Thomas v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 01 March 2022
• Docket Number: Civil Action 18-0710 (ES)
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey
• Parties: OMAR SHAHEER THOMAS, Petitioner, v. STEPHEN JOHNSON & THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Respondents.

OMAR SHAHEER THOMAS, Petitioner,
v.
STEPHEN JOHNSON & THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Respondents.

Civil Action No. 18-0710 (ES)

United States District Court, D. New Jersey

March 1, 2022

Not for Publication

OPINION

ESTHER SALAS, U.S.D.J.

Petitioner Omar Shaheer Thomas (“Petitioner”), an individual currently confined at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, New Jersey, filed the instant petition for a writ of habeas corpus pro se pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (D.E. No. 1 (“Petition”)). Following an order to answer, respondents Stephen Johnson and the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey (together, “Respondents”) opposed the Petition. (D.E. Nos. 3 & 5). Having considered the parties' submissions, the Court decides this matter without oral argument. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 78(b); L. Civ. R. 78.1(b). For the reasons expressed below, the Court DENIES the Petition and DENIES a certificate of appealability.

I. BACKGROUND

The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division provided the following factual summary on direct appeal:^[1]

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On Sunday, December 1, 2002, at approximately 11:36 a.m., the bodies of Erik Rewoldt and Jeffrey Eresman were discovered inside a computer-game retail store doing business as FuncoLand, located at 275 Route 10 (known as the Roxbury Mall), in Roxbury Township. Rewoldt died from a single gunshot wound to the head, while Eresman suffered two gunshot wounds to the head. All three bullets were .38-caliber ammunition and were fired from the same weapon

Detectives determined that Eresman was to open FuncoLand at 10:30 a.m., and Rewoldt was to report to work at 11:00 a.m Receipts indicated that three purchases were made after the store was opened by Eresman. A purchase occurred at 11:09 a.m. and a second purchase was made at 11:11 a.m. The final transaction receipt showed a Tekken II advance videotape game was sold at 11:12 a.m. A physical inventory of the store was undertaken on December 1, 2002. The inventory indicated that seventeen game systems were missing, with a total retail value of $1984.83 [sic]. There were also 183 games missing with a retail value of $10, 032.94.

Videotape evidence showed [Petitioner] in the area of FuncoLand prior to the incident. Flyers were made from the image depicted on one of the videotapes, some of which were placed in newspapers. An individual called the Roxbury Township police department and identified the person in the flyer as [Petitioner]. Additionally, a confidential source provided information to the Newark Police Department that the flyer depicted [Petitioner]. This information was not provided to the jury.

Eyewitnesses also testified that they observed a blue car with a black door on the driver's side at the scene on December 1, 2002. Witnesses saw African-American males in the car. It was later determined that this car belonged to [Petitioner]'s wife. A witness in the area at the time of the incident identified [Petitioner] as the person she saw in front of a neighboring store on December 1, 2002, at approximately 11:15 a.m. One of the customers in the store just prior to the killings identified [Petitioner] as the man she saw in FuncoLand on December 1, 2002, “with 90% certainty.” A second customer, after being shown a photo array, stated, “this looks very close to the man I saw in the store.” It was [Petitioner]'s photograph.

Deputy Chief James Gannon of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office (MCPO) instructed police to stop, but not arrest, [Petitioner] on Monday, November 17, 2003, to obtain [Petitioner]'s consent to

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voluntarily answer their questions. On November 17, officers located the [Petitioner] on the street near his home and asked him if he would answer some police questions, which he said he would. [Petitioner] was taken to the Irvington Initiative at the State Police facility in Irvington. Lt. James Simonetti of the Roxbury Township Police Department and Mark Smith of the MCPO interviewed [Petitioner] at about 9:40 a.m. They advised him of his Miranda[] rights, and he waived them.

Initially, [Petitioner] said he was in his car at the Roxbury Mall with “Rock, ” (Rahman Vaughn), and [Petitioner]'s cousin, “Joey, ” (Craig Thomas, Jr.), when Rock and Joey robbed FuncoLand. [Petitioner] said he drove them to the mall in a blue Ford Escort with a black door. After the robbery, Joey told him that Rock had shot the two guys inside the store. Police asked [Petitioner] to help them locate Rock and Joey and he agreed to do so. After the initial interview, [Petitioner] ate lunch and Simonetti informed him that he was no longer free to leave because he had admitted to participating in the robbery and homicide.

