Zuniga v. Falk
Decision Date | 13 February 2015 |
Docket Number | Civil Action No. 13-cv-02247-WJM |
Parties | GENERO ZUNIGA, Applicant, v. JAMES FALK, Warden of Sterling Correctional Facility, and THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF COLORADO, Respondents. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
Honorable William J. Martínez
Applicant, Genero Zuniga, is a prisoner in the custody of the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) at the correctional facility in Sterling, Colorado. Mr. Zuniga, acting pro se, has filed an Amended Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (ECF No. 6) challenging the validity of his conviction in Arapahoe County, Colorado, District Court Case No. 04CR1690. Respondents filed an Answer on July 11, 2014 (ECF No. 25), and Applicant filed a Reply on August 28, 2014, after obtaining an extension of time (ECF No. 31). Having considered the same, along with the state court record, the Court concludes that the Am ended Application should be denied.
Following a gang-related shooting, Mr. Zuniga was convicted in Arapahoe County District Court Case No. 04CR1690 of first-degree murder after deliberation, three counts of attempted first-degree murder after deliberation, conspiracy to commitfirst-degree murder after deliberation, and second-degree assault.1 The Colorado Court of Appeals provided the following summary of the evidence at Applicant's trial:
People v. Zuniga, No. 05CA1623 (unpublished) (Zuniga I) (ECF No. 13-4, at 2-3).
Applicant was sentenced to a prison term of life without the possibility of parole, plus 128 years. (Id.). His convictions were affirmed on appeal in Zuniga I. (ECF No. 13-4).
On November 4, 2010, Mr. Zuniga filed a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Colo. Crim. P. Rule 35(c), which was denied summarily by the state district court on December 1, 2010. (ECF No. 13-1, at 12; No. 13-9, at 2). The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's order in People v. Zuniga, No. 11CA0072 (Colo. App. Oct. 4, 2012) (unpublished) (Zuniga II). (ECF No. 13-9). On April 29, 2013, the Colorado Supreme Court denied certiorari review. (ECF No. 13-10).
On August 21, 2013, Mr. Zuniga filed his original habeas corpus application (ECF No. 1) with the Court. Mr. Zuniga asserts the following claims in the AmendedApplicaiton:
In an order entered on January 9, 2014, Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland directed Respondents to file a pre-answer response limited to addressing the affirmative defenses of timeliness under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) and exhaustion of state court remedies under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A) if Respondents intended to raise those affirmative defenses in this action. Respondents filed a Pre-Answer Response in which they conceded that the instant action was filed within the one-year limitation period set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). (ECF No. 13, at 3-6). Respondents further conceded that claim 4 was exhausted in the state courts. (Id. at 10). Respondents argued, however, that claims 1, 2, 3 and 5 were procedurally barred. (Id. at 10-19).
On June 18, 2014, the Court entered an Order, dism issing claim 1 as procedurally defaulted. (ECF No. 21, at 22). The Court rejected Respondent's exhaustion/procedural default defense for claims 2, 3 and 5 and ordered Respondents to file an Answer within 30 days. (Id.).
Title 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) provides that a writ of habeas corpus may not be issued with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in state court unless the state court adjudication:
28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). The applicant bears the burden of proof under § 2254(d). See Woodford v. Visciotti, 537 U.S. 19, 25 (2002) (per curiam).
House v. Hatch, 527 F.3d 1010, 1016 (10th Cir. 2008). If there is no clearly established federal law, that is the end of the court's inquiry pursuant to § 2254(d)(1). See id. at1018.
If a clearly established rule of federal law is implicated, the court must determine whether the state court's decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of that clearly established rule of federal law. See Williams, 529 U.S. at 404-05.
Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770, 786 (2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). "[R]eview under § 2254(d)(1) is limited to the record that was before the state court that adjudicated the claim on the merits." Cullen v. Pinholster, 131 S.Ct. 1388, 1398 (2011).
Under this standard, "only the most serious misapplications of Supreme Court precedent will be a basis for relief under § 2254." Maynard, 468 F.3d at 671; see also Richter, 131 S.Ct. at 786 (...
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