Robinson v. Beard, Civil Action No. 1:05-CV-1603

• Decision Date: 30 September 2011
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 1:05-CV-1603
• Parties: ANTYANE ROBINSON, Petitioner v. JEFFREY BEARD, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al., Respondents
• Court: United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Court of Middle District of Pennsylvania

ANTYANE ROBINSON, Petitioner

v.JEFFREY BEARD, Commissioner,Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al., Respondents

Civil Action No. 1:05-CV-1603

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Date: September 30, 2011

(Chief Judge Kane)

THIS IS A CAPITAL CASE

MEMORANDUM

I. INTRODUCTION

Before the Court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, filed by petitioner Antyane Robinson ("Robinson"), an inmate currently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Greene ("SCI-Greene"), in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. Robinson challenges his 1997 conviction and sentence in the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. For the reasons that follow, the petition will be denied.

II. BACKGROUND

On March 13, 1997, Robinson was found guilty of first degree murder, attempted criminal homicide, and related charges following a jury trial in the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania ("trial court" or "Cumberland county court"). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court summarized the relevant facts as follows:

[Robinson] dated Tara Hodge on and off during the time period beginning in early 1993 until February 1995, when Hodge discovered that [Robinson] had another girlfriend. They did not see each other for over a year, until March 30, 1996, when [Robinson] re-established an intimate relationship with Hodge. Between March 30, 1996 and the night of the incident in question, Hodge was with [Robinson] for one night on both March 30 and April 30, four days between May 10and 13, and one night on June 1, 1996. Hodge met Rashawn Bass on May 26, 1996, after she responded to a personal ad in the local paper. On June 10, 1996, Hodge broke off the relationship with [Robinson] by letter.

On the evening of June 29, 1996 Hodge worked the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift at Wal-Mart. Following her shift, Hodge met Bass at her apartment, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where they had a pizza delivered. After eating the pizza, Bass took a shower. Shortly after midnight, while Bass was in the shower, [Robinson] arrived at the apartment of Tara Hodge. Hodge let him into her apartment. Upon finding that Hodge had a guest at her apartment [Robinson] and Hodge had an argument. [Robinson] requested that Hodge ask Bass to leave. When Hodge refused to ask Bass to leave, [Robinson] pulled a gun out of his "sweats," which he pointed at Hodge and shot her. Hodge heard three shots. [Robinson] ran by Hodge, and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

At about 1 a.m. on the morning of June 30, 1996, Hodge regained consciousness in a pool of her own blood. She then entered the bathroom where she saw that Bass was dead inside the shower stall. She was able to drag herself to her next door neighbor's home. The police arrived at the neighbor's house and saw that Hodge had a head wound. Unable to speak, Hodge wrote a note directing the police to her apartment. The ambulance arrived and took Hodge to the hospital. The officer went to Hodge's apartment and found Bass' body in the shower. After leaving the apartment, the officer went to the hospital to speak with Tara Hodge. At the hospital, Hodge identified [Robinson] as the person who had shot her.

Rashawn Bass had been shot seven times and died almost instantly from multiple gunshot wounds. Bass was shot in the ear, the left side of his head, his upper and lower right chest, the lower left chest, the side of his left arm, and the back of his right hand. Twelve empty 9 millimeter shell casings were found in the apartment. The bullets from the empty shell casings were all fired from the same gun, which was manufactured by one of four possible companies, one of which was Lorcin. In Tara Hodge's apartment, the police found a notebook containing [Robinson's] pager number. Following this, the police obtained an arrest warrant charging [Robinson] with criminal homicide of Rashawn Bass, attempted criminal homicide of Tara Hodge and other related charges. The arrest warrant was forwarded to Prince George's County, Maryland, where [Robinson] was residingat his parents' home. The following day, July 1, the Prince George's County police paged [Robinson]. Twenty minutes later, [Robinson] returned the call from a local shopping center. The police did not answer the call, but proceeded directly to the shopping center where they observed [Robinson] playing video games. The police then arrested [Robinson] at 4:00 p.m.

