Weston v. Capra
| Decision Date | 13 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | 18 Civ. 05770 (PMH)(JCM) |
| Parties | ATIQ WESTON, Petitioner, v. MICHAEL CAPRA, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Petitioner Atiq Weston (“Petitioner”), filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 on June 26, 2018 (“Petition”). (Docket No. 2). On December 7, 2018, Respondent Michael Capra (“Respondent”) opposed the Petition. (Docket Nos 27-28).
Petitioner replied to Respondent's opposition on January 2, 2019. (Docket Nos. 34, 37-38). For the reasons set forth below, I respectfully recommend that the Petition be denied in its entirety.
Petitioner's convictions arise out of four incidents that occurred in 2008, 2012 and 2014 in Orange County, New York.
On April 30, 2008, Robert Kwiatkowski was stabbed and killed while walking in the area of Wickham Avenue in the City of Middletown (“Middletown”). (Docket No. 27 ¶ 2). On November 10, 2011, Petitioner was charged in the County Court, Orange County with Murder in the Second Degree Manslaughter in the First Degree; and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, in connection with the killing (the “Kwiatkowski Killing”). (Docket No. 28-1 at 2). The next month, the indictment was dismissed on the People's motion, based on their determination that a witness who had implicated Petitioner lied in the grand jury proceeding. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 2). The investigation of the Kwiatkowski Killing was left open. (Id.).
About four years later, at approximately 1:35 a.m. on May 6, 2012, Petitioner's then-partner and co-defendant, Deanna Molina (“Molina”), asked a woman named Maria Ramirez (“Ramirez”) to pick her up on Rowan Street in Middletown. (Id. ¶ 3). When Ramirez arrived in her vehicle, Petitioner approached the driver's side window with a loaded pistol and demanded money. (Id.). When Ramirez refused, Petitioner struck her face with the butt of the pistol, grabbed her purse, and fled, firing a shot in the process. (Id.).
Weeks later, between 11:15 p.m. on May 21, 2012 and just after midnight on May 22, 2012, Molina, a dancer at a strip club, offered to go home with a customer named Walter Klein (“Klein”). (Id. ¶ 4). In return, Molina convinced Klein to give Petitioner a ride and drop Petitioner off on the way. (Id.). However, Petitioner and Molina gave Klein false directions, leading him to a secluded area in Middletown. (Id.). As Klein drove, Petitioner fired a pistol inside the vehicle and pistol-whipped Klein in the face, breaking his jaw. (Id.). Molina offered to drive Klein to the hospital, but instead, drove to a dead-end street. (Id.). Petitioner then dragged Klein out of the car and slammed his head against a boulder on the side of the road. (Id.). When Klein attempted to stand up, Petitioner ran into him with the car and drove away with Molina in the passenger's seat. (Id.). In addition to his fractured jaw, Klein sustained injuries to his face, head and ribs, which required reconstructive surgery and the insertion of a metal plate to protect his skull. (Id.).
When Molina was arrested for the second robbery on May 23, 2012, she admitted her involvement[1] and identified Petitioner. (Id. ¶ 5). In turn, Petitioner was arrested. (Id.). Pursuant to a search warrant executed at the residence where he was found, police recovered a black sweatshirt with blood on it that matched Klein's blood found in the car. (Id.). On August 15, 2012, a grand jury indicted Petitioner by Orange County Indictment 2012-441, charging him with Attempted Murder in the First Degree; Attempted Murder in the Second Degree; two counts of Robbery in the First Degree; three counts of Robbery in the Second Degree; four counts of Assault in the First Degree; nine counts of Assault in the Second Degree; Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree; and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree. (Id.; see also Docket No. 28-1 at 7). Petitioner was arraigned in the County Court, Orange County on August 17, 2012. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 6).
On November 5, 2012, the People moved ex parte pursuant to N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 240.50 for a protective order authorizing delayed disclosure of certain Rosario and Giglio material pertaining to a cooperating witness, until Molina's public testimony was scheduled (the “First Protective Order”). (Docket No. 27 ¶¶ 7-8; see also Docket No. 28-1 at 81). On November 19, 2012, the County Court granted the People's application and directed that the First Protective Order and the application be sealed. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 7; see also Docket No. 28-2 at 2).[2] Petitioner's counsel moved to unseal Molina's file twice, on January 22, 2013 and May 4, 2013, to no avail. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 8; see also Docket No. 28-2 at 3-9, 16-37). Petitioner also filed two applications, dated February 28, 2013 and March 7, 2013, for his attorney to be reassigned after disclosing certain confidential information. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 8; see also Docket No. 28-2 at 10-11). The Court denied those applications in a decision and order on April 1, 2013. (Docket No. 28-2 at 14).
