Williams v. Jones

Citation231 F.Supp.2d 586
Decision Date30 October 2002
Docket NumberCivil No. 00-CV-10250-BC.
PartiesWalter Rydale WILLIAMS, Petitioner, v. Kurt JONES, Respondent.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

Frank D. Eaman, Lawrence J. Paolucci, Bellanca, Beattie, Harper Woods, MI, for Plaintiff.

Laura G. Moody, Vincent J. Leone, Michigan Department of Attorney General, Lansing, MI, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS AND GRANTING PETITIONER'S COUNSEL'S MOTION TO WITHDRAW

LAWSON, District Judge.

The petitioner, Walter Rydale Williams, is presently confined at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan. He has filed, through counsel, a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in which he challenges his conviction and sentence for second-degree murder contrary to Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.317. He claims that his constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment were violated when the state trial judge allowed the jury to consider the charge of first-degree murder despite the lack of evidence supporting that charge, thereby raising the prospect of a compromise verdict, and that he was penalized for exercising his right to a jury trial because his sentence of thirty to fifty years in custody for second-degree murder was substantially greater than a sentence offered by the prosecution in a plea bargain that was rejected before trial. The Court finds that the state court's decision that there was sufficient evidence to support the first-degree murder charge was not an incorrect or unreasonable application of federal law as established by the Supreme Court; and that sentence did not give rise to a presumption of vindictiveness, nor was there any evidence of vindictiveness requiring a hearing or other relief. The Court, therefore, will deny the petition. The petitioner's attorney has also filed a motion for permission to withdraw. The Court finds that counsel for the petitioner has established that he is entitled to that relief, and the Court will grant that motion.

I.

The petitioner shot Tyrone Billings to death on March 18, 1994 in Saginaw, Michigan. Billings and the petitioner had been friends for several years, but their relationship had soured and Billings had threatened the petitioner in the more recent past. On the day of the shooting, the two encountered each other on a public street around midday. They were in separate vehicles. Billings exited his vehicle, walked over to the car driven by the petitioner, and an argument quickly ensued. The petitioner shot Billings, and later claimed that he acted in self-defense and that he fired only to scare Billings, not intending to hit him.

The petitioner was charged with open murder, which under state law includes the charge of first-degree murder, Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.316, 750.318; see People v. McKinney, 65 Mich.App. 131, 135, 237 N.W.2d 215, 218 (1975); possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony (felony firearm), Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.227b; and being a felon in possession of a firearm, Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.224f. Before trial began, the prosecutor offered to reduce the murder charge to second-degree murder with a recommended minimum sentence not to exceed fourteen years in exchange for the defendant's guilty plea. The petitioner rejected that plea offer and the matter was taken before the trial judge where the following colloquy took place:

THE COURT: All right. So this is going to necessitate a trial is what you're telling the Court?

THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

THE COURT: All right. Are there any housekeeping matters before the jury joins us?

Tr. Vol. I at 5. At that point, the trial judge severed the felon in possession charge and proceeded to trial on the murder and felony firearm charges.

John Streeter, a city bus driver who witnessed the shooting, testified that he stopped his bus about five to fifteen feet behind two cars that were stopped side by side in the street. Mr. Streeter saw Billings get out of his car which was stopped nearest the curb and approach the front passenger side of the petitioner's car, which was stopped in the second lane. Billings leaned into the petitioner's car, then leaned back out. Two people got out of the petitioner's car. Billings initially started walking toward the petitioner, but then headed back towards the front passenger door of the petitioner's car. Mr. Streeter heard a single gunshot and saw the driver from the car parked nearest the curb stagger back and run off. Mr. Streeter believed that the man who was shot had his hands at his side when he was shot.

