Yamada v. Thomas
| Decision Date | 31 July 2012 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL NO. 09-00298 LEK-RLP |
| Parties | KALEOKALANI YAMADA, Plaintiff, v. TODD THOMAS, Warden, Saguaro Correctional Facility; CLAYTON A. FRANK, Director, Department of Safety, State of Hawaii; TOMMY JOHNSON, Deputy Director of Corrections, Department of Public Safety, State of Hawaii, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii |
Petitioner Kaleokalani Yamada ("Petitioner" or "Yamada") filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 on June 29, 2009. Pursuant to this Court's order, Petitioner filed an amended petition on July 8, 2009 ("Amended Petition"). Respondents Todd Thomas, Warden, Saguaro Correctional Facility, Clayton A. Frank, Director, Department of Public Safety, State of Hawai`i, and Tommy Johnson, Deputy Director of Corrections, Department of Public Safety, State of Hawai`i (collectively "Respondents") filed their Answer to the Amended Petition on September 3, 2009. Petitioner filed a Reply Brief on October 23, 2009. The Court finds this matter suitablefor disposition without a hearing pursuant to Rule 8 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases, 28 U.S.C. foll. § 2254, and Rule 7.2(d) of the Local Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii ("Local Rules"). After careful consideration of the parties' submissions and the relevant case law, this Court DENIES the Amended Petition for the reasons set forth below.
In 2003, Petitioner was charged with two counts of robbery in the first degree (Counts One and Three) and one count of assault in the first degree (Count Two) in connection with a February 14, 2003 incident. The circuit court conducted a jury trial on November 25 and 26, and December 1, 2, and 3, 2003. The jury returned a guilty verdict on all three counts. Petitioner moved for a new trial based on a number of grounds. The circuit court granted the motion based solely on the fact that one of the jurors admitted to sleeping through approximately twenty percent of defense counsel's closing argument.
The government appealed. The Hawai`i Supreme Court held that the juror misconduct was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Yamada, 108 Hawai`i 474, 482, 122 P.3d 254, 262 (2005) ("Yamada I"). The supreme court vacated the order granting a new trial and remanded the case for sentencing. Id.
On remand, the circuit court sentenced Petitioner to concurrent terms of twenty years of imprisonment each for Counts One and Three and ten years of imprisonment for Count Two. In addition, the circuit court ordered Petitioner to pay restitution of $760.72 for Count One and $6,981.31 for Count Three. Judgment was entered on January 25, 2006. State v. Yamada, 116 Hawai`i 422, 431, 173 P.3d 569, 578 (Ct. App. 2007) ("Yamada II").
Petitioner appealed. On December 6, 2007, the Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawai`i ("ICA") issued an opinion affirming the judgment of conviction and sentence. Id. at 445, 173 P.3d at 592. Yamada filed an application for writ of certiorari to the Hawai`i Supreme Court. The supreme court denied the application on April 1, 2008. 117 Hawai`i 332, 180 P.3d 473 (2008). Yamada did not apply for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, and he has not filed a petition for post-conviction relief pursuant to Rule 40 of the Hawai`i Rules of Penal Procedure.
On the evening of February 13, 2003, Nicholas Kaneta ("Kaneta") and his friend, Quinton Yoza ("Yoza"), were robbed and severely beaten at the Diamond Head lookout by two male assailants, one of whom wielded a baseball bat.
That night, Kaneta finished work at around 10:00 p.m. and met Yoza to rehearse for an upcoming concert. Before practice, the two stopped by a local bar for drinks. [Transcript of Proceedings held November 25, 2003 ("11/25/03 Trans."), at 29-35.1 ] Kaneta said that he had four beers at the bar, but he felt "perfectly fine" when they drove to one of the Diamond Head lookouts to play. [Id. at 35-36.] At the lookout, they sang and played guitar in peace for about an hour and a half. [Id. at 37-38.]
At some point, Kaneta went to his car for a cigarette, when a vehicle rapidly pulled up behind his. [Id. at 38-39.] Still leaning into his car, Kaneta heard Yoza say "oh, oh, oh," and somebody yell "something like you talking shit." [Id. at 39.] The last thing Kaneta saw as he turned to see the source of the commotion was a blunt object coming toward his face; he was knocked out as a result. [Id. at 39, 45.] The blow broke his jaw, lacerated his ear, caused bleeding on the right side of his brain, and knocked him unconscious. Kaneta required surgery on his ear and jaw. [Id. at 50-52, 58, 60.] After the attack, he suffered from "bad dizzy spells" and panic attacks. [Id. at 57.] Though these episodes subsided, at the time of the trial, Kaneta still periodically experienced them. [Id. at 58.] When Kanetaregained consciousness, Yoza told him, "brah, we just got jacked." [Id. at 48.]
