Riel v. Warden
| Decision Date | 30 October 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:01-cv-0507 MCE DAD,2:01-cv-0507 MCE DAD |
| Parties | CHARLES D. RIEL, Petitioner, v. WARDEN, San Quentin State Prison, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California |
Petitioner is a state prisoner under sentence of death. He seeks relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. In 2009, then United States Magistrate Judge Kimberly J. Mueller and Senior District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, both of whom were then assigned to this action, granted petitioner's motion for an evidentiary hearing with respect to his claims 2, 5, 6, and 9. (ECF Nos. 204 & 212.)
In 2011, however, the United States Supreme Court rendered decisions changing the federal courts' analysis of federal habeas corpus petitions under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. See Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86 (2011); Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U.S. 170, 131 S. Ct. 1388 (2011). Accordingly, on November 17, 2011, this court then stayed the evidentiary hearing proceedings and ordered the parties to brief the application of 28 U.S.C. §2254(d) to each claim upon which petitioner had previously been granted an evidentiary hearing, as well as with respect to petitioner's claim 36, upon which his motion to expand the record or for an evidentiary hearing is pending before the court. (ECF No. 507.)
After careful consideration of the parties' briefs and of the state court record, for the reasons set out below, the undersigned concludes that petitioner has satisfied the requirements of § 2254(d) with respect to his claims 2 and 5 regarding the special circumstance and penalty phase determinations in his case. The undersigned further concludes that petitioner has failed to meet those requirements with respect to his claims 2 and 5 regarding the guilt phase determination in his case and with respect to his claims 6, 9, and 36.
On the night of November 2-3, 1986, Edward Middleton was working the night shift at Rambo's Truck Stop on Interstate 5 near Weed, California. In the early morning hours, he was robbed, driven to Shasta County and murdered. The evidence introduced at trial showed that three persons committed the crime: petitioner, Virgal Edwards and John Osborne.2
After the murder, the drawer to the truck stop's cash register was left open. Mr. Middleton's eyeglasses and hearing aid were found inside the store along with a gasoline charge slip bearing Osborne's signature. The store owner determined that about $328 was missing from the cash register. Beer cans found at the truck stop revealed the fingerprints of both petitioner and Osborne, and Osborne's fingerprint was found on a doorknob at the store. Mr. Middleton's body was found down an embankment below Soda Creek Road in northern Shasta County. A bloody tire iron and an air pressure gauge were found on the road above. The victim died ofmultiple blunt force injuries to the head and face, consistent with being hit with the tire iron, and of multiple stab wounds to the chest and back.
At petitioner's trial Edwards was called as a prosecution witness. During his testimony he acknowledged that he had agreed to testify truthfully in exchange for pleading guilty to first degree murder and receiving a prison sentence of 25 years to life in prison. With respect to the events surrounding the murder, Edwards testified as follows. On November 2, 1986, Edwards drove with petitioner from Klamath Falls, Oregon, to Weed in his 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass. That afternoon, they met Osborne, whom they both knew, at Rambo's Truck Stop, where Osborne worked. The group smoked marijuana, drank beer and visited various other persons and places. Edwards said that during the afternoon and evening, defendant and Osborne got "drunk," and that he was "stoned." Eventually, the three returned to the truck stop, arriving around 2:15 a.m. on November 3, 1986. Mr. Middleton was on duty at that time, and a truck driver was present with his truck. Edwards filled his car with gas - which they charged on a credit card - while petitioner and Osborne, both drinking beer, went inside the store and talked with Mr. Middleton. The three then drove up a nearby dirt road. Edwards retrieved a knife from the trunk. As they were "sitting in the car, [they] cut [their] fingers," then put them together to "become blood brothers." The three planned to wait until the truck driver left, then petitioner "would go inside, knock the guy out, and just take the money."
