answer (Doc. No. 3), the State has filed the state court record (Doc. No. 4) and a Return of Writ (Doc. No. 5).Petitioner has now filed a Reply (Doc. No. 7) and the case is ripe for decision.
Rhines pleads the following Grounds for Relief:
(Petition, Doc. No. 2, PageID 50-52.)
On December 12, 2008, Antwan Rhines and Runyan Yarborough were in a stolen Chevrolet Malibu when it collided with a Pontiac Grand Prix and a Toyota minivan at Main and Washington Streets in downtown Dayton, Ohio.The driver of the Grand Prix was killed and his three passengers were seriously injured.On May 5, 2010, the Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Rhines on one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, three counts of vehicular assault, and one count each of receiving stolen property and failure to stop and provide identification after an accident.Rhines was convicted on all counts at trial in October 2010 and sentenced to the term of imprisonment he is now serving in Respondent's custody.
Following conviction and denial of a motion for new trial, Rhines appealed to the Montgomery County(Second District) Court of Appeals which affirmed the conviction.State v. Rhines, 2012-Ohio-3393, 2012 Ohio App. LEXIS 2986 (2nd Dist. July 27, 2012).The Ohio Supreme Court declined to exercise jurisdiction over a further appeal.State v. Rhines, 133 OhioSt. 3d 1492(2012).Rhines then filed the instant Petition.
The Second District Court of Appeals summarized the relevant facts in its opinion:
State v. Rhines, supra, ¶¶ 1-3.
Rhines does not plead actual innocence as a Ground for Relief, but the whole thrust of his Petition is that he is innocent because Yarborough was the driver.On direct appeal, Rhinesclaimed his conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence.He does not pursue that claim here, but the court of appeals' summary of the evidence is important background for considering Rhines' assertion of actual innocence:
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