Williams v. Calderon
| Citation | 48 F.Supp.2d 979 |
| Decision Date | 25 March 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. CV 89-0327 SVW.,CV 89-0327 SVW. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. Central District of California |
| Parties | Stanley WILLIAMS, Petitioner, v. Arthur CALDERON, Warden of California State Prison at San Quentin, Respondent. |
Before this Court is Respondent's Motion for Early Summary Judgment/Adjudication. The motion came before the Court for oral argument on February 9, 1998. Having carefully considered all papers filed in support of and in opposition to the motion, and oral argument thereon, the Court hereby GRANTS IN PART the Motion for Early Summary Judgment/Adjudication.
Alvin Owens was an employee at a 7-Eleven store in Whittier. Alfred Coward, known as "Blackie," testified as an immunized witness at petitioner's trial and gave the following account of Owens's death:
At approximately 10:30 p.m. on February 27, 1979, petitioner Stanley Williams came to Coward's house. The two went to the home of James Garrett (where petitioner was staying) and petitioner went inside, returning with a sawed-off shotgun. He was accompanied by a man named Darryl. The three men made several stops, including one to obtain "sherms" (cigarettes containing phencyclidine (PCP)). They all shared a sherm, then picked up Tony Sims. Petitioner shared a second sherm with Coward and Sims, and asked Sims if he knew where they could "make money" in Pomona.
Taking two cars, the foursome made two unsuccessful restaurant and liquor store robbery attempts, and eventually went to a 7-Eleven where Owens, the victim, was sweeping the parking lot. Sims and Darryl went into the store followed by Owens, petitioner, and Coward. Coward testified that he saw no one with a weapon except petitioner, who approached Owens and told him to keep walking. Owens walked toward the back rooms of the store with petitioner and Coward following him. Petitioner told Owens to lie down and he complied. Coward heard a gun being loaded, heard a shot and glass breaking,1 followed by two more shots. The group then returned to Sims's house where the money was divided. Sims asked petitioner why he had shot Owens and petitioner explained he did not want to leave any witnesses. He also said the shotgun shells could not be traced and that he had retrieved a few of them.
Coward saw petitioner later that morning at petitioner's brother's house. He stated that petitioner told his brother, "You should have heard the way he sounded when I shot him." Petitioner then made a growling noise and laughed hysterically.
Robert Yang and his family owned and lived in the Brookhaven Motel on South Vermont Street in Los Angeles. About 5 a.m. on March 11, 1979, Yang heard a woman's screams and three or four shots. A few minutes later he left his bedroom and saw that the door separating the motel office from the living quarters had been forced open from the outside. He discovered his father, mother, and sister had all been fatally wounded. The cash drawer was open and empty.
The police found two shotgun shell casings at the scene. A firearms expert testified that one of the shells could have been fired only from a weapon identified as having been purchased by petitioner in 1974.
Three witnesses provided testimony regarding petitioner's involvement in the Brookhaven Motel murders. Samuel Coleman, a friend of petitioner's, testified as an immunized witness that on March 10, he and petitioner went to the Showcase Bar where he remained until it closed around 6 a.m. He last remembered seeing petitioner about 2:30 a.m. The next day petitioner told him that he had robbed and killed some people on Vermont Street.
James Garrett testified that petitioner kept some of his possessions at the Garrett house and stayed there approximately five days a week. Early on the morning of March 13, 1979, petitioner told Garrett and Garrett's wife, Esther, that he had heard that some Chinese people had been killed on Vermont Street. Petitioner said he did not know how the killings had occurred but thought the killers were professionals because no shells or witnesses had been left. He went on to say that he heard the killings had occurred at 5 a.m., that two men had knocked down the door, and that the men had taken $600.
Later, petitioner again spoke about how the people were killed, stating "after the big guy knocked the door down, he went in the motel, and there was a guy laying on the couch, and he blew him away." Petitioner said the man on the couch and a woman at the cash register were shot twice, and another woman was also shot. Petitioner told Garrett he was the "big guy."
