Starr v. Warren
| Decision Date | 07 April 2014 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 12-0543(DRD) |
| Parties | DAVID TERRELL STARR, Petitioner, v. CHARLES WARREN, et al., Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
APPEARANCES:
David Terrell Starr
New Jersey State Prison
P.O. Box 861
Trenton, NJ 08625
Petitioner prose
Sara B. Liebman
Special Deputy Attorney General/
Acting Assistant Prosecutor
Union County Prosecutor's Office
32 Rahway Avenue
Elizabeth, NJ 07202
Counsel for Respondents
Petitioner David Terrell Starr, a prisoner currently confined at New Jersey State Prison, has submitted a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging his conviction and sentence for murder and relatedoffenses. The respondents are Administrator Charles Warren and the Attorney General of New Jersey.
For the reasons stated herein, the Petition shall be denied.
The relevant facts are set forth in the opinion of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.1
We briefly summarize the key evidence presented at trial. On March 14, 2003, at approximately 7:05 a.m., Officer Sean McGuire (McGuire) of the Plainfield Police Department (PPD) was dispatched to a residence on Evona Avenue based on a report that a man was bleeding from the head. McGuire entered the residence and was directed to the basement, where he observed L.J. laying on a mattress in the rear of the basement. L.J. was alive, but his heart rate was rapid and breathing labored.
McGuire immediately called for the rescue squad, which responded to the scene and attempted to perform medical treatment upon the victim. L.J. was pronounced dead at 7:43 a.m. He was fifteen years old at the time. McGuire testified that, while in the basement of the Evona Avenue residence, he observed a plastic bag containing suspected crack cocaine on an "entertainment center" that held a television.
T.J. is L.J.'s mother. T.J. testified that in March 2003, she was living in the residence on Evona Avenue with L.J., her daughters S.T.J., S.I.J., and S.A.J., and another son, K.J. T.J. testified that L.J. slept in the finished basement of the house.
T.J. stated that on the morning of March 14, 2003, she asked S.I.J. to go and wake L.J. S.I.J. returned with a paper towel full of blood and said that L.J. would not wake up. T.J. went to the basement. She shook L.J. and lifted his arms. He gasped for air but did not verbally respond. T.J. called the police.
T.J. stated that defendant was L.J.'s cousin. Defendant slept in her home during the evening of March 13, 2003. K.C., to whom T.J. referred as her "godbrother," also stayed in the house that night. K.C. slept in the living room on the first floor.
T.J. said that the stairway from the first floor was the only way to gain access to the basement. There was a window in the basement but the window was screwed shut. T.J. also said that there were two entrances on the first floor of the house. The front door had two locks, one of which was a dead bolt lock. The back door had similar locks. In addition, T.J. had a dog that was free to roam around the house. According to T.J., the dog did not take "kindly" to strangers.
L.J.'s sister S.I.J. testified that on March 13, 2003, defendant was staying in L.J.'s room in the basement of the house. Sometime during the day, S.I.J. went down to the basement. L.J. had gone out and defendant was there with S.I.J.'s other brother, K.J. S.I.J. saw K.J. reach under a pillow on a couch and pull out a gun. She also observed defendant walk over to L.J.'s cabinet, pull out a "little gun" and point it at K.J. S.I.J. went upstairs to the second floor and, at some point, went to sleep.
S.I.J. testified that the following morning, she awoke around 6:00 a.m. and heard sounds "like a firecracker." S.I.J. heard two sounds, minutes apart. She said that the sounds were coming from beneath her. S.I.J. observed defendant coming up the stairs. Defendant gave S.I.J. a "high-five" and he went into the bathroom. About ten minutes later, S.I.J. went down to wake L.J.
On the first floor, S.I.J. noticed that the front door was unlocked. K.C. was asleep. S.I.J. went down to the basement. She saw L.J. lying on a mattress on the floor. He had a cover over his face. S.I.J. pulled the cover back and told L.J. to wake up. L.J. did not awaken and S.I.J. started to shake him. She then observed blood.
