Bryson v. Sheahan

RONALD BRYSON, Petitioner, v. MICHAEL SHEAHAN¹,Superintendent of Five Points Correctional Facility, Respondent.

CV-11-0749 (SJF)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Dated: October 1, 2013

OPINION & ORDER

FEUERSTEIN, J.

I. Introduction

On June 23, 2006, a judgment of conviction was entered against petitioner Ronald Bryson ("petitioner") in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Suffolk County (Mullen, J.) ("the trial court"), upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of one (1) count of murder in the second degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 125.25(3) (felony murder)), two (2) counts of burglary in the first degree (N.Y. Penal Law §§ 140.30(2) and (3)) and one (1) count of assault in the first degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.10(4)), and imposition of sentence. On February 8, 2011, petitioner filed a petition in this Court seeking a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C § 2254. For the reasons set forth below, the petition is denied.

II. Background

A. Factual Background

1. People's Case

a. The Burglary Plan

On direct examination, Wanda Santalis ("Santalis") testified that in April 2004, she lived in her grandmother's house on Hickory Street in Central Islip, New York with her cousins, Marisa, Rosa and Michelle Casillas ("Casillas"); Rosa's boyfriend; petitioner; and Stanley Williams ("Williams"). (T3. 113, 115-17, 119-20)². According to Santalis, petitioner was a "friend of the family" she had known for eight (8) or nine (9) years and had been living with Casillas at their grandmother's house for approximately three-and-a-half to four (3½4-4) weeks. (T3. 116, 120). Santalis testified that petitioner, who she identified in court, was also known by the nickname "Ramanadie." (T3. 117).

Casillas, who appeared in court pursuant to a subpoena, (T3. 22), testified that in April 2004, she was living at her grandmother's house at 55 Hickory Street in Central Islip with Santalis. (T3. 19, 23). When asked if Williams also stayed at the house, Casillas testified that "[h]e used to come over occasionally." (T3. 21). According to Casillas, she knew petitioner, whom she identified in court, "for years" and they were friends. (T3. 19-20). When asked if petitioner was staying at her grandmother's house around the time of Carter's murder, Casillas testified that "[h]e used to come around occasionally but that was it." (T3. 22, 24-25). When asked if petitioner ever stayed overnight at her grandmother's house, Casillas testified that shedid not know "because he never slept in [her] bed." (T3. 24). When asked if petitioner slept in someone else's bed at her grandmother's house, Casillas responded: "I don't know. It's a big house." (T3. 24).

Santalis testified that on the night of April 26, 2004, petitioner, Williams and William Brewster ("Brewster"), with whom she had been friends since elementary school, (T3. 117-18), were "hanging out, smoking, talking" and "rapping about a gun, a bat and a knife," (T3. 130), while sitting in her car parked in front of her grandmother's house. (T3. 129-130). Santalis was also in the car at times, but was traveling "back and forth in and out of the house." (T3. 130).

Santalis testified that around midnight on April 26, 2004, into the early morning hours of April 27,2004, Williams asked her to drive him around the corner "to go rob Eric [Shawn Carter ('Carter')]," (T3. 131-32, 134), with whom she had been "messing around" since February 2004, (T3. 120-21, 169-72), which she agreed to do. (T3. 132, 134). According to Santalis, she did not see whether the men had any weapons, (T3. 133), but she had a silver metal bat with a black top in the car, (T3. 133-34). Santalis found out the next day that the three (3) men did have weapons on them when they went to rob Carter. (T3. 133). Santalis testified that all of the men were wearing hooded sweatshirts, gloves, dark clothing and fitted baseball caps; two (2) of the men were wearing bandanas around their mouths; and the other man was wearing a black ski mask. (T3.132). After Santalis agreed to drive them, Williams directed her "to drive two blocks away from Tamarack the opposite way from Hickory." (T3. 135). Once she was told to stop driving, the three (3) men exited her car and ran behind it. (T3. 135).

On cross-examination, Santalis was questioned extensively about prior inconsistent statements she made during a May 5, 2005 interview with Detective Susan Nolan ("Nolan") andDetective Richard Higgins ("Higgins") and repeatedly testified that she did not remember making those statements, even after she reviewed the written statement that she had signed following that interview. (T3. 159-68).

b. The Burglary

Monica Dudley ("Dudley") testified that on April 27, 2004, she stayed with Carter, with whom she had a four (4) month old son at the time and was pregnant with a second child, at his house at 32 Tamarack Street, Central Islip, New York ("Carter's house"). (T3. 54-56). In April 2004, Robert Arbaiza ("Arbaiza") was also living with Carter, (Dudley: T3. 54; Arbaiza: T3. 88-89), because he had been evicted from his former residence in December 2003. (Arbaiza: T3. 89). At that time, Arbaiza had been briefly dating Katy Ventura ("Ventura"). (Arbaiza: T3. 89; Ventura: T3. 28-30).

