Woods v. Heath
| Decision Date | 18 November 2013 |
| Docket Number | 12-CV-02175 (NGG) |
| Parties | ANTHONY WOODS, Petitioner, v. PHILIP D. HEATH, Superintendent, Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Anthony Woods brings this pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, attacking his 2007 state convictions for one count of first-degree burglary, three counts of third-degree assault, and two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment. Woods asserts three claims: (1) his judgment of conviction for first-degree burglary was against the weight of the evidence and in violation of his right to due process; (2) the evidence for his three counts of third-degree assault was legally insufficient and in violation of his right to due process; and (3) he received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of his right to a fair trial and due process. For the reasons set forth below, Woods's Petition is DENIED.
Anthony Woods and Chandra Sutton were in an intimate relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend. (Resp. App. Br. (Dkt. 10-4) at 1.) There is, however, unresolved disagreement between Woods and Sutton as to whether Woods lived in Sutton's apartment at the time of the incidents at issue. (Trial Tr. (Dkt. 10-2) at 366-69.) Sutton claimed that while Woods often spent the night at her apartment, he did not live with her and did not have a set of keys. (Id. at253, 366.) Conversely, Woods asserts that he was a co-habitant of Sutton's home. (Def. Mot. to Vacate J. (Dkt. 10-4) at 15.)
In any event, in the early morning hours of April 6, 2006, Woods punched Sutton in the face, hit her repeatedly about the body, and choked her. (Resp. App. Br. at 2.) As a result, Sutton suffered a black eye, a swollen cheek, a knot on her forehead, and injured ribs. (Trial Tr. at 166.)
Two days later, on April 8, 2006, Woods appeared at Sutton's home and waited for her in the backyard, allegedly with a gun. (Id.) When Sutton opened her back door, Woods allegedly pointed the gun at her and dragged her into the house. (Pet. App. Br. (Dkt. 10-4) at 9.) While inside, Woods called Sutton derogatory names and threatened to kill her. (Resp. App. Br. at 2, 7.) At some point during this altercation, Sutton threw herself to the floor and began crawling away from Woods towards her bedroom. (Id. at 8.) As she crawled, Sutton claimed that she heard a shot and felt air blow quickly past her foot. (Id.) Sutton later realized that a bullet had passed through her dog's toy basketball and penetrated her living room floor. (Id.)
Two other incidents occurred between April 8, 2006, and May 3, 2006. (Id. at 9.) During the first incident, which occurred sometime between April 8, 2006, and May 2, 2006, Woods beat Sutton on the leg with a broomstick. (Id. at 2.) As a result, Sutton sustained bruises to her left leg and suffered pain. (Trial Tr. at 208-10, 409-10.) The second incident occurred during the early morning hours of May 3, 2006, when Woods punched Sutton in the stomach following an extended argument. (Resp. App. Br. at 9.)
Finally, on May 5, 2006, Woods again returned to Sutton's home, where he again allegedly pointed a gun at her and threatened her. (Id. at 2.) Woods flung Sutton towards a couch in Sutton's living room, at which point Wood's allegedly fired his gun. (Id. at 11.) Suttonlater discovered the bullet lodged in a textbook that had been sitting on her computer desk, near where she had been standing. (Id. at 12.)
Woods was charged in New York Supreme Court, Kings County, with one count of Burglary in the First Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 140.30(4)), one count of Burglary in the Second Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 140.30(1)), two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 265.03(2)), two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 265.02(4)) (repealed 2006)), two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 265.01 [1]), three counts of Assault in the Third Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.00(1)), two counts of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.25), two counts of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.20), one count of Criminal Contempt in the First Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 215.51(B)(II)), and one count of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 215.50(3)). (Aff. of Allison Ageyeva in Opp'n to Pet. for Writ of Habeas Corpus ("Ageyeva Aff.") (Dkt. 10) ¶ 5.)