Esther Garrett testified to essentially the same matters as her husband. Esther also said petitioner told them the killers were using the money to buy PCP and that the killers had picked up the bullets so there would be no evidence for the police. After her husband left, petitioner told Esther he had committed the murders with his brother-in-law.
George Oglesby, also known as "Gunner," provided additional testimony. Oglesby was an inmate who was housed in the same cell block as petitioner, a few cells away.2 Oglesby testified that in late April 1979, petitioner asked him about the chances of escaping from Atascadero or Patton, where petitioner believed he might be sent. He later asked Oglesby if he wished to be included in an escape plan and Oglesby indicated he did. Petitioner outlined a plan complete with drawings that involved escaping while being transferred from jail to court. According to the plan, as summarized by Oglesby, two people from "the outside" would disarm the officer driving the bus. Petitioner planned to kill a person on the bus who was to testify against him as well as the two officers who would accompany the bus. Petitioner later modified the plan to include blowing up the bus to prevent the authorities from quickly determining who had escaped. Oglesby received two notes from petitioner relating to the escape plan. A few days after receiving the notes Oglesby told a police officer, Lieutenant Fitzgerald, what he knew about the escape. After talking to Fitzgerald, Oglesby communicated several more times with petitioner about an escape and petitioner sent several notes to Oglesby regarding the escape.
In addition to relating the escape plans, Oglesby testified that petitioner told him that he, Blackie, and two others had robbed a motel and had shot the people inside — a man, a woman, and a child, possibly a daughter.
Petitioner presented an alibi defense. Beverly McGowan testified that on February 27, 1979, the night of Owens's murder, she and petitioner dined and spent the night together. Fred Holiwell, petitioner's stepfather, testified that on Sunday morning, March 11, the night of the Brookhaven murders, he arrived at the Showcase Bar around 3:30 a.m. He thought he saw petitioner in the parking lot at about 5 a.m.
Eugene Riley, an inmate in the same cell block as petitioner, testified that on the morning of March 11, he saw petitioner in the parking lot of the Showcase Bar about 5 a.m. and gave him a ride home around 5:30 a.m. Joseph McFarland, another inmate in petitioner's cell block, testified he knew Oglesby was a "jailhouse rat" and that others knew this as well. McFarland stated that inmates gave Oglesby false information because they knew he was an informant.
The jury convicted petitioner of four counts of murder. They found true the special circumstance allegation that the murders were committed in the course of robberies, and multiple murder. No evidence was presented by either side at the penalty phase. The jury sentenced petitioner to death.
Petitioner's conviction and sentence were automatically appealed to the California Supreme Court. In 1984, Williams filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the state supreme court. The direct appeal and habeas petition were consolidated. The California Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether Oglesby deliberately elicited incriminating statements from petitioner in violation of Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964), and United States v. Henry, 447 U.S. 264, 100 S.Ct. 2183, 65 L.Ed.2d 115 (1980). After the hearing, the state court denied the petition, finding that no Massiah/Henry violation occurred, and affirmed petitioner's conviction and sentence. People v. William; In re Williams (Williams I), 44 Cal.3d 1127, 245 Cal.Rptr. 635, 751 P.2d 901 (1988).
On January 9, 1989, Williams filed a second state habeas petition. The petition was denied without explanation on January 18, 1989. On January 23, 1989, Williams filed a federal habeas petition. Respondent filed an answer on March 3, 1989. Petitioner was ordered to return to state court for exhaustion and the Court held the federal proceedings in abeyance pending completion of the state proceedings.
On September 1, 1989, Williams filed a third state habeas petition. The state supreme court ordered an evidentiary hearing on the claims in the petition. The evidentiary hearing concluded in May 1992. The California Supreme Court denied the third state habeas petition on April 11, 1994. In re Williams (Williams II), 7 Cal.4th 572, 29 Cal.Rptr.2d 64, 870 P.2d 1072 (1994).
Williams filed a fourth state habeas petition on April 15, 1994. On June 21, 1995, the California Supreme Court denied the petition on the merits and on procedural grounds.
Petitioner filed an amended federal petition on November 13, 1995. Respondent filed an answer to the amended petition on February 10, 1997, and filed the instant motion on April 7, 1997.
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