Dudley testified that on April 27, 2004, at approximately 12:30 to 1:00 a.m., she was in bed with Carter and their son in Carter's bedroom, which was the first room in the house to the left upon entering the front door, when she heard a "loud boom" in the direction of the front door. (T3. 55-57). Both Dudley and Carter sat up in the bed and Dudley saw two (2) men enter the room. (T3. 57-58). According to Dudley, upon entering the bedroom, the men immediately jumped on the bed and one of them started hitting Carter in the face and head with a gun. (T3. 58) . The other man had a bat. (T3. 58-59). Dudley jumped on top of her baby in the bed because the two (2) men "were just going crazy in the room," (T3. 58); heard someone in the hallway yell: "he has backup;" and saw the man with the bat run out of Carter's bedroom. (T3. 59) . Arbaiza and Ventura were then dragged into Carter's room. (T3. 59).

Just before 1:00 a.m. on April 27, 2004, Arbaiza and Ventura were sitting on the couch in the living room of Carter's house watching television. (Arbaiza: T3. 89-90; Ventura: T3. 29-31). Arbaiza testified that he got up to change the channel, saw the front door being kicked in and heard a "bang." (T3. 90-91). Ventura testified that she heard "[a] crashing noise and then three [3] guys just ran inside the house and each of them had a weapon in their hand. One of them had a knife, the other one had a gun and the other one had a bat." (T3. 32). Arbaiza then walked towards Carter's room. (Arbaiza: T3. 91; Ventura: T3. 32). According to Arbaiza, Carter's bedroom door was open and he saw people in the bedroom and a "commotion." (T3. 91). Then another man entered Carter's house through the front door and Arbaiza grabbed that man, whom he described as being a black male with dark skin, and pinned him against the wall in the hallway. (Arbaiza: T3. 91-92, 107-08). According to Arbaiza, the man, who had a knife, started yelling to the other people in the house that "there was more people in the house." (T3.92). Arbaiza testified that as he lifted the man on the wall, he was stabbed in the back, then he started getting hit with a baseball bat. (T3. 92, 108). According to Arbaiza, he was stabbed in the back four (4) times with a "long kitchen knife-type" with a single blade. (T3. 93). Ventura testified that she saw Arbaiza get stabbed in his back three (3) times with a five to six inch (5-6") straight knife, then he fell to the floor. (T3. 32-34). According to Arbaiza, he fell to the floor after he was hit with the bat, then he tried to get back up and was dragged into Carter's bedroom, where Carter was with his girlfriend and baby, by the men with the knife and bat. (T3.92-95, 108).

Dudley testified that after Arbaiza was dragged into Carter's room, the perpetrators put him against the wall closest to the door and she saw that he was bleeding. (T3. 59). According to Dudley, there were now three (3) perpetrators in Carter's bedroom. (T3. 59-60). Arbaizatestified that upon entering Carter's bedroom, he saw a third man who had a gun pointed on Carter, who was in the corner of the bedroom with Dudley next to him. (T3. 95, 105, 109). According to Arbaiza, Ventura was brought into Carter's bedroom after him and was thrown behind Dudley on the left side of the bed. (T3. 95).

Ventura testified that after Arbaiza was stabbed, the man with the knife approached her, asked her what her name was and said "calm down, mama, and just stay there," which she did. (Ventura: T3. 34). The man with the knife then returned to where Arbaiza and the other two (2) men were and "the tallest guy, the one holding the gun" called Ventura over to them. (Ventura: T3. 34). After Ventura walked over to the men, one of them pushed her towards Carter's bedroom. (Ventura: T3. 35).

Ventura testified that upon entering Carter's bedroom, she had been facing a wall, but when she turned around she saw Carter on the bed and being hit repeatedly with a bat; Arbaiza on the floor near the closet in the bedroom and bleeding; and Dudley and a baby on the bed with Carter and covered with the sheet. (T3. 35-37, 42, 46-49). The man holding the gun then punched her in the face. (T3. 36). Arbaiza testified that "people" were yelling, screaming and "going through stuff," (T3. 95, 108), and that he saw Carter getting hit in his upper body with the bat. (T3. 95). The perpetrators were screaming about wanting money and drugs, while they continued to hit Carter with the bat. (Ventura: T3. 37; Arbaiza: T3. 95-96). Ventura testified that she eventually heard Carter said: "Okay, that's fine," (T3. 37), then Dudley got off the bed, told her to move so she could get to the baby's bag, grabbed the baby's bag and handed it to one of the perpetrators. (T3....