Danielle Eaddy was appointed to represent Woods. (Trial Tr. at 2.) On July 5, 2007, Woods was convicted, after a jury trial, of one count of Burglary in the First Degree, three counts of Assault in the Third Degree, and two counts of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree. (Pl. Mem. to Set Aside Verdict ("Pl. Mem.") (Dkt. 10-4) ¶ 2.) Woods was acquitted of all other charges. (Id.) On April 22, 2008, the court sentenced Woods, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of imprisonment of twenty years on the burglary conviction, to run concurrently with terms of imprisonment of one year each on the three assault convictions andthe two reckless endangerment convictions. (Id.) Woods was also sentenced to a term of five years of post-release supervision. (Ageyeva Aff. ¶ 7.)
On August 22, 2007, Woods moved to set aside the verdict pursuant to N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 330.30 on the ground that the verdict acquitting him of all counts of criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment while convicting him of first-degree burglary was inconsistent and repugnant. (Id.) On October 17, 2007, the state trial court denied Woods's motion, finding that his claim was unpreserved because he did not object to the verdict until after the jury was released, and that his claim was without merit because first-degree burglary does not require proof that Woods actually possessed a firearm but only that he displayed what appeared to be a firearm. (See People v. Woods, Indictment Number 36/542006, October 17, 2007, Decision and Order.)
On June 23, 2010, Woods appealed his judgment of conviction to the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department ("Appellate Division"). (Ageyeva Aff. ¶ 11.) Woods argued that: (1) in light of the jury's verdict acquitting him of all weapons possession charges, his convictions of first-degree burglary and second-degree reckless endangerment were against the weight of the evidence; (2) two of his convictions of third-degree assault under the eighth and ninth counts1 of the indictment violated due process because the People failed toprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant suffered "physical injury"; and (3) he was deprived of his due process right to a fair trial by irrelevant and improper testimony about Sutton's character, as well as excessive references to God and religion, that served to engender sympathy for Sutton and bolster her credibility. (Def. App. Br. at 31, 38, 46.)
On March 29, 2011, the Appellate Division unanimously affirmed Woods's conviction. People v. Woods, 82 A.D.3d 1277 (2d Dep't 2011). The court concluded that Woods's claim "that the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions of third-degree assault [was] . . . unpreserved for appellate review and, in any event, without merit." Id. at 1278. The court further concluded that the guilty verdicts on the burglary and reckless endangerment counts were not against the weight of the evidence, and stated that it declined to "assume the basis for any implied inconsistencies in mixed jury verdicts." Id. at 1277-78. The court found Woods's remaining claims to be "without merit." Id. at 1278.
Woods sought leave to appeal from the affirmance of his conviction to the New York State Court of Appeals. People v. Woods, 16 N.Y.3d 901 (2011). On May 25, 2011, the Court of Appeals denied Woods's request for leave to appeal from the affirmance of his convictions. Id.
By pro se motion dated September 8, 2011, Woods moved in New York Supreme Court, Kings County, to vacate his judgment of conviction pursuant to New York Criminal Procedure Law § 440.10(1)(h). (Def. Mot. to Vacate J. at 1.) Woods claimed that the evidence before the grand jury was insufficient to support his indictment for first-degree burglary and that hisburglary conviction after trial was against the weight of the evidence. (Id. at 1-2.) Woods also asserted that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because trial counsel failed to: (1) introduce evidence that would have allegedly proven that he lived with Sutton; (2) make a motion for a trial order of dismissal at the end of the People's case on the grounds that the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain a charge of first-degree burglary; and (3) object to or request that the jury's verdict be dismissed on the grounds of repugnancy at the end of the trial. (Aff. in Supp. of Mot. to Vacate J. (Dkt. 10-4) at 6-19.)
On January 17, 2012, the court denied Woods's motion, concluding that most of Woods's claims were procedurally barred and, in any event, without merit as he had received meaningful assistance of counsel. People v. Woods, 2012 N.Y. Slip. Op. 30528(U), 2012 WL 781066 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2012). On March 6, 2012, Woods sought leave to appeal from the denial of his N.Y. Crim. Proc. § 440.10 motion to the Appellate Division. (Def. Leave App. from Denial of Mot. (Dkt. 10-4) at 1.) On April 13, 2012, the Appellate Division denied Woods's request for leave to appeal from his denial of his N.Y. Crim. Proc. § 440.10 motion. (N.Y. App. Div. Decision & Order on Appeal (Dkt. 10-4) at 1.)
On April 30, 2012, Woods submitted the instant Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Pet....
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