Gonzales-Martinez v. Kirkpatrick

JAIRON GONZALES-MARTINEZ, Petitioner, v. MICHAEL KIRKPATRICK, Respondent.

No. 16-CV-5119 (JFB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

September 6, 2017

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOSEPH F. BIANCO, District Judge:

Jairon Gonzales-Martinez (hereinafter "petitioner") petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging his conviction in state court. Petitioner was convicted of murder in the second degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 125.25); attempted murder in the second degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 125.25, as modified by Penal Law § 100.05(3)); assault in the first degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.10(1)); gang assault in the first degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.07); and assault in the second degree (N.Y. Penal Law § 120.05(2)). Petitioner was sentenced to a period of incarceration of 20 years to life for the murder charge; a determinate, concurrent sentence of ten years' incarceration and five years' post-release supervision for the attempted murder, first-degree assault, and gang assault charges; and a determinate sentence of three years' incarceration and three years' post-release supervision for the second-degree assault charge. In sum, petitioner received a sentence of 33 years to life of imprisonment with five years' post-release supervision.

In the instant habeas petition ("Pet.," ECF No. 1), petitioner challenges his conviction and sentence, claiming that his constitutional rights were violated on the following grounds: (1) the trial court committed reversible error when it improvidently exercised its discretion by admitting into evidence autopsy photographs of the decedent when the defense did not contest the cause or time of death; (2) the trial court committed reversible error when it permitted a prosecution witness to testify that petitioner exchanged gang signs with other individuals without having established the proper foundation for such testimony; (3) the prosecution failed to prove petitioner guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and petitioner's conviction was against the weight of the evidence; and (4) petitioner's sentence, the aggregate of which was a period of imprisonment of 33 years to life, was harsh and excessive and should be modified in the interest of justice. (Pet. at 2.) For the reasons discussed below, petitioner's request for a writ of habeas corpus is denied in its entirety.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

The following facts are adduced from the instant petition and underlying record.

On the night of June 4, 2011, petitioner and Abraham Orellana, both patrons of the Fiesta Pool Hall at 1219 Suffolk Avenue in Brentwood, had an argument that ended in Mr. Orellana's hospitalization. (T.¹ 922-936.) The argument began because of petitioner's and his friends' alleged membership in the MS-13 gang. (T. 1241.) Because petitioner's group and Mr. Orellana's group "shouldn't be in the same place," the argument ensued. (T.1250.) The argument became physical outside of the bar, and ended after someone struck Mr. Orellana in the head with a brick. (T. 1252; 1524-25.) At this point, petitioner and his friends fled, and Mr. Orellana was transported to a hospital. (T. 1253; 1525.) At the hospital, Mr. Orellana was treated for a laceration above his right eye, a mark on his nose, and a cut to his mouth, which medical records attributed to being struck in the head by a rock. (T. 1979.)

Approximately 15 minutes later, Jose Valasques, who witnessed the attack, was outside the bar calling for a cab when petitioner and a group of people walked towards the bar carrying bats and iron bars, yelling, "You want to die, you sons of bitches." (T. 1254, 1524-29.) At this point, Mr. Valasques reentered the bar, where Jorge Martinez, the bouncer and a witness to the attacks, closed the door to prevent both entry and exit. (T. 1258; 1529.)

Petitioner and his group continued their approach toward the Fiesta Pool Hall, where they surrounded Ramiro Garcia and Rumaldo Bethancourt-Lopez, who pleaded for the group to "not do anything to them, that they didn't want to have problems and not to kill them." (T.1537.) Petitioner and his cohorts then began striking Mr. Garcia and Mr. Bethancourt-Lopez in their heads with bats and pipes. (T. 1256.) The group also began kicking their victims. (T. 1257.) During the attack, the victims could be heard crying for help. (T. 1573.)

As the victims were on the ground, petitioner and his group went to the door of the establishment and demanded that Mr. Martinez come out; they then broke the bar's door and fled. (T. 1257.) Mr. Valasques identified petitioner as the individual responsible for jamming an iron bar about sixty inches in length into the door. (T. 1539.) After the group and petitioner fled, Mr. Martinez allowed the occupants to leave the pool hall, where he discovered that one victim, Mr. Garcia, was alive, while the other, Mr. Bethancourt-Lopez, lay dead. (T. 1259.)