Meanwhile, the People obtained a superseding indictment charging Petitioner for the May 6, 2012 robbery in addition to the May 21, 2012 robbery. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 9). On August 23, 2013, by Orange County Indictment 2013-494, Petitioner was charged with Attempted Murder in the First Degree; Attempted Murder in the Second Degree; five counts of Robbery in the First Degree; five counts of Robbery in the Second Degree; six counts of Assault in the First Degree; twelve counts of Assault in the Second Degree; two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the second degree; and Criminal Possession of a weapon in the third degree. (Docket No. 28-2 at 38). During Petitioner's arraignment on this superseding indictment on August 30, 2013, the trial court continued defense counsel's assignment. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 9). In addition, the People withdrew the First Protective Order and agreed to provide Petitioner's counsel the discovery they had withheld pursuant thereto. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 9; August 30, 2013 Transcript at 4).[3] The discovery included copies of Molina's grand jury testimony, her cooperation agreement, her plea minutes, and certain recordings of her jail phone calls (the “Molina Discovery”). (Docket No. 27 ¶ 10; see also Docket No. 28-2 at 51). Although the People produced the discovery to defense counsel on September 16, 2013, during a court appearance on September 18, 2013, they asked that Petitioner be barred from maintaining personal copies of the Molina Discovery while he remained incarcerated at Orange County Jail. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 10; see also September 18, 2013 Transcript at 4). Defense counsel objected to this application. (September 18, 2013 Transcript at 5). The trial court permitted Petitioner to maintain only a personal copy of the superseding indictment, and directed that the Molina Discovery remain in defense counsel's possession with the caveat that Petitioner could review it in his presence. (September 18, 2013 Transcript at 7).
On September 23, 2013, Petitioner again moved for new counsel, (Docket No. 28-3 at 14), which the trial court rejected on November 14, 2013, (November 14, 2013 Transcript at 6). At that hearing, Petitioner's counsel renewed his objection to the September 18, 2013 order barring him from providing copies of the Molina Discovery to Petitioner. (Id. at 3-4). The trial court denied that application as well. (Id. at 5).
Over the next few months, law enforcement discovered that Alyssa Thompson (“Thompson”) tried to get someone to kill Kadejah Zwart (“Zwart”),[4] a witness against Petitioner in the two robbery cases. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 12). Law enforcement connected Petitioner to Thompson, and to a conspiracy to kill Zwart. (Id.). At another hearing on December 18, 2013, the trial court signed a new protective order (the “Second Protective Order”) permitting the People to delay disclosing additional Rosario material until the day before the testimony of certain witnesses-namely, Kadejah Zwart and her mother, Maria Zwart-and directing that defense counsel not share or discuss with Petitioner certain other information and records pertaining to those witnesses that had previously been provided to the defense. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 11).[5]
Thompson was arrested on January 2, 2014. (Docket No. 27 ¶ 11). The next day, the People moved ex parte for a lockdown order, which the trial court granted on January 3, 2014 (the “Lockdown Order”). (Id.).[6] The Lockdown Order required that Petitioner be separated from all other inmates at Orange County Jail at all times; that Petitioner be denied visitation as well as telephone and other electronic communication with anyone other than defense counsel; and that Petitioner's incoming and outgoing mail be inspected to ensure that his forwarded mail exclude any correspondence related to the alleged conspiracy. (Docket No. 28-3 at 25). The order explained that Petitioner's “isolation from other prisoners and outside visitors [wa]s reasonably related to a legitimate governmental purpose to protect the safety of individuals, including witnesses in the prosecution of [Petitioner's] case . . ., and to prevent the commission of an ongoing crime within the Orange County Correctional Facility.” (Id.). According to Petitioner, as a result of this order, he was placed in solitary confinement for twenty-three hours per day. (Docket No. 2 at 37).
At a conference on January 6, 2014, defense counsel objected to the Lockdown Order on the grounds that it unfairly restricted Petit...
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