Other witnesses testified that Billings was gesturing with his hand as he leaned into the petitioner's car and that he appeared to be arguing with the people in the petitioner's car before the shooting. Medical evidence established that Billings died from a single gunshot wound to the left chest. Various witnesses testified that when Billings leaned into the car, he threatened to harm or kill the petitioner, using the gun that the petitioner had in a holster on the front seat. No witness testified that Billings was armed, although one witness said that Billings had his hand in his pocket. After he was shot, Billings ran a short distance down the street and collapsed on the sidewalk. No weapon was found on or about Billings.

The petitioner testified on his own behalf. He said that Billings had threatened to kill him and had previously done things to intimidate him, like shooting up the car of a man the petitioner knew. The petitioner also once witnessed Billings pull a gun on a woman to collect a debt. The petitioner testified that Billings sometimes followed him in a car, blocked his path, rammed his car, and showed him guns. The petitioner admitted that on the day of the shooting, he stopped his car on the street when Billings stopped his car, explaining that he wanted to talk things over and feared that if he did not stop, Billings would follow him home. The petitioner said that when Billings approached his car, the petitioner's gun was in view on the front seat. Billings allegedly reached for it, saying he was going to kill the petitioner with his own gun. The petitioner testified that he then grabbed the gun and fired a single shot to scare Billings away from his car, that he did not intend to shoot or kill Billings, that Billings was out of his line of sight when he fired the gun, and that it was an accident that the bullet took effect. The petitioner denied planning to use the gun when he stopped the car and denied intentionally shooting Billings.

At appropriate times during the trial, the petitioner moved to dismiss the first-degree murder charge for want of sufficient evidence. The trial judge denied the motions. The jury found the petitioner guilty of felony firearm and the lesser included offense of second-degree murder. The petitioner then pled guilty to the felon in possession charge. On November 1, 1994, the petitioner was sentenced to two years in custody for the felony firearm charge, and a consecutive term of thirty to fifty years for second-degree murder to be served concurrently with a one-to-five-year term for felon in possession. The petitioner appealed his conviction to the Michigan Court of Appeals on grounds which included his sufficiency of evidence and jury compromise claims. The court of appeals affirmed the conviction and the Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal. People v. Williams, No. 182343 (Mich.Ct. App. November 12, 1996); lv. den. No. 108176 (Mich.Sup.Ct. November 7, 1997).

On October 20, 1998, the petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. He voluntarily dismissed that petition without prejudice so that he could return to state court to raise his vindictive sentencing claim. He did so on November 4, 1998 by filing a motion for relief from judgment in the trial court. On July 15, 1999, the trial judge denied that motion on the merits, finding that the plea bargain and sentence recommendation was never presented to the court for consideration, there was nothing in the record that would support a presumption of vindictiveness, and there was no evidence that the sentence was vindictive or otherwise intended to penalize the petitioner's exercise of his right to trial. The petitioner's application for leave to appeal was denied by the Michigan Court of Appeals on initial consideration and rehearing, and the Michigan Supreme Court similarly denied leave to appeal on June 26, 2000. People v. Williams, No. 221219 (Mich.Ct.App. December 22, 1999); lv. den. No. 116363 (Mich. Sup.Ct. June 26, 2000). Both courts denied relief in their form orders stating that the petitioner "fail[ed] to establish entitlement to relief under M.C.R. 6.508(D)."

The petitioner filed the present petition on July 21, 2000 in which he raises two grounds for relief:

I. Was petitioner deprived of Due Process of Law under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution when the trial court denied his motion for a directed verdict on the first-degree murder charge and allowed submission of this charge to the jury, when there was insufficient evidence to present this charge to the jury, and its submission prejudiced the jury, resulting in his conviction of second-degree murder?

II. Was petitioner denied his right to exercise his right to a jury trial when, after he refused to plead guilty to second-degree murder where the prosecutor had offered to recommend a fourteen year minimum sentence, the trial judge sentenced him to a thirty year minimum sentence after his jury trial conviction of second-degree murder?

The respondent has filed an answer to the petition contending that the first claim lacks merit and the second was procedurally defaulted.

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