At 1:33 p.m., Simonetti and Smith conducted another interview of [Petitioner]. This interview was tape recorded. They again advised [Petitioner] of his Miranda rights and he waived them. [Petitioner] described picking up Joey and Rock and driving to the Roxbury Mall. He stated they arrived at 8:00 a.m., expecting the stores to be open, but they were not. They then drove to McDonald's, ate breakfast, and he closed his eyes for a while. [Petitioner] then described how they approached the stores. He and Joey went inside FuncoLand where he found three women inside the store. He stated he bought a game and then went to Marty's Shoe store. He said that Joey stayed at FuncoLand and, shortly thereafter, Rock joined Joey there. [Petitioner] stated that he purchased shoes at Marty's and then went to his car. As he approached, Joey was standing by the car and told [Petitioner] that Rock had shot two guys in the store. Rock then approached the car carrying games. [Petitioner] asserted that Rock told him that he did what he had to do. After that, [Petitioner] said he dropped Rock off in Newark and went to church with his wife.

Police showed [Petitioner] the flyer from the McDonald's surveillance camera and the sketch that a witness had helped police compile. He confirmed that the flyer was a picture of himself, but that the sketch did not depict him. [Petitioner] also identified pictures of the victims, Eresman and Rewoldt.

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Simonetti asked [Petitioner] if he had any problems while he had been in police custody. [Petitioner] answered that he had no problem and that he had been treated fairly by the police.

[Petitioner] prepared a statement, which he concluded reading at 2:33 p.m. He told police that he did not own a gun or use a gun. He also stated that he did not kill Eresman or Rewoldt and had no prior knowledge of what was going to transpire on December 1, 2002. After giving his statement, [Petitioner] cooperated with the police by accompanying them as they drove around attempting to locate Rock and Joey. During the trip, [Petitioner] suffered an asthmatic attack. Police gave him a bag to breathe into and, according to Simonetti, [Petitioner] said he was fine.

[Petitioner] was returned to an interview room around 6:00 p.m. at which time he was given food and time to rest. At approximately 9:00 p.m. on November 17, 2003, [Petitioner] agreed to drive with the police and show them the route he had traveled on the morning of December 1, and what he had done at the Roxbury Mall. During this drive, the police video recorded [Petitioner]. The video recording began at 11:13 p.m. At 11:19 p.m., police stopped recording and drove to the Roxbury Mall. The tape resumed at 11:27 p.m. [Petitioner] walked the police through what he maintained he had done on December 1, which was essentially the same story he had told police earlier in the day. He added that he went inside FuncoLand before the robbery and saw Rewoldt. Additionally, [Petitioner] said the gun that Rock had was “nickel plated, light 4-4.”

At the end of the video, [Petitioner] again said that he had been treated fairly. At 11:56 p.m., the questioning concluded. [Petitioner] was taken to the Roxbury police department and placed in a holding cell for the night. At that time, the police executed a search warrant on [Petitioner]'s person and took all of his clothing, except his underwear. At approximately 2:00 a.m. on November 18, 2003, the police arrested Joey. Joey admitted that he was involved in the FuncoLand robbery with [Petitioner] and Rock, and stated that [Petitioner] shot Eresman and Rewoldt.

Early in the morning of November 18, police executed a search warrant at University Place, Irvington, where [Petitioner] had been staying, and Dewey Street, Newark, [Petitioner]'s mother's address. At Dewey Street, police found a Play Station game system. At University Place, police found fifty-eight video games. At about 7:30 a.m. on November 18, Simonetti brought [Petitioner] some

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food and clothes to wear. Simonetti believed [Petitioner] had slept that night.

At 11:19 a.m. on November 18, after waiving his Miranda rights, [Petitioner] gave another statement to Simonetti and Smith. Police secretly video recorded this statement. Smith told [Petitioner] that the police had spoken to Joey and that Joey said [Petitioner] had “shot the guy in the back . . . then everybody went into a panic and all hell broke loose.” [Petitioner] denied that he shot anyone. Smith told [Petitioner] that if the gun went off accidentally that he should be honest about it and the police would “work with him.” Smith also said “we know you shot the first shot in the back room.” [Petitioner] continued denying he had a gun. Simonetti said, “but you accidentally shot the guy the first time, ” and for the first time [Petitioner] answered, “yes.”

[Petitioner]'s story then changed and he related that Joey fired the first shot at Eresman and then [Petitioner] accidentally fired the second shot at him. After those shots were fired, [Petitioner] said a couple came to

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