Woods v. Adams

• Decision Date: 30 June 2009
• Docket Number: Case No. SACV 06-69-AG (JWJ).
• Citation: 631 F.Supp.2d 1261
• Parties: Michael WOODS, Petitioner, v. Deral ADAMS, Warden, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California

631 F.Supp.2d 1261

Michael WOODS, Petitioner, v. Deral ADAMS, Warden, Respondent.

Case No. SACV 06-69-AG (JWJ).

United States District Court, C.D. California.

June 30, 2009.

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Dennis P. Riordan, Donald M. Horgan, Riordan & Horgan, San Francisco, CA, for Petitioner.

Douglas P. Danzig, Susan E. Miller, CAAG Office of Attorney General of California, San Diego, CA, for Respondent.

ORDER ADOPTING FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

ANDREW J. GUILFORD, District Judge.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C), the Court has reviewed the instant Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and other papers along with the attached Final Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge, and has made a de novo determination of the Final Report and Recommendation. Further, the Court has engaged in a de novo review of those portions of the Report to which Petitioner has objected. The Court concurs with and adopts the conclusions of the Magistrate Judge.

IT IS ORDERED that a Judgment be entered dismissing the instant Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with prejudice.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall serve forthwith a copy of this Order and the Judgment of this date on Petitioner.

JUDGMENT

Pursuant to the Order of the Court approving the recommendations of the United States Magistrate Judge, and adopting the same as the facts and conclusions of law herein,

IT IS ADJUDGED that Judgment be entered dismissing the instant Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with prejudice.

FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

JEFFREY W. JOHNSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

This Final Report and Recommendation is submitted to the Honorable Andrew J. Guilford, United States District Judge, by United States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey W. Johnson, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and General Order 05-07 of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. For the reasons discussed below, it is recommended that the instant Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus be dismissed with prejudice.¹

I. INTRODUCTION

On January 24, 2006, Petitioner Michael Woods ("Petitioner"), a California state prisoner represented by counsel in this action, filed a "Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus." On May 31, 2006, Petitioner filed a "First Amended Verified Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus" (hereinafter simply "Petition" or "FAP"), together with a "Memorandum in Support of First Amended Verified Petition [etc.]" ("FAP Mem"). Petitioner seeks relief from a conviction on September 7, 2001 in the Orange County Superior Court for the murder in March 1989 of his former strip club business partner, Horace McKenna ("McKenna"), in violation of California Penal Code § 187(a). Evidence was presented at trial that Petitioner arranged for David Amos ("Amos"), one of Petitioner's employees, to kill McKenna, and that Amos in turn hired John Sheridan ("Sheridan") to carry out the murder, and that it was Sheridan who ultimately shot McKenna. In his defense, Petitioner argues that Amos had his own reasons for wanting to kill McKenna, and that Amos was solely responsible for hiring Sheridan to kill McKenna, and that Amos falsely implicated Petitioner so that Amos could obtain a favorable plea agreement. (See FAP Mem 5-6.) A jury found Petitioner guilty, and the trial court sentenced Petitioner to 25-years-to-life in prison. (Clerk's Transcript on Appeal ["CT"] 809-811.)²

Petitioner appealed the conviction to the California Court of Appeal, and that appeal was denied in a reasoned, published opinion, People v. Woods, 120 Cal.App.4th 929, 16 Cal.Rptr.3d 174 (2004) (hereinafter "Woods"). Petitioner filed a petition for review with the California Supreme Court, and that petition was denied without comment on October 27, 2004. (See Lodgment Items Nos. 2, 3.) Petitioner did not file any petitions for a writ of habeas corpus with the state courts. (See FAP 3:19-23.)

On July 14, 2006, Respondent Warden Deral Adams ("Respondent") filed an Answer to the Petition ("Answer"), together with a "Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Answer to Petition [etc.]" ("Answer Mem"). On September 8, 2006, Petitioner filed a "Verified Traverse in Support of First Amended Petition [etc.]" ("Traverse"), together with a "Memorandum in Support of Petitioner's Verified Traverse" ("Trav Mem").