After the truck driver left the truck stop, Edwards drove their car back to that location. Petitioner got out and "went around the side of the building," where he remained for about a minute and a half. Then Osborne joined him. About 30 seconds later they returned with Mr. Middleton between them. Petitioner and Osborne forced Middleton into the backseat. Petitioner sat next to him, and Osborne sat in the front. Edwards said that petitioner put a knife to Edwards's throat and told him to drive. Edwards drove onto the freeway. While they were driving, petitioner hit Mr. Middleton and demanded his wallet. Middleton gave petitioner his wallet. Petitioner opened it, took out some money, and said, Edwards pulled to the side of the road and parked. He and Osborne said to letMiddleton go. Petitioner told them to "shut up," or he would kill them too and directed Edwards to continue driving. Edwards did so, eventually leaving the freeway and stopping in a dark area.
They all got out of the car. Edwards opened the trunk and, at petitioner's direction, took out a tire iron and gave it to petitioner. Petitioner hit Middleton in the head with the tire iron and Middleton fell to the ground. Petitioner, who had the knife, said to the others, Edwards and Osborne stabbed Middleton. Petitioner then "went to move the guy off the side of the road." As he was doing so, he lost his footing and "fell down the hill with the man on top of him." Osborne helped petitioner "move the body off." The trio then drove away. While they were driving, petitioner licked some blood off the knife and ordered the others to do the same. Later they washed the knife at a rest area and split up the money. Edwards received $33. They continued driving, finally stopping at petitioner's sister's house in Vacaville. Various individuals who were with the trio in Weed before the murder, or were in the Vacaville/Fairfield area after the murder, also testified at petitioner's trial. Melinda Peterson testified that petitioner, Edwards and Osborne were at her home in Weed shortly before the murder. Petitioner and Osborne asked Peterson's husband, Rick, for a gun. Her husband told them no. Edwards said, The three then left. Before they left, petitioner said, "Come on, let's get out of here and get this over with." Melinda Peterson testified that, based on petitioner's statements, she thought they were planning to commit a robbery, and she did not want her husband to go with them. Rick Peterson testified that Osborne and one of the other men, who Peterson identified as Edwards during some of his testimony and as petitioner at other times, asked him for a gun.
Tami Sisco testified at petitioner's trial that on the night of the murder, she saw two men, apparently Edwards and Osborne, and an older car with Oregon license plates in the area of the truck stop. She testified that she saw no one in the car with Oregon plates. James Tolley, a truck driver, testified that he had stopped at the truck stop around 1:15 to 1:30 that morning. He observed two people, whose descriptions matched Edwards and Osborne.
After the murder, the trio visited several people in the Vacaville/Fairfield area, including a woman who purchased methamphetamine for them, petitioner's sister, and Osborne's uncle. The men stopped at the home of petitioner's sister, Roslyn Walker, and Candy Cobb. Cobb heard petitioner say "they had gotten fucked up and there was a man in a coma." Walker testified that petitioner told her, Other trial testimony indicated that at several points, petitioner was separated from Edwards and Osborne. During one such separation, Edwards and Osborne purchased new clothes and changed most or all of their clothing. Within a short time, Edwards heard that petitioner had been arrested. Osborne called his girlfriend, Pamela Silkwood, in Weed a number of times. She borrowed a car and drove to Fairfield, picked up Edwards and Osborne and headed north. En route, Highway Patrol officers stopped the car and arrested both Edwards and Osborne.
Forensic analysis of blood found on petitioner's boots and pants showed it could not have come from petitioner, Edwards or Osborne, but was consistent with Mr. Middleton's blood.
Petitioner testified in his own defense at his trial. He admitted being with Edwards and Osborne before and after the robbery and murder. However, he testified that he had been doing so much drinking on the day in question that he fell asleep in the back seat of Edwards's car and slept through the commission of the crime. After he fell asleep, the next thing he remembered was that Edwards woke him up and told him to help Osborne "move a body." He got out of the car and saw a body "lying on the road." Osborne told him that he, Osborne, had killed the man. He "helped [Osborne] move the body off the side of the road," tripped and fell down the embankment with the body, then got back in the car and fell asleep again. Petitioner denied any involvement in the killing itself.
The defense sought to show that Osborne was the most violent of the three men and their likely leader. A number of people testified at petitioner's trial that Osborne became aggressive and violent when drunk. Wes Coley,...
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