Teitelbaum v. Turner

• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio
• Writing for the Court: Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Jolson
• Decision Date: 02 May 2018
• Docket Number: CASE NO. 2:17-CV-583
• Citation: Teitelbaum v. Turner, CASE NO. 2:17-CV-583 (S.D. Ohio May 02, 2018)
• Parties: DANIEL TEITELBAUM, Petitioner, v. NEIL TURNER, WARDEN, Respondent.

DANIEL TEITELBAUM, Petitioner, v. NEIL TURNER, WARDEN, Respondent.

CASE NO. 2:17-CV-583

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION

May 2, 2018

JUDGE MICHAEL H. WATSON

Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Jolson

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Petitioner, a state prisoner, brings this petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. This matter is before the Court on the Petition (Doc. 1), Respondent's Return of Writ (Doc. 13), Petitioner's Reply (Doc. 15), and the exhibits of the parties. For the reasons that follow, it is RECOMMENDED that the petition be DENIED and that this action be DISMISSED.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Facts, Trial, and Conviction

The Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals summarized the facts and procedural history of the case as follows:

By indictment filed December 12, 2011, the state charged Teitelbaum with one count of aggravated burglary, in violation of R.C. 2911.11, a first-degree felony; two alternative counts of aggravated murder, in violation of R.C. 2903.01, unclassified felonies; and one count of tampering with evidence, in violation of R.C. 2921.12, a third-degree felony. Both aggravated murder charges carried death penalty specifications, and the aggravated burglary and aggravated murder charges all carried firearm specifications. All four charges in the indictment related to the shooting death of Paul Horn. Teitelbaum entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.

A. Evidence at Trial At a jury trial commencing February 2014, Angela York, an officer with the Grove City Division of Police, testified that at 5:42 a.m. on March 11, 2011, she responded to a dispatch to 3574 Gateway Lakes Drive. Upon arrival, the door to the apartment was unlocked. When police pushed the door open further, they saw Horn's body just inside the door. By the time police were called to the scene, some of Horn's blood had already dried. There was also a salad scattered across the floor.

Dr. Jan Gorniak, then the Franklin County Coroner, testified that Horn died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso. Dr. Gorniak opined that the stippling around the entrance point of the fatal gunshot wound near the right ear indicated the gun had been no more than 6 to 12 inches away when it was fired.

Gary Wilgus of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation ("BCI") testified that he processed the crime scene at Horn's apartment. Based on the pools of blood around Horn's body and other blood found in the apartment, Wilgus estimated the blood had been left approximately 24 to 36 hours prior to his arrival at the scene. The locations of various blood stains in the apartment suggested the bloodletting began on the sofa and progressed toward the apartment's front door.

Wilgus testified he did not detect any sign of forced entry into Horn's apartment. Additionally, Wilgus did not see any indication that someone had searched or ransacked the apartment. Wilgus swabbed the inside and outside doorknobs of the apartment for touch DNA. Subsequent testing of the swabs by forensic scientist Emily Draper of the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory revealed a mixture of DNA on the interior doorknob consistent with contributions from Horn, Teitelbaum, and Dennis Hopkins, Horn's roommate. The swab from the exterior doorknob contained a mixture of DNA consistent with Horn, Hopkins, and a third person. Based on the limited profile for the third person, Draper testified she could not rule out Teitelbaum as the third contributor.

Hopkins, Horn's roommate at the time of his death, testified that he worked for Horn at the Platinum Players Club and a second poker club. Hopkins said that on the afternoon of March 10, 2011, Horn told him to go get the game started at the second club. Hopkins testified he stayed at the second club until around midnight and then went to the Platinum Players Club to do some work in the kitchen. Around 4:15 a.m. on March 11, 2011, Hopkins said he left the Platinum Players Club to go home. When he got to the apartment, the front door was unlocked, which Hopkins said was not unusual. Upon opening the front door, Hopkins saw Horn's body on the ground and could tell Horn had been shot. Hopkins said his initial thought was Horn could have committed suicide.

Remembering he had two handguns in his duffel bag inside the apartment, Hopkins stepped around Horn's body, checked his bags to make sure the gunswere still inside, and took the duffel bag to his car. Hopkins testified he was inside the apartment for two or three minutes and said he did not disturb the body or anything else inside the apartment, other than his duffel bag, while he was there. Hopkins then drove back to the Platinum Players Club, without calling police, and attempted to give his bag with the guns to Minh Nguyen, who was managing the club that night. Nguyen refused to take the bag from Hopkins and told Hopkins to go back to the apartment and call police. Hopkins testified he drove back to the apartment, called 911, but did not reenter the apartment. When police arrived on the scene, Hopkins told them about moving the guns and continued to cooperate with police. Hopkins denied killing Horn.

