United States v. Higgs

• Decision Date: 29 June 2016
• Docket Number: Crim. No. PJM–98–0520,Civ. No. PJM–05–3180
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Respondent, v. Dustin John HIGGS, Petitioner.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

193 F.Supp.3d 495

UNITED STATES of America, Respondent,

v.Dustin John HIGGS, Petitioner.

Crim. No. PJM–98–0520

Civ. No. PJM–05–3180

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

Signed June 29, 2016

Deborah A. Johnston, Sujit Raman, Office of the US Attorney, James A. Crowell, IV, United States Attorneys Office, Greenbelt, MD, Sandra Wilkinson, Office of the US Attorney, Baltimore, MD, for Respondent.

Angela S. Elleman, Michael Wiseman, Matthrew C. Lawry, Federal Community Defender Office, Philadelphia, PA, Barbara Hartung, Richmond, VA, Stephen H. Sachs, Wilmerhale LLP, Washington, DC, for Petitioner.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PETER J. MESSITTE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Following Dustin John Higgs's conviction for the kidnapping and murder of Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black, and Mischann Chinn, a jury concluded that he should receive the death penalty. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. See United States v. Higgs , 353 F.3d 281 (4th Cir. 2003)cert. denied , 543 U.S. 999, 125 S.Ct. 627, 160 L.Ed.2d 456 (2004). The Court denied Higgs's Motion to Vacate Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, see Higgs v. United States , 711 F.Supp.2d 479 (D. Md. 2010). Two years later, Higgs filed his pending Motion for Relief pursuant to Hazel–Atlas Glass Co. v. Hartford–Empire Co. , 322 U.S. 238, 64 S.Ct. 997, 88 L.Ed. 1250 (1944) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(d). In his Motion, Higgs asks the Court to revisit his Motion to Vacate because he claims to have unearthed evidence from a police file that he says proves the U.S. Government committed fraud on the Court during the § 2255 proceedings. ECF No. 579. He also asks the Court to order discovery. ECF No. 580. Because the Court agrees with the Government that Higgs has failed to establish even colorable fraud on the Court, his Motions are DENIED.

I.Background

The Court need not recite all the facts underlying Higgs's conviction, but to the extent it is helpful for understanding Higgs's pending motion, the following summary will be helpful.

On the evening of January 26, 1996 Higgs, Willis Haynes, and Victor Gloria drove from Higgs's apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to Washington, D.C. Once there, they arranged for Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black, and Mischann Chinn and to join them at Higgs's apartment to drink alcohol and listen to music. In the early hours of next morning, Higgs and Jackson began arguing, prompting Jackson to grab a knife from the kitchen. Haynes persuaded Jackson to drop the knife but Jackson remained angry and all three women, upset, left the apartment on foot. As Jackson left, she supposedly made some sort of threat against the men, which angered Higgs.

Shortly after the women left, Higgs grabbed his coat and a silver .38 caliber handgun and urged Haynes and Gloria to come with him to catch up with the women. Higgs, Haynes and Gloria then got into Higgs's car and, with Higgs driving, Haynes in the front passenger seat, and Gloria behind Higgs in the back seat, pursued the three women. Not far from Higgs's apartment they caught up with them and ordered them into the car, drove into the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, a federal property within the jurisdiction of the United States, and pulled over at a secluded spot. One of the young women asked if they were trying to "make [them] walk from there," to which Higgs responded, "Something like that." The women then got out of the car.

Higgs meanwhile handed his gun to Haynes, who put it behind his back and got out of the car. Moments later, Gloria, who remained in the back seat of the car, heard a gunshot and wiped the mist off the back window in time to see Haynes shoot one of the women in the chest. Gloria turned to ask Higgs what he was doing, and saw Higgs holding the steering wheel, watching the shootings in the rearview mirror. Gloria, still in the back seat, put his head down and heard more shots and the sound of women screaming. The three men then drove away, leaving the women, all of whom had apparently been shot, at the secluded spot.

Afterwards, the three men drove to the Anacostia River and threw the guns in, then drove back to Higgs's apartment to clean the place of evidence. Higgs and Haynes left Gloria with a warning to "keep [his] mouth shut." Around 4:30 am, a driver found the dead women's bodies strewn along Maryland Route 197, which runs through the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge. At the scene, Park Police found Jackson's day planner, which contained Higgs's nickname and telephone number, as well as a note of the street number of his apartment and the license plate number for his car.