K.C. testified that he was staying at the T.J.'s residence on the night of March 13, 2003. K.C. said that he arrived at the house between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. and defendant answered the door. K.C. never met defendant before. K.C. entered the house and T.J. arrived about fifteen minutes later.
K.C. stated that L.J. was in the house. K.C. was present when defendant asked L.J. if he could wear his sweat suit and boots and L.J. refused. K.C. said that defendant seemed "a little bit aggravated." L.J. and defendant left the house together but later, defendant returned without L.J.
K.C. testified that afterwards, L.J. returned home. K.C. was in the living room on the first floor. L.J. showed K.C. "a big handful of money" and went downstairs to the basement. K.C. remained upstairs and slept on the couch. Sometime between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m., a man came to the door. K.C. said that the man identified himself as C.J., T.J. "or something to that effect." The man asked to come in and said that he needed to speak to L.J.
K.C. went to the basement, woke L.J. and asked if he knew the person at the door. L.J. said that he did. K.C. went upstairs, let the man into the house, and took him downstairs. L.J. and the man spoke briefly. According to K.C., defendant was asleep in the basement and did not wake up. The man left and K.C. locked the door.
K.C. stated that while he was in the basement, he did not see anyone shoot L.J. He also said that, to the best of his knowledge, no one came into the house at any time after that. [K.C.] woke the following morning when S.I.J. came downstairs, opened the front door, and went into the basement to wake L.J.
L.J.'s sister S.T.J. testified that defendant was at T.J.'s residence on the evening of March 13, 2003. That evening, S.T.J. saw defendant standing at the top of the stairway on the second floor with a black handgun in his waistband. Defendant said something about leaving and going to Virginia. S.T.J. went to sleep about 11:00 p.m. and woke around 6:30 a.m. the following day.
S.T.J. recalled hearing two "loud bangs." She heard the first sound shortly after she woke up, when she was on her way upstairs to the third floor. S.T.J. was on her way down from the third floor when she heard the second sound. S.T.J. thought the sounds came from downstairs. After she heard the two "bangs," S.T.J. saw her sister, S.I.J. She was wearing plastic gloves and was holding bloody paper towels. S.I.J. told her that L.J. was downstairs and he was lying in "two piles of blood."
S.C. lived next door to the T.J.'s home. She knew L.J. for about four years and said he was her "best friend." S.C. met defendant for the first time in the morning on March 13, 2003. Later that day, S.C. was in the basement of T.J.'s home with L.J. and defendant. She said that L.J. was counting money and he was "about to chop some drugs up."
She testified that she counted a total of $7,800. She put about $4,000 in a vent, $1,300 in a coat, and L.J. took the remainder. L.J. put some of the drugs in a plastic bag and placed the bag on top of the vent. Drugs also were placed behind the sofa. S.C. said that there was a shotgun behind the sofa and two guns were underneath the entertainment system. Another gun was broken but defendant fixed it and he handed it to S.C.. She placed the gun on top of the vent.
In the morning of March 14, 2003, S.C. saw the ambulance and police at L.J.'s house. She tried calling L.J. on his cell phone but he did not answer. Later that day, S.C. saw defendant at the police precinct. He was wearing a brown outfit that belonged to L.J. S.C. said that L.J. had two diamond earrings, a pinky ring, and a chain with a pendant with two praying hands. S.C. said that L.J. never loaned his clothes or jewelry to anyone.
S.C. testified that after L.J. was killed, she returned to his room with the police to show them where the drugs, money and guns were. Some of the money was missing. The police found some of the drugs that were placed on top of the vent. They also found the guns under the entertainment center but did not find the shotgun behind the couch or the gun on top of the vent.
Tammy Green (Ms. Green) is T.J.'s cousin. Defendant is also her cousin and he would occasionally stay at her house. Defendant came to Ms. Green's home at about 7:45 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. on March 14, 2003. Defendant was wearing L.J.'s brown velour sweat suit. Defendant also was wearing L.J.'s gold chain. Ms. Green said that defendant took off the chain and placed it on the dining...
To continue reading
Request your trial