Nguyen also testified, and he said he was at work at the Platinum Players Club on the evening of March 10, 2011. Nguyen testified that Horn came into the Platinum Players Club that evening and talked to Nguyen about his concerns regarding the deposition scheduled for the next day. Nguyen identified surveillance footage of the Platinum Players Club that showed Horn leaving the club at 7:46 p.m. Nguyen said he spoke to Horn on the phone a short time later, and phone records showed Horn made that phone call at 8:49 p.m.

Additionally, Nguyen testified that Hopkins came to the Platinum Players Club sometime before midnight on March 10, 2011 and stayed until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. on March 11, 2011. After Hopkins left, Nguyen said Hopkins then returned around 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. to tell him that Horn was dead. Nguyen testified Hopkins asked him to take possession of some weapons, but Nguyen told him no and instructed Hopkins to go back to the apartment and call police.

A server at the Platinum Players Club, Kelsey Adkins, testified that she saw Horn at work on the evening of March 10, 2011. Adkins said she made Horn a salad and he left the Platinum Players Club with it at 7:46 p.m. Adkins further testified she saw Hopkins at the Platinum Players Club that evening, and he was still there when Adkins left work around 3:00 a.m.

William Newman, an employee at Horn's second poker club, the Celebrities Social Club, testified he received a phone call from Horn on the evening of March 10, 2011. Phone records indicated the phone call occurred at 8:58 p.m. and lasted a little more than six minutes.

Michael Anthony, an attorney who represented Horn in a commercial dispute against Teitelbaum ("the civil suit"), testified that Horn and Teitelbaum were partners in a poker business known as the Platinum Players Club. The documents from the civil suit showed Teitelbaum had sued Horn for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Teitelbaum alleged Horn had been stealing from the business. Pursuant to the partnership agreement for the Platinum Players Club, upon death of one of the partners, the survivor would have the option to buy out the decedent's interest or dissolve the business. As the civil suit progressed, theparties scheduled Horn's deposition for March 11, 2011. Anthony testified he met with Horn on March 10, 2011 to prepare for the deposition.

Anthony further testified he was at his law office the next morning awaiting Horn's arrival when he received a phone call from the Grove City Division of Police informing him Horn had died. Anthony testified that police asked him not to disclose Horn's death. Though Teitelbaum's attorney in the civil suit called Anthony and contacted the assigned judge about possible sanctions for nonappearance, Anthony only indicated that Horn would not be appearing. Subsequently, Teitelbaum won a judgment giving him control of the Platinum Players Club due to Horn's death.

Adrian Wills, a friend of Teitelbaum's, testified he works in construction and photography but makes extra money by buying and selling items people might need, like rare art and books. According to Wills' testimony, he and Teitelbaum had been old friends who lost touch but eventually reconnected through Facebook in July 2010. Once they reconnected, Wills and Teitelbaum began communicating through email, Facebook, and Skype. Wills testified that at some point prior to March 2011, Teitelbaum asked him during a Skype call whether Wills would be able to obtain a gun for him. Teitelbaum told him he needed the gun for self-defense, and the two discussed types of guns. Wills testified he told Teitelbaum he thought he would be able to help him and even visited a firearms shop in Santa Fe to investigate. Ultimately, Wills said he reported back to Teitelbaum that he could not help him get a gun because of the prohibition against mailing firearms across state lines.

Wills testified that on March 12, 2011, the day after Horn's death, Wills was in a motorcycle accident and Teitelbaum came to visit him in Santa Fe while he was recovering. Wills testified that in his previous Skype conversations with Teitelbaum, he could see that Teitelbaum had a "mountain man" type of beard. (Tr. Vol. IX at 1737.)

However, when Teitelbaum arrived in Santa Fe, Wills said Teitelbaum was clean shaven.

Deborah Davis testified that she is Teitelbaum's ex-wife. In March 2011, both Davis and Teitelbaum lived in New Jersey. Davis testified that after their divorce, Teitelbaum bought a poker club but claimed it did not yield any income relevant to their ongoing child-support issues. Additionally, Davis said Teitelbaum claimed his inheritance from his mother was running out. Davis further testified that in the months leading up to March 2011,

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