At the time of arrest, [Robinson] identified himself as Joseph Smith. The police took [Robinson] to the homicide unit of the Prince George's County police department, where they were met by Detective David Fones and Corporal Hayes of the Carlisle police department at 5:30 p.m. They identified themselves to [Robinson] as police officers from the Borough of Carlisle and told him they wished to question him about an incident that occurred there. [Robinson] was advised of his Miranda rights and signed a written waiver. [Robinson] told police that he had last been in Carlisle at the end of May or beginning of June. In response to whether he knew anyone in Carlisle, [Robinson] stated that he knew Tara Hodge and her family. [Robinson] also told police that he had spent June 29 through the afternoon of June 30 in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. [Robinson] also told police that he had owned a 9 millimeter handgun, which had been stolen by his niece's boyfriend before June, and 380 handgun, which he had sold. At 6:00 p.m., Detective Fones told [Robinson] he was charged with criminal homicide in Carlisle and read a portion of the arrest warrant to him. [Robinson] then asked whether "Tara is okay." The detective told [Robinson] that she was okay and that she had identified [Robinson] as the shooter. [Robinson] then dropped his head and moved it side to side. He denied any involvement in the shootings.

The police conducted a search of [Robinson's] room in his parents' home in Fort Washington, Maryland. In the bedroom, they found documents in a locked safe relating to a 9 millimeter Lorcin handgun. They did not find the weapon. They also found a picture of [Robinson] holding a 9 millimeter Star handgun, as well as a Federal 44 SPL revolver with ammunition. The police also found the letter from Tara Hodge postmarked June 10, 1996. The police also searched the residence of a woman whom [Robinson] was dating. They found some of [Robinson's] belongings at her house, including 9 millimeter ammunition.

Commonwealth v. Robinson, 721 A.2d 344, 349-50 (Pa. 1998) ("Robinson-I"). As stated above,the jury found Robinson guilty of all the charges on March 13, 1997. The penalty phase commenced on the following day, March 14, 1997. During the penalty phase, the jury found two aggravating circumstances: (1) Robinson knowingly created a grave risk of death to another, see 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9711(d)(7); and (2) Robinson committed a killing while in the perpetration of a felony, see 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9711(d)(6). The jury also found two mitigating circumstances: (1) Robinson's youth, see 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9711(e)(4); and (2) Robinson's future contributions to society, see 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9711(e)(8). The jury concluded that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and returned a verdict of death, see 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9711(c)(1)(iv). On April 1, 1997, the trial court formally imposed a sentence of death for first degree murder and a consecutive term of imprisonment of six years, nine months to twenty years for aggravated assault.

Following the judgment of sentence, the trial court appointed collateral counsel, David J. Foster, Esquire, pursuant to the Capital Unitary Review Act, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 9570 et seq. However, on August 11, 1997, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania permanently suspended most sections of that Act. Consequently, the trial court vacated the appointment of collateral counsel and directed Robinson's trial counsel to file a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925. By opinion dated November 13, 1997, the trial court denied all issues presented in that appeal.

Represented by trial counsel, Arla M. Waller, Esquire, and Ellen K. Barry, Esquire, Robinson timely filed a direct appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, raising six (6) claims of trial court error. Specifically, Robinson asserted that the trial court (1) erroneously admitted several pieces of irrelevant evidence at trial; (2) erred in not allowing Robinson's mother totestify as to why Robinson had guns in the house; (3) erred in refusing to give a jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter; (4) erred in failing to include any life qualification questions during voir dire of potential jurors; (5) failed to rehabilitate certain jurors after it was established that they would not vote to impose the death penalty; and (6) failed to give a jury instruction that a life sentence in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania means life without the possibility of parole, see Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994). See Robinson-I. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of sentence upon direct appeal in an opinion dated November 24, 1998, and reargument was denied on January 26, 1999. Id.

Following disposition of the direct appeal, on March 2, 1999, the trial court again appointed Attorney Foster for the purpose of filing a petition for collateral relief on behalf of Robinson under Pennsylvania's Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"), 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 9541 et seq. Thereafter, then-Governor of Pennsylvania Thomas Ridge signed a warrant, scheduling Robinson's execution for May 12, 1999. On April 20, 1999, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted Robinson's emergency request for a stay of execution pending the filing and consideration of a petition for writ of certiorari before the United States Supreme Court.

On January 10, 2000, the United States Supreme Court denied Robinson's ...