Davis v. Bradshaw

900 F.3d 315

Ian R. DAVIS, Petitioner-Appellant,

v.Margaret BRADSHAW, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 17-3262

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: June 12, 2018

Decided and Filed: August 16, 2018

Rehearing En Banc Denied September 25, 2018^*

ARGUED: Joanna Sanchez, OFFICE OF THE OHIO PUBLIC DEFENDER, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Stephanie L. Watson, OFFICE OF THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Joanna Sanchez, OFFICE OF THE OHIO PUBLIC DEFENDER, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Stephanie L. Watson, OFFICE OF THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.

Before: GIBBONS, STRANCH, and BUSH, Circuit Judges.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge.

A recantation is not always a good reason for a new trial. The recanting witness, in fact, may have told the truth the first time. Other evidence may corroborate the earlier testimony over the recantation. Such is the case here.

Ian Davis is currently incarcerated for the assault and murder of Marsha Blakely. His conviction was based on the testimony of an eye-witness, William Avery, Jr., who changed his story several times before Davis’s trial. But corroborating evidence permitted the jury to credit Avery’s trial testimony that implicated Davis.

Years later, Avery recanted his trial testimony, claiming that he did not witness Blakely’s murder and that he admitted this to the prosecutor before testifying against Davis. Based on Avery’s recantation, Davis filed a successive petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. His petition stems from the prosecution’s alleged knowing presentation of Avery’s perjured testimony at trial.

The district court denied Davis’s petition because of several procedural infirmities, including that his petition was filed outside the one-year statute of limitations. Because Davis’s petition was untimely and because he cannot show a credible claim of actual innocence to overcome the statute of limitations, we AFFIRM.

I.

On August 8, 1991, the slain body of Marsha Blakely was found in an alley behind the Westgate Plaza in Lorain, Ohio. State v. Davis , No. 94CA005989, 1996 WL 121998, at *1 (Ohio Ct. App. Mar. 20, 1996). She had been cut and bruised, her throat had been slashed, and she had been run over by a car. Id. Blakely’s friend, Floyd Epps, was killed around the same time, and his body was found less than a quarter mile from Blakely’s. The Lorain Police Department believed the deaths were connected. The police investigation stalled until a reward was offered. Id. At that time, Avery came forward and made a statement to police that implicated Davis, and three others, in the death of Blakely. Id. Davis and his codefendants were then indicted for Blakely’s assault and murder.

Before Davis’s trial, Avery provided several statements to the police, testified in a deposition, and recanted his story during the trial of one of Davis’s codefendants. Below is a timeline of Avery’s statements.¹

September 11, 1991 Recorded Statement .... [On September 10, 1991,] Avery’s father, Avery Senior ("Senior"), went to the Lorain police and told them he had a witness to Blakely’s murder. The next day, Senior brought his son to the police station where Avery told officers he would provide information he had in exchange for the $2,000 advertised reward and protection from the murderers. Avery proceeded to give officers a summary of what he professed to know about the crime.

Avery told detectives he owed about $3,000 to a New York drug trafficker he knew as "Al Monday" ( [Alfred] Cleveland’s pseudonym) and that he was to satisfy this debt by assaulting an individual who also owed Cleveland money. Avery told detectives that Cleveland approached him on August 7 about assaulting someone and Cleveland took him to Floyd Epps’[s] apartment, where a second car with three males associated with New York drug trafficking also arrived (later identified as Benson Davis [aka Ian Davis, petitioner in this case], Lenworth Edwards, and John Edwards). Avery claimed that he, Cleveland, and the men from the second car entered Epps’[s] apartment where they encountered Blakely with another male New York drug trafficker.

Avery told detectives that at this point Cleveland told him to assault Blakely in order to get information from her about missing drugs and money. Avery was unwilling to do so because he had grown up with Blakely. After he refused to assault Blakely, Cleveland directed the other men to assault her, which they did. Avery relayed that Blakely struck Lenworth Edwards in the face during the assault, causing Edwards to cover his face and retreat from the attack.

