Shannon v. United States
| Decision Date | 25 November 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 18-cv-2233-JES |
| Parties | SHAWN SHANNON, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Central District of Illinois |
The matter is before the Court on Petitioner Shawn Shannon's Amended Motion to Vacate, Set Aside or Correct Sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Doc. 11), which replaces his original motion (Doc. 1). Shannon argues that he is entitled to a new trial because he received ineffective assistance of counsel, because his trial was before a biased judge, and because the United States Attorney's Office engaged in misconduct. For the reasons below, the Court finds that a hearing on the Motion is not required because "the motion, files, and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief." Hutchings v. United States, 618 F.3d 693, 699-700 (7th Cir. 2010) (quotation omitted). Because Petitioner is not entitled to relief, the § 2255 motion is DENIED. However, the Court will GRANT a Certificate of Appealability on the issues of whether Shannon received ineffective assistance of counsel and whether he is entitled to a new trial under the due process clause due to Judge Bruce's ex parte communications.
Shannon was arrested on April 15, 2015, pursuant to a criminal complaint. R. 1, 6. In June 2016, a grand jury in the Central District of Illinois charged Shannon in a superseding indictment of nineteen counts of sexual exploitation of a child in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251(a) and (e) and one count of distribution of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A). The matter proceeded to a three-day jury trial in July 2016, at which the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts. Kevin P. Bolger and Sami Z. Azhari represented Shannon at trial. District Judge Colin S. Bruce presided over the criminal proceedings. In Shannon's § 2255 Motion, he alleges his conviction should be vacated because he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial, he did not receive a fair trial before an unbiased judge, and the United States Attorney's Office participated in Judge Bruce's unethical ex parte communications.
Shannon's convictions stem from his relationship with J.W., a minor, and the multiple explicit photographs taken of J.W. on the night of February 28, 2015/ the early morning of March 1, 2015. J.W.'s older cousin, Dustin Bradshaw, had met Shannon through Shannon and his family's Christian music group. Tr.I 8. Mr. Bradshaw introduced Shannon to J.W. and his family when J.W. was around eight years old. Id.; Tr.III 70; Tr.II 159. When J.W. was twelve years old, Shannon and J.W. began spending more time together. Valerie Shields, J.W.'s mother, as well as J.W.'s sister, testified that J.W. was not close to his own father and needed apositive male role model. Tr.I 47; Tr.II 8, 17. Ms. Shields hoped Shannon, then forty-five years old, could fill that void in her vulnerable young son's life. Tr.II 14-15.
By the time J.W. was thirteen years old, Shannon and J.W. began spending a considerable amount of time together. Tr.I 48; Tr.II 209. Shannon bought gifts for J.W., including a new iPhone, an X-Box, and clothing. He also showed interest in J.W.'s interests and activities, including "Disney" shows. Id.; Tr.II 7, 176-78; Ex. 2V. Additionally, J.W. would help Shannon with the "Shannon Music Group," a gospel singing group that included Shannon, Shannon's parents, and Dustin Bradshaw, and occasionally would travel with them to events and help run the lights and the sound system for the shows. Tr.II 13, 14. Shannon gave J.W. "100 percent"; he was the minor's "confidant", "best friend", and "father figure." Tr.II 8-9, 17, 184; Tr.I 48. Ms. Shields trusted Shannon because he "talked in a Christian way" and he was a like a member of their family. Tr.II 5, 14-15. The church was important to J.W. and Ms. Shields relied on Shannon to provide her son with appropriate guidance. Tr.II 17. However, J.W. testified that when he would get into disagreements with his parents, Shannon would always take J.W.'s side. Tr.II 173. Text messages showed that Shannon even discussed how he would adopt J.W. if social welfare services intervened in their family. Tr.II 178-81; Ex. 2C.
The government presented evidence that showed that J.W. and Shannon sent text messages to each other all day, every day. Tr.II 10- 11, 164. Over 7,600 text messages with Shannon were extracted from J.W.'s iPhone 5c (the phone that had been gifted to J.W. by Shannon). Tr.II 54; Ex. 2. These messages were exchanged between late January 2015 and March 17, 2015. Id. Many of those text messages turned to sexual banter, with Shannon discussing his interest in anal sex, masturbation, and watching pornography. Tr.II 182, 189, 201; Ex.2F. The two texted the secret code "P" when someone else was nearby, so that Shannonwould know not to text sexually charged messages anymore. Tr.II 205. J.W. testified it made him feel awkward and uncomfortable each time Shannon discussed sexual acts he wanted to do with J.W. Tr.II 173, 195.
