Buford v. Falkenrath

SEAN K. BUFORD, Petitioner, v. DORIS FALKENRATH, ^[1] Respondent.

No. 4:17-CV-2506 PLC

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division

October 15, 2021

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

PATRICIA L. COHEN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Petitioner Sean K. Buford seeks federal habeas corpus relief from a Missouri state court judgment entered after a jury trial. 28 U.S.C. § 2254. [ECF No. 1] Respondent Doris Kalkenrath filed a response to the petition, along with exhibits consisting of copies of the materials from the underlying state court proceedings, and Petitioner filed a reply. [ECF Nos. 15, 26] For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies the petition, as well as Petitioner's request for an evidentiary hearing.^[2]

I. Background

A. Petitioner's first trial

In 2007, in Cause No. 0722-CR09916, the State charged Petitioner with 16 counts for crimes against four victims, S.S., M.W., H.S., and J.T. [ECF No. 27-1] The charges included counts of (1) kidnapping, forcible rape, and forcible sodomy of S.S.; (2) forcible rape and forcible sodomy of M.W.; (3) forceable rape, forceable sodomy, robbery, and kidnapping of H.S., as well as four counts of armed criminal action associated with the offenses against H.S.; and (4) one count of forcible rape and two counts of forcible sodomy of J.T. [Id.]

On October 26, 2009, the first day of trial, the State entered a memorandum of nolle prosequi on the three counts related to J.T. because the State was unable to secure the appearance of an essential witness. [Id.] The cause proceeded on the remaining 13 counts. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on six counts, including kidnapping of S.S., and the single count of robbery and the four counts of armed criminal action related to the alleged offenses against H.S. [Id.] The jury was unable to return verdicts on seven counts, including forcible rape and forcible sodomy of S.S., forcible rape and forcible sodomy of M.W., and forcible rape, forcible sodomy, and kidnapping of H.S. [Id.]

B. Pretrial motions in Petitioner's second trial

The trial court declared a mistrial on the “hung” counts and the case was placed on the January 4, 2010 trial docket. [Id.] The court subsequently continued the trial at the State's request because the prosecutor assigned to the case was handling another trial. [Id.] On January 8, 2010, Petitioner filed a request for speedy “retrial” on the “hung” counts. [Id.] In February 2010, the court continued the trial until April 5, 2010, due to the unavailability of a State witness and Petitioner's refusal to stipulate to the witness's testimony. [ECF Nos. 15-1, 27-1].

On March 23, 2010, the State filed a new indictment, Cause No. 1022-CR01505, charging Petitioner with ten counts: the remaining seven counts from Cause No. 0722-CR09916, as well as three counts related to J.T. which the State entered a nolle prosequi prior to the October 26, 2009 trial. [ECF No. 15-5]. The new indictment charged Petitioner with (1) forcible rape and forcible sodomy of S.S. (Counts I and II); (2) forcible rape and two counts of forcible sodomy of J.T. (Counts III-V); (3) forcible rape and forcible sodomy of M.W. (Counts VI and VII); and (4) forcible rape, forcible sodomy, and kidnapping of H.S. (Counts VIII-X). [Id.]

On April 5, 2010, the court cancelled the trial and set a motion hearing to consider dismissal of the indictments. [ECF Nos. 15-5, 27-1] The court reset the hearing several times. [Id.]

On April 19, 2010, Petitioner filed a motion to dismiss the indictments in both cases, Cause Nos. 0722-CR09916 and 1022-CR01505, for failure to timely retry the case after a hung jury. [Id.] On April 22, 2010, the trial court conducted a hearing on Petitioner's motion to dismiss. [ECF Nos. 15-5] At that time, the State entered a memorandum of nolle prosequi in Cause No. 0722-CR09916, and the court arraigned Petitioner on the new indictment, Cause No. 1022-CR01505. [ECF Nos. 15-5, 27-1] The court also denied Petitioner's April 19, 2010 motion to dismiss and set the case for trial on July 19, 2010. [ECF Nos. 15-5]

On July 13, 2010, Petitioner filed several pretrial motions, including: (1) a motion to dismiss the five charges related to S.S. and H.S. claiming a violation of his right to be free from double jeopardy after his acquittal on related charges in his first trial; (2) a motion to sever asserting joinder of the offenses in a single trial was improper and, even if joinder was proper, severance was warranted because joinder would result in substantial prejudice to Petitioner; and (3) a motion to dismiss for failure to timely retry the case after the hung jury, asserting a violation of his Missouri constitutional and statutory speedy trial rights, as well as his United States constitutional due process and speedy trial rights. [Id.] On July 19, 2010, the case proceeded to trial. Prior to the admission of evidence, the court conducted a hearing on Petitioner's outstanding motions and denied the motions.^[3] [ECF No. 15-1]