The Petition presents two grounds for relief: (1) the prosecutor committed misconduct when he offered a plea agreement to Sheridan and then refused to call Sheridan as a prosecution witness or to immunize Sheridan, thereby improperly influencing Sheridan to claim the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to testify if called for direct examination by Petitioner; and (2) the trial judge improperly allowed Sheridan to claim the Fifth Amendment privilege and refuse to testify in Petitioner's defense under the circumstances.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following statement of facts is excerpted from the California Court of Appeal's opinion in Woods:³

Shortly after midnight on March 9, 1989, McKenna was gunned downed by machine gun fire as he returned to his Carbon Canyon home in the back of a limousine. It is undisputed Sheridan was the shooter. The only question for the jury was whether Petitioner instigated the hit.

Petitioner and McKenna met while working as California Highway Patrol officers. Upon leaving the highway patrol, they went into the strip club business. That was 1977. By 1980, they had three clubs and business was good. However, not all was well between them. McKenna was a huge, intimidating man who witnesses said liked to "live large" and "throw his weight around." And according to people in the clubs, he often imposed himself on Petitioner and made life difficult for him. At one point, Petitioner asked a bouncer [i.e., witness David Smith ("Smith"); see Reporter's Transcript on Appeal ("RT") 1141 et seq.] if he would kill McKenna for $30,000. When [Smith] declined — and then revealed the offer to others — Petitioner gave [Smith] his walking papers. [RT 1144-1147, 1207-1208.]

In the early 1980's, Petitioner hired David Amos to work in the clubs. Over time, it became apparent to Amos that Petitioner and McKenna did not get along. And because Amos was friendly with Petitioner, he was persona non grata with McKenna. This worried Amos because he considered McKenna to be very dangerous.

So did Petitioner. And in 1988, his fear of McKenna gathered more gravitas when McKenna threatened to have [Petitioner's] daughters raped. [RT 1239.] Petitioner told Amos about the threat and asked him if he would help him kill McKenna. Amos said he would. [RT 1239-1241.] Sometime later, Petitioner was overheard to say he was going to kill McKenna. [RT 1393.]

Actually, though, Amos ended up hiring Sheridan for the job. Petitioner had allotted $50,000 for the hit, but Amos only gave Sheridan about half of that. According to Amos, Petitioner had no contact with Sheridan, and Sheridan did not know Petitioner was behind the scheme. In fact, Amos told Sheridan he wanted McKenna killed for his own protection. [RT 1334-1336, 1360-1361, 1366.] Following the murder, Amos became Petitioner's new partner. However, their relationship soured when Amos came to suspect Petitioner was embezzling money from the clubs. Amos threatened legal action and tried to obtain greater control over the clubs by making business deals without Petitioner's knowledge.

It took the police nearly a decade to piece the case together. Eventually, Sheridan confessed to the shooting and worked with authorities to implicate Amos. Investigators then used Amos to get Petitioner. In exchange for leniency, Amos agreed to meet with Petitioner and wear a wire so the police could listen to their conversation.

The meeting was held at a Los Angeles deli [i.e., "Jerry's Famous Deli" in Woodland Hills, California; see CT 457-482.] To get Petitioner talking about the murder, Amos told him Sheridan was pestering him for money. Petitioner advised Amos not to give [Sheridan] any, because it would look like an admission. Amos then told Petitioner that Sheridan suspected [Petitioner] was behind the murder. This took Petitioner by surprise, but he was confident the police would not be able to prove his involvement, He was confident the police were only on to him for tax evasion and did not "have shit on the other thing." Toward the end of the conversation, [Petitioner] asked Amos what ever happened to the murder weapon, and Amos assured him Sheridan had thrown it away.

As Petitioner was leaving the deli, the police placed him under arrest.

Woods, 120 Cal.App.4th at 932-934, 16 Cal. Rptr.3d 174 (bracketed material added).

This Court also notes the following pertinent facts, based on its own review of the record: Voir dire was complete and the jury and alternates had been sworn in when the prosecutor announced that he would not be calling Sheridan, and the parties then discussed with the trial judge the impact that Sheridan's unavailability, due to his invocation of the Fifth Amendment, was going to have on the trial. (See RT 599 et seq.) At that time, the trial judge stated "here is my situation. A continuance is basically tantamount to a mistrial. We can't ask this jury to just have a seat for 60 days and wait [for Sheridan to be sentenced]. So the preference is to avoid that, if possible." (RT 604:16-19.)

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), was enacted on April 24, 1996 and applies to all federal petitions for writs of habeas corpus filed after that date. Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 2063, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997); Jeffries v. Wood, 114 F.3d 1484, 1499 (9th Cir.1997). Since the instant Petition was filed after April 24, 1996, AEDPA applies.

Under AEDPA,...