Robinson v. Artus, 07-CV-6041-CJS-VEB.
| Decision Date | 16 October 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-CV-6041-CJS-VEB.,07-CV-6041-CJS-VEB. |
| Citation | 664 F.Supp.2d 247 |
| Parties | William ROBINSON, Petitioner, v. Dale ARTUS, Superintendent of Clinton Correctional Facility, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of New York |
William Robinson, Attica, NY, pro se.
Alyson J. Gill, Malancha Chanda, Priscilla I. Steward, Office of New York State Attorney General, New York, NY, for Respondent.
DECISION and ORDER
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), the Court referred this 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus to United States Magistrate Judge Victor E. Bianchini for a report and recommendation. Judge Bianchini filed his Report and Recommendation in which he recommended that the Court deny Robinson's petition. After being granted an enlargement of time, Robinson filed objections to the Report and Recommendation on March 27, 2009.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72, this Court must make a de novo determination of those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which objections have been made. Upon a de novo review of Judge Bianchini's Report and Recommendation based on Robinson's objections, the Court accepts in whole Judge Bianchini's proposed findings and recommendation. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in Judge Bianchini's Report and Recommendation, Robinson's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied.
The Court hereby certifies, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3), that any appeal from this Decision and Order would not be taken in good faith, and leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals as a poor person is hereby denied. Coppedge v. United States, 369 U.S. 438, 82 S.Ct. 917, 8 L.Ed.2d 21 (1962). Further requests to proceed on appeal as a poor person should be directed, on motion, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in accordance with Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Petitioner William Robinson ("Robinson" or "petitioner") has filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his conviction in New York State Supreme Court (Genesee County) following a jury trial on two counts of Burglary in the First Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 140.30(2), (3)), and one count each of Gang Assault in the First Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.07) and Assault in the First Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.10(1)). Robinson contends that the police identification procedure was unduly suggestive; that the verdict was not based on legally sufficient evidence and was against the weight of the evidence; and that the trial court erred in failing to declare a mistrial following the prosecutor's attempt to impeach a witness for the state.
This matter has been referred to the undersigned for the issuance of a Report and Recommendation regarding the disposition of Robinson's petition. For the reasons that follow, I recommend that the petition be dismissed.
On January 25, 2003, at about 12:30 a.m., Marcia Weber ("Weber") testified that she was in the bedroom of her second-floor apartment at 7 Watson Street in the City of Batavia, while James Wilcox ("Wilcox" or "the victim") was in the living room watching television and doing a crossword puzzle. T.33-35, 47-49, 80, 178, 192-94, 197-98.1 There was a knock on the door; when she asked who was there, she received a response that it was "D". T.34-35, 50-51, 178, 195, 198. Weber testified that she knew someone by the nickname of "D". When she opened the door, this person was standing alone in the downstairs hallway. T.35-36, 51-52, 65-66.
While Weber was speaking with D, the door at the bottom of the stairs burst open. Robinson, along with D and a third man, ran up the stairs and forced their way into Weber's apartment. T.36, 52-54, 56. Weber tried to leave, but the men blocked her path and shut the door. Robinson said to her, "shut the fuck up[,] bitch and get in the front room." T.37-39.
Wilcox related that he recognized Robinson and D as two of the intruders: he and his wife, Kim, had known petitioner since the middle of 2002. In addition, Robinson had stayed at their house, along with D, on numerous occasions during the course of five to six weeks. T.176-78, 217, 240-43. However, Weber and Wilcox knew petitioner only by his nickname of "Warrior". T.37-38, 176. With regard to the third intruder, Weber and Wilcox indicated that they recognized him as someone they had previously seen in the company of Robinson and D. They did not know this third man's name, however. T.37, 180-81, 204, 206.2
According to Wilcox and Weber, both Robinson and D were wielding baseball bats while the third intruder brandished a hammer. T.39, 180-81, 207. D went into the living room and swung his bat at Wilcox's knees, and then Robinson and the third man entered the living room and assaulted Wilcox as well. T.180-81. The third man struck Wilcox in the left eye with the hammer, while Robinson and D struck Wilcox with their baseball bats "[i]n th head, face, arms, all over," T.182. See T.39, 58-59, 180-82, 200-02, 204-05, 207-11, 228. Wilcox eventually was able to fight back, T.182, and the three assailants then fled the apartment. T.40-41, 56, 60, 71-72, 182, 211-12. Wilcox estimated that the incident lasted about six minutes. T.212-13.
After the assault, Wilcox was bleeding profusely from his face and the back of his head. It looked as though his left eye were missing; he had to lift the eyelid up to discover that it was still intact. T.41. As a result of the hammer blows, Wilcox sustained impaired vision in his left eye, which still existed, nine months later, at the time of trial. T.187, 215-16. Wilcox's arm, following the attack, appeared to be "wavy, like it was broken, complete[ly] wavy," T.41. Wilcox received staples to the back of his head to close the lacerations and was treated for substantial pain to his upper body caused by struck with the baseball bats. T.41-42, 61, 183, 187, 213-14.