According to Yoza, he saw a white, four-door car, with its lights off and its front license plate covered with a towel or T-shirt, approach the lookout quickly from the Waikiki direction and stop next to Kaneta's car. Yoza did not recognize the two people in the car. [Id. at 98-99.] Petitioner, who Yoza identified as the passenger in the white car, jumped out of the vehicle, and angrily yelled at Kaneta. [Id. at 100, 116-17.] Eventually, the assailant struck Yoza on the crown of his head, leaving Yoza dazed, and demanded his money. Yoza attempted to block the blows, but was struck at least seven times. At that point, he estimated that their faces were within six inches of each other. After Yoza gave the assailant all of his money, he pleaded with the assailant to leave him alone. [Id. at 105-10.] [Id. at 110.]
Yoza then wrestled the assailant to the ground, causing the assailant to drop his bat, at which time Yoza heard the sound of "[l]ike an aluminum bat hitting the ground versus a wooden bat." [Id. at 101-02.] Yoza was on top of the assailant, who was struggling and face down on the road, but when car headlights became visible and the assailant's companion yelled out "we got to go," he "just sprung [Yoza] off his back like nothing. . . . and took off[.]" [Id. at 113.] Yoza flagged down a passerby in a black truck, which sped after the assailants' car in the Kahala direction. Yoza then checked on Kaneta to make sure he was breathing, told Kaneta he was going to call for an ambulance, and ran to the next lookout. After calling 911 from a nearby payphone, Yoza smoked half a marijuana cigarette to calm down. The police arrived in about five minutes, after which he and Kaneta were taken to the Queen's Medical Center where Yoza gave the police a statement and a description of the assailant. [Id. at 118-24, 129-31.]
On February 20, 2003, Yoza met with a police artist to assist in the preparation of a "composite sketch" of his assailant. [Id. at 133-35.] Then, on March 21, 2003, Detective Gordon Makishima contacted Yoza to have him view a photographic lineup. [Id. at 137.] It took Yoza two seconds to identify his assailant from the six-photograph lineup, and he was certain that the person depicted in photograph number three of thephotographic lineup was their assailant. [Id. at 140-41.]
On February 14, 2003, at about 12:30 a.m., Oliko Cookman ("Cookman"), picked up his friend Alika, and drove along Diamond Head Road towards Waikiki. [Transcript of Proceedings held November 26, 2003 ("11/26/03 Trans."), at 13-14.2 ] Cookman drove past two males at a lookout; they were sitting on a wall next to a car and playing music. One of the males had a guitar, and Cookman had heard them playing music at the lookout two weeks earlier. Cookman decided to turn his car around and drive back to the lookout. As Cookman drove back to the lookout, one of the men, who appeared bloody, ran into the road, waved them down, and asked for help. [Id. at 14-18.] Cookman parked his truck ten to twenty feet behind another car parked at the lookout with his headlights shining on that car. Two men saw him, got in their car and sped away. Cookman got a good look at the passenger before chasing the men in the car for several blocks toward Kahala. [Id. at 18-19.] Cookman lost sight of the car, and drove back toward the lookout. Cookman subsequently identified Petitioner from a six-photograph lineup shown to him by Detective Makishima. [Id. at 31-45.]
B. March 21, 2003 Incident
On March 21, 2003, Petitioner was arrested by police at the University of Hawai`i shortly after he and an unknown accomplice used a baseball bat to rob two tourists in the parking lot of the Honolulu Zoo. Police used photographs taken of Petitioner after this arrest to assemble the photographic lineup that they showed to Kaneta, Yoza, Cookman.
Prior to trial, the State moved in limine for an order allowing the introduction at trial of the March 21, 2003 arrest. Specifically, that Petitioner: (1) was in the Honolulu Zoo parking lot with an unknown accomplice and in possession of a baseball bat; (2) smashed the body and windows of a car that did not belong to him with his baseball bat; (3) yelled at the two occupants of the car to "Get out" and to "Give us money[;]" (4) stole the occupants' car and personal belongings after the occupants fled; and (5) on November 12th, 2003, pled guilty to the...
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