J.W. testified that Shannon's gifts were important to him, such that he felt pressure to comply with Shannon's sexual requests; he felt he owed Shannon something. Tr.II 210-11, 214-215, 216; Tr.III 18; Ex. 2E, 2I. Text messages recovered from J.W.'s phone showed that on February 28, 2015, Shannon prepared to travel to Decatur, Illinois, and spend the night in a hotel with J.W. Ex. 2Q (). In text messages deleted but recovered from Shannon's iPhone 5s, as well as J.W.'s iPhone 5c, Shannon clearly described his intentions to take photographs of J.W. and engage in sexual conduct: text messages from Shannon to victim: "so if we get a room, then I want to go swimming. then we can go to room. and get naked. from there we can play with the toys. and no clothes till Sunday morning." . . . "now, can I bring the small anal toys? you want to try one?" ... "and we'll take some good pics with good poses for you to give to people." . . . . Ex. 2R, 15A. Shannon also dyed his hair from gray to brown before he traveled. PSR ¶256, Ex. 2R.
J.W.'s sister testified that she saw Shannon and J.W. on the day that they went to a hotel. Tr.I 49. She had dropped her phone earlier, and Shannon was going to fix it. Id. She testified that Shannon told her "that they were going to a hotel so [Shannon] had a flat surface to work on, and they were going to swim as well." Id. J.W. testified that that he and Shannon went to a Ramada Inn after picking up the phone from his sister on February 28, 2015. Tr.III 5, 11.
While at the Ramada Inn, the government presented evidence that Shannon sexually exploited J.W., and may have sexually assaulted him, by digitally penetrating J.W.'s anus. Tr.III 11-12; Ex. 3A-3S, 2T . J.W. testified that he and Shannon did go to the Ramada Inn and that Shannon took nude pictures of him at the Ramada Inn that night. Tr.III 12-13. J.W. further testified that Shannon told him how to pose, including where to lay and put his legs. Tr.III 12. J.W. also testified that they watched pornography on Shannon's laptop and masturbated together at the hotel. Tr.III 17.
At trial, the government presented evidence to refute Shannon's defense that someone else had taken the photographs and that Shannon had been framed. Evidence showed Shannon's text messages were traceable through Shannon's cell phone provider to a cell site tower location where the messages originated, specifically Liberty Corners, Muncie, Indiana, where Shannon's residence was located. Ex. 17A, 17B. Forensic examiner Johnathan Bridbord from the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, compared the evidence located on J.W.'s iPhone 5c, Shannon's iPhone 5s, and evidence obtained from Apple servers and cell site location data from AT&T. See Tr.III 107. Mr. Bridbord compared text messages extracted from the victim's iPhone 5c to the text messages deleted from Shannon's iPhone 5s and found they matched. Specifically, he compared text messages sent on February 22, 2015, and February 27, 2015, which contained details of Shannon packing for his trip to visit J.W., including packing "lube," "anal toys," and "two condoms." Tr.III 107, 109. Mr. Bridbord further testified that cell site location data showed that the text messages from Shannon's phone to J.W's phone were sent from the vicinity of Shannon's residence in Muncie, Indiana. Tr.III 108-111.
This cell site location data and the text messages themselves also traced Shannon's travel from his home in Muncie, Indiana, across Central Illinois to Decatur, Illinois, and the Ramada Inn to meet J.W. Tr.III 112-116. Ex. 17A, 17B, 2S (). Agents matched the background and bedding of the sexually explicit images of J.W. to the exact hotel room at the Ramada Inn where Shannon stayed. Tr.II 85; Ex. 5B. The testimony of an expert forensic examiner, Ronald Borowcyzyk, also corroborated J.W.'s testimony that these sexually explicit images were taken with Shannon's iPhone 5s (as opposed to J.W.'s iPhone 5c7) and placed the time of one photograph as being taken at 12:53 a.m. on March 1, 2015. Ex. 3T-1; Tr.II 77.
Shannon's iPhone 5s was seized from Shannon's presence on the day law enforcement searched his residence....
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