Two days after the incident, Acting Chief of Police Darryl Sehm ("Chief Sehm") interviewed Weber about the assault and took a deposition from her on January 31, 2003. Chief Sehm interviewed Wilcox on January 28, 2003. Both Wilcox and Weber informed Chief Sehm that the intruders were three black men, one of whom they knew only by the name "Warrior". T.159-61, 164. At around that time, Chief Sehm received information that Warrior and petitioner were the same person. T.161-63.
About three months later, Chief Sehm interviewed Robinson about the incident. After waiving his rights, T.150-53, Robinson gave a written statement denying any involvement in the attack on Wilcox. T.154-56. According to his statement, Robinson had known Darrell Taylor ("D") since they were children but he did not know Wilcox, Weber, Farrell, or Miles. Robinson also denied every living with Darrell Taylor in Batavia or being inside any apartment on Watson Street. Robinson stated that he had never been involved in any altercations in Batavia and that he did not have a nickname. Robinson admitted that he was the person in the photograph referenced by the statements provided to the police by Weber and Wilcox. However, he denied breaking into Weber's apartment or participating in the assault on Wilcox. T.156-57.
Detective Paul Caffo ("Det. Caffo") testified regarding two incidents in which he had seen Robinson in the presence of Darrell Taylor. First, he saw them together during a traffic stop in Batavia on July 12, 2002, about seven months prior to the incident. T.146, 148. Det. Caffo also saw them together on August 16, 2002, along with Wilcox, at Wilcox's residence. T.146-49. Det. Caffo identified petitioner by his given name and by his nickname. T.145-46.
Defense counsel called Officer Darryle Streeter ("Officer Streeter") to testify regarding the interview of Weber and Wilcox at the hospital when they sought medical treatment following the incident. T.247-48. At that time, Officer Streeter recalled, Wilcox did not give a description of his assailants, except to say that all three were black males. T.248. Weber described the perpetrators as three black males and stated that one of them was larger than the other two and also had two gold front-teeth. T.248. Weber told Officer Streeter that one of the attackers was someone whom she knew by the nickname, "D". Weber identified a second assailant as someone whom she knew by the nickname, "Warrior". T.249.
The jury returned a verdict convicting Robinson as charged in the indictment of two counts of first degree burglary, one count of first degree gang assault, and one count of first degree assault. Robinson was adjudicated as a second violent felony offender and sentenced to four concurrent determinate prison terms of twenty-five years with regard to each conviction, to be followed by five years of mandatory post-release supervision.
The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, of New York State Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Robinson's conviction, and the New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal. People v. Robinson, 24 A.D.3d 1262, 808 N.Y.S.2d 850 (App.Div. 4th Dept.2005), leave denied, 6 N.Y.3d 837, 814 N.Y.S.2d 85, 847 N.E.2d 382 (N.Y.2006).
Robinson filed the instant habeas corpus petition on or about January 22, 2007, raising four claims for relief: (1) the trial court improperly denied petitioner's motion to preclude identification evidence; (2) the evidence was legally insufficient to support the convictions; (3) the verdicts were against the weight of the evidence; and (4) the trial court improperly denied petitioner's motion for a mistrial after the prosecutor attempted to impeach Kevin Mullings, a witness for the state. See Docket No. 1.
Res...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Parsons v. Artus
...that the decision regarding whether to declare a mistrial lies within the sound discretion of the trial court." Robinson v. Artus, 664 F. Supp.2d 247, 265 (W.D.N.Y. 2009) (citing Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 510-11 (1978) (stating that a trial court's determination of whether to dec......
-
Williams v. Shanley
...rulings by a state court based upon state law do not present a federal constitutional question upon which habeas relief may be granted.” Id. (citing 502 U.S. at 67-68 (“[I]t is not the province of a federal habeas court to reexamine state-court determinations on state-law questions. ... [A]......
-
United States v. Jones
...undue suggestiveness that implicates constitutional violations in the identification process") (collecting cases); Robinson v. Artus, 664 F. Supp. 2d 247, 259 (W.D.N.Y. 2009) ("differences in complexion tones between subjects in an identification procedure, standing alone, does not create a......
-
United States v. Woodford
...Wolfish, 525 F.2d at 462; frequent overnight stays by defendant with the witness over the course of two months, Robinson v. Artus, 664 F. Supp. 2d 247, 259-60 (W.D.N.Y. 2009); opportunity to observe defendant over a two-day period, United States v. Perez, 248 F. Supp. 2d 111, 114-16 (D. Con......