* * *

During this interview, Avery told detectives that Blakely was rendered unconscious during the attack, at which time [Ian] Davis dragged her out of the apartment and placed her in the backseat of the car Davis, Lenworth Edwards, and John Edwards had arrived in. Avery got back into the car with Cleveland, and Cleveland proceeded to return Avery to his home. Avery did not know what happened to Blakely after she was put in the other car with the three men. He told detectives he did not witness her murder.

September 20, 1991 Interview .... In an effort to confirm the information Avery provided to police on September 11, police gave Avery a polygraph exam. The exam indicated Avery had additional information about the murder and had not been completely forthcoming. After police advised Avery of the polygraph results, he gave a new recorded statement to police, adding details to his initial statement.

Avery now told police that Cleveland left after dropping Avery off at his home but later returned on foot to Avery’s home after about one or two hours. Upon his return, Avery reported that Cleveland stated "We took care of that junkie.... We knocked her off." (alteration in original). Avery was afraid to relay this detail during the initial interview because he was fearful of retaliation from the perpetrators.

* * *

September 26, 1991 Deposition . The prosecutor deposed Avery with defendant Lenworth Edwards and his defense counsel present.... At that time, Edwards had been charged and arrested for the assault and murder of Blakely. The deposition was taken to preserve Avery’s testimony because the prosecution feared that something could happen to Avery prior to trial. Avery testified to the same facts he reported to police on September 11 and 20.

Following Avery’s deposition testimony, the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office provided him with $1,000 for relocation expenses and $2,000 in reward money. Avery relocated to Detroit but returned to Lorain after a short time.

December 1991 Contempt of Court and Recantation . After Lenworth Edwards’[s] trial commenced, Avery told Detective Taliano that he would not testify at the trial unless he was given "immunity" and another $10,000. The trial court brought Avery to the witness stand outside the presence of the jury at which time Avery asserted his Fifth Amendment right and refused to testify. The prosecutor and the court informed Avery he was not under the threat of indictment for any crime, so he could not assert the Fifth Amendment as a basis not to testify. Avery continued to refuse to testify unless he was paid additional money. The judge jailed Avery for contempt of court.

A couple days later, as Avery sat in the Lorain County Jail for contempt of court (the same jail where Lenworth Edwards was being held), Avery contacted a [Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") ] agent and told the agent Edwards had threatened him and his family—Edwards made a motion with his finger across his own neck to simulate a throat being sliced; Edwards later formed his hand in the shape of a handgun and pointed at Avery; a corrections officer approached Avery and told him to "save himself" and not testify against Edwards, admonishing Avery that the perpetrators of Blakely’s murder knew where Avery’s father and girlfriend lived. After these threats, Avery returned to the trial court and recanted, testifying that he had previously lied to police and in his pretrial deposition about the events of August 7–8. He told the trial court he lied in order to obtain the reward and relocation money. The judge declared a mistrial.

January 1992 Interview . Avery, incarcerated for perjury in connection with the Lenworth Edwards case, told officers he had additional information about Blakely’s murder, beyond what he had already provided. Detective Resendez conducted an interview with Avery.

* * *

Avery’s story changed from his prior version. He now claimed that he was not taken home by Cleveland after Blakely was dragged from the apartment. Instead, they all drove directly to the Westgate Plaza (the commercial plaza near the alley where Blakely’s body was discovered). Upon arriving, Avery told police that he and Cleveland drove behind the plaza where the still-unconscious Blakely was taken out of the second car and placed on the ground. Avery now relayed that a new unknown black male (known only as "Justice"), who was already behind the shopping plaza in another vehicle, walked over to Blakely’s body and began making downward thrusting motions at her body with a shiny object that Avery could not identify. Avery stated that at this point he got scared and ran home and spent the remainder of the night with his girlfriend, Patricia Gaddy. The next morning Gaddy informed him that Blakely’s body had been found behind the Westgate Plaza.

After hearing this, Avery left his house and went to the home of his other girlfriend, Charlotte Watkins. After three or four days, Avery told Watkins about witnessing Blakely’s assault and murder. Avery and Watkins then went to his father’s house and told Senior what happened.

In this interview with Detective Resendez, Avery admitted he had lied when he previously testified Cleveland had made a statement to him about how he "knocked that junkie off," and did so because he did not want to place himself at the scene of the murder, so he made

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