C. Petitioner's second trial

At trial, M.W. testified that on the morning of February 20, 2007, it was cold outside and she was walking to a friend's house. [Id.] Near the intersection of Page and Goodfellow, she asked a man in a gold Saturn, later identified as Petitioner, if she could pay him to give her a ride. [Id.] Petitioner agreed and M.W. got into the car. [Id.] Instead of taking M.W. to her friend's house, Petitioner drove to an alley and parked. [Id.] Petitioner called M.W. “the B word” and demanded she perform oral sex on him. M.W. testified Petitioner grabbed her by the back of the head, pushed her head toward his genital area, and forced his penis into her mouth. [Id.] Then, Petitioner reclined M.W.'s seatback and laid her on her stomach so that she was facing the car's back windshield. [Id.] Petitioner pulled her pants down and had sexual intercourse with her. [Id.] Afterward, while Petitioner was rummaging through M.W.'s purse, M.W. ran from the vehicle and called the police from a pay phone. [Id.]

In the early morning hours of March 14, 2007, H.S. was walking down the street on her way to a client's home. [ECF No. 15-2]. H.S. testified she used heroin and cocaine, and she worked as a prostitute with a certain group of clients with whom she felt comfortable. [Id.] As she was walking down Hamilton, near Minerva, Petitioner pulled over in a gold Saturn and asked if she was looking for a date. [Id.] H.S. told him no, and Petitioner drove away. [Id.] H.S. testified Petitioner returned shortly thereafter and forced her into the car. [Id.] Petitioner drove to a nearby lot and parked. [Id.] Petitioner called H.S. a bitch and ordered her to perform oral sex on him. [Id.] Petitioner then grabbed H.S.'s head and pushed it down. [Id.] H.S. testified she was afraid so she performed oral sex on him. [Id.] Petitioner then reclined H.S.'s seatback, climbed on top of her, and had sexual intercourse with her. [Id.] At some point, Petitioner directed H.S. to turn over so that she was on her stomach, facing the back window. [Id.] Petitioner pushed H.S.'s head into the backseat, put his penis into her vagina, and stuck his fingers into her anus. [Id.] When he was finished, Petitioner told H.S. to get out of the car, and H.S. ran to a nearby house and called the police. [Id.]

J.T. testified that in June 2007 she was a drug addict who worked as a prostitute. [Id.] In the early morning hours on June 8, 2007, J.T. stopped at a store for some food while on her way to a nearby motel where she planned to relax and get high. [Id.] Outside the store, near the intersection of Hodiamont and Ridge, J.T. was stopped by Petitioner who was driving a gold, four-door car. [Id.] J.T. had seen Petitioner driving around the neighborhood on several other occasions but he had never propositioned her before. [Id.] J.T. got into the car, and they came to an agreement about J.T. performing oral sex. [Id.] J.T. testified she had a “comfort zone” and preferred to work within the few-block radius of where she picked up her customers. [Id.] As Petitioner was driving, she directed him to make a turn and told him that she did not want to cross Page Avenue. [Id.] After Petitioner ignored her directives and continued to drive, J.T. decided she was not going to go through with the date. [Id.] After Petitioner parked at the end of a dead-end street, J.T. reached for the door handle to exit the vehicle and she realized the handle was missing. [Id.] Petitioner grabbed J.T.'s wrist and ordered her to perform oral sex on him. [Id.] As she complied, Petitioner held her head down. [Id.] Petitioner then reclined J.T.'s seatback, climbed over the console, and had vaginal intercourse with her. [Id.] Petitioner then turned J.T. over onto her stomach, positioned her waist between the front seats and her upper body in the backseat, and put his penis into her anus. [Id.] Petitioner then forced J.T. to perform oral sex on him before again forcing her to submit to anal sex. [Id.] During the assault, J.T. and Petitioner were startled when someone, later identified as Charles Burton, approached the vehicle and knocked on the driver's-side window. [Id.] J.T. then elbowed Petitioner, pushed him off her, and rushed out of the driver's-side door screaming, “He's raping me, he's raping me.” [Id.] J.T. testified she had blood and feces in her mouth and all over her body. [Id.]

Charles Burton testified he saw a gold car parked approximately 100 yards away from his home and decided to check it out because the area was known for drug dealing and prostitution. [Id.] Burton stated J.T. was hysterical upon exiting the vehicle and was anxious for him to call the police. [Id.] J.T. was crying, shaking, and saying that Petitioner raped her. [Id.]...