On December 21, 1998 Higgs and Haynes were indicted on three counts each of first-degree premeditated murder, see 18 U.S.C.A. § 1111(a), first-degree murder committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a kidnapping, see id. kidnapping resulting in death, see 18 U.S.C.A. § 1201(a)(2), and using a firearm while committing a crime of violence, see 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Haynes was tried first. On August 24, 2000, after finding him guilty on all three counts in the guilt phase, the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the death sentence in the penalty phase. The Court thereafter sentenced Haynes to concurrent life terms on the first-degree murder and kidnapping counts and forty-five years consecutive on the firearm offenses.

At Higgs's separate trial, which began five weeks later, a different jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts. Gloria's eyewitness testimony about the night of the murders was unquestionably significant to the jury's deliberations. At the guilt phase of the trial, Gloria told the jury, among other things, that following the argument with Jackson, Higgs wanted to have the victims killed; that he (Gloria) rode in the back seat of Higgs's car; and that he saw Higgs hand a gun to Haynes while whispering something to Haynes. During cross-examination, Higgs's counsel attacked Gloria's credibility, highlighting his criminal past, including his use and sale of drugs and his violation of probation, previous false statements he made to police investigating the murders, as well as his willingness to lie to authorities in general. The jury also heard that Gloria faced 15 years in prison for his involvement in the triple homicide, as well as over 30 years in jail for unrelated federal and state drug charges, and that in exchange for his cooperation in the Higgs case, the Government had agreed to seek a lighter sentence for Gloria for his role in the homicides.¹

On October 26, in the penalty phase of his case, the jury determined that Higgs should receive the death penalty on each of the murder and kidnapping charges. The Court entered judgment on the jury's verdict and Higgs appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which affirmed both the conviction and sentence. See United States v. Higgs , 353 F.3d 281 (4th Cir. 2003) (" Higgs I "). The Supreme Court denied Higgs's petition for writ of certiorari. Higgs v. United States , 543 U.S. 999, 125 S.Ct. 627, 160 L.Ed.2d 456 (2004). While his appeal was pending, Higgs filed a Motion for a New Trial, which this Court denied, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed. See United States v. Higgs , 95 Fed.Appx. 37 (4th Cir. 2004), cert. denied , Higgs v. United States , 543 U.S. 1004, 125 S.Ct. 608, 160 L.Ed.2d 465 (2004) (" Higgs II ").

The § 2255 Proceedings

On November 28, 2005, Higgs filed a 122–page Motion to Vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 or in the Alternative Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 asserting twenty-five claims of error.² The only claim relevant to the motion presently before the Court was Higgs's allegation that the Government had failed to turn over all the material relating to Gloria that it was required to under Brady v. Maryland , 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), Giglio v. United States , 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972), and their progeny. Pet.'s Mot. Vacate § 2255, ECF No. 492. While preparing the § 2255 Motion, defense counsel claim to have learned Gloria had been a suspect in the 1998 killing of one Martrelle Creighton, who was stabbed during a fight in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. In his Motion, Higgs alleged that Gloria was not charged with this murder at the behest of the Government in Higgs "in an effort to preserve his status as a testifying witness in [the] federal capital triple homicide case," and that the Government's failure to disclose this consideration violated Higgs's due process rights. Pet.'s Mot. Vacate § 2255 at 33, ECF No. 492. Had the Government disclosed this alleged understanding, Higgs argued, defense counsel would have used it to further impeach Gloria as a witness, which would have had a material effect on the outcome of his trial. Id.

In response, the Government described Higgs's claims as "speculation about the Government's knowledge or actions," arguing that "vague descriptions of the supposed benefits conferred on Gloria largely fail to demonstrate any connection to this trial and federal officials." Govt.'s Resp. Mot. Vacate § 2255 at 88, ECF No. 520. The Government further argued that "[c]ertainly, the Constitution required the prosecutors to disclose any consideration promised to Gloria in exchange for his testimony" but that prosecutors "had no duty or ability to predict, much less inform Higgs of the benefits, or acts of grace, that coincidentally flowed to the witness after this trial." Id. at 86. In response to Higgs's discovery request, the Government said "there is no evidence that [Gloria] was promised anything other than that which he admitted at trial." Govt.'s Resp. Mot. Disc. at 5, ECF No. 513.

The Court agreed with the Government and denied Higgs's motion in all respects, including the alleged Brady violations regarding Gloria. See Higgs v. United States , 711 F.Supp.2d 479 (D. Md. 2010) (" Higgs III "). Specifically, addressing Higgs's claim that Gloria was spared a murder charge in Baltimore in exchange for his cooperation in the federal...