At the time of the second attack, Suffolk County Police Officer Kenneth Meyerbackwas parked on the side of Suffolk Avenue near Willoughby Street when a lady in a car alerted him that "there [was] a fight going on at the bar back that way," at about 1:40 a.m. (T. 1049.) As Officer Meyerback approached the Fiesta Pool Hall, he saw several people outside and two Hispanic males running by him in a westbound direction toward Bergen Street. (T. 1051-1053.) One individual was in a white t-shirt, while petitioner was in a black t-shirt with a graphic design. (T. 1052.) Another woman told Officer Meyerback that "those two guys that are running, get them, they just beat somebody with a bat." (T. 1058.) Hearing this, Officer Meyerback then turned his car around in pursuit of the two individuals that he saw make a right onto Bergen Street. (T. 1060.)

After turning right onto Bergen Street and not seeing the fleeing individuals, Officer Meyerback then proceeded to Glenmore Avenue where he saw petitioner, in a dark shirt, running while looking over his shoulder. (T. 1060-61.) As Officer Meyerback turned left onto Glenmore Avenue, petitioner then ran into a backyard. (T. 1061.) Officer Meyerback followed petitioner into the backyard; however, upon not being able to see petitioner and hearing a dog barking in a neighboring yard, Officer Meyerback returned to his car and proceeded to Evergreen Street, which runs parallel to Glenmore Avenue. (T 1062-63.) While proceeding down Evergreen Street, petitioner darted out in front of Officer Meyerback's patrol car. (T. 1063.) At this point, Officer Meyerback chased petitioner on foot past two or three houses before tackling him and placing him under arrest. (T. 1064.)

While petitioner was in custody and sitting in the passenger seat of the police car, Officer Meyerback performed a quick weapons search and observed what appeared to be blood on petitioner's pants. (T. 1069-70.) Then, petitioner's phone began to ring, so Officer Meyerback took the phone, without opening or looking through it, into his possession until he transferred it to homicide detectives present at the Fiesta Pool Hall. (T. 1097-98.) Officer Meyerback then returned to Fiesta Pool Hall, with petitioner, "to find out what had happened at the pool hall and if [petitioner] had been involved." (T. 1071.)

At the pool hall, Mr. Martinez and Mr. Valasques both identified petitioner, who was sitting in the police car, as one of the assailants. (T. 1261-63, 1542.) Furthermore, Mr. Martinez identified petitioner by his nickname "Mapache," as well as two other assailants whom he had seen before and knew as "Sombra" and "Cuervo," but who were not present at the scene. (T. 1260, 1266.) Among the items recovered just outside of the door of the pool hall near the victims were three branches, a metal bar, two baseball bats, one pool cue, and two pool balls. (T. 1455-56.) Suffolk County Police Detective Timothy Kelly was unable to obtain fingerprints from any of the items. (T. 1457.)

Mr. Garcia, the survivor of the second attack, was taken by ambulance to Southside Hospital. (T. 922, 1692.) Mr. Garcia's injuries included lacerations and contusions to the face, fractures of the facial bones and skull, and contusions to the lungs, which resulted in Mr. Garcia's comatose state for a period of time. (T. 1982, 1694.) Accordingly, Mr. Garcia's medical records indicated that his injuries were consistent with being "struck with a baseball [sic] and pipe." (T. 1983.)

Mr. Bethancourt-Lopez, the decedent, had been injured so badly that his "face and head were beaten beyond recognition," according to Suffolk County Police Officer Michael Levy. (T. 967.) In fact, his autopsyrevealed that Mr. Bethancourt-Lopez suffered severe injuries to the face and scalp, and that these injuries were consistent with blunt impact injuries to the head. (T. 1909.) Besides abrasions and contusions, there were also fractures of the facial bones and skull, injuries to the brain, and lacerations to the scalp. (T. 1909.) Also, evidence of patterned contusions, which take the shape of the object used to create the injury, was present on the decedent's torso. (T. 1909.) The internal examination showed "blunt impact injuries of the internal organs, most markedly of the brain," which had contusions in multiple areas, and lacerations and hemorrhages in the brain's white matter, suggesting a widespread brain injury. (T. 1917.) Furthermore, fractures were discovered in cartilage of the neck along with contusions to the lungs and the testes. (T. 1917-18.)

Dr. Hajar Sims-Childs, the Deputy Medical Examiner who conducted Mr. Bethancourt-Lopez's autopsy, concluded that a "fracture of the face and skull would be caused by significant force." (T. 1918.) Dr. Sims-Childs further concluded that "blunt impact injury" to the head caused the victim's death, and that the injuries were consistent with being struck by baseball bats and a metal pipe. (T. 1918.) In fact, Dr. Sims-Childs found that the square metal pipe recovered outside of the pool hall was consistent with the...