Hetzel v. Lamas

Page 563

630 F.Supp.2d 563

Michelle HETZEL v. Marirosa LAMAS et al.

Civil Action No. 08-3651.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

June 23, 2009.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mark S. Greenberg, Lacheen Dixon Wittels & Greenberg LLP, Philadelphia, PA, for Michelle Hetzel.

John M. Morganelli, Office of the DA for Northampton Co., Easton, PA, for Marirosa Lamas.

OPINION

NORMA L. SHAPIRO, District Judge.

Michelle Hetzel (Hetzel), an inmate at the State Correctional Institute at Muncy, Pennsylvania, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The Honorable Arnold C. Rapoport, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Magistrate Judge), filed a Report and Recommendation ("R & R") recommending the petition be denied. The R & R will be adopted in part and the petition will be denied. However, a Certificate of Appealability ("COA") will be issued regarding the denial of petitioner's motion for change in venue/venire.

I. BACKGROUND

Despite being married to Brandon Bloss (Bloss), Hetzel was sexually involved with the victim, a 19 year-old woman, Devon Guzman (Guzman). Bloss, aware of the women's relationship and angry about the attention and money Hetzel expended on Guzman, was contemplating divorce. Guzman was also in a sexual relationship with Keary Renner (Renner), another woman, with whom she lived. Hetzel, Renner and Guzman were high school friends. Although Guzman and Renner lived together, Guzman met with Hetzel on a regular basis. Typically, Hetzel would arrive at the house of Guzman's father and ask him to call his daughter. He would do so and his daughter would arrive shortly thereafter.

On the night of June 14, 2000, Hetzel and Guzman were at Mr. Guzman's home with him, his girlfriend, and his sister. Everyone was drinking alcohol. Hetzel and Guzman had just returned from a vacation in Puerto Rico, where they had exchanged rings. Hetzel paid for the trip. At some point the two women began arguing. Hetzel was upset that Guzman had not moved out of Renner's residence and did not intend to do so. The women ultimately left Mr. Guzman's house, each departing in her own car.

When Guzman arrived home, she told Renner that Hetzel had proposed to her, but that she had broken up with Hetzel and returned the rings Hetzel had given her. Renner noticed that Guzman had been drinking and the women argued about Hetzel. They began a physical fight, but were interrupted by a series of pages from Hetzel's home. Guzman called Hetzel's number and spoke with Bloss. Renner could hear Bloss speaking to Guzman and Hetzel screaming in the background. After the call, Guzman informed Renner that Hetzel was sick and needed her attention. Renner insisted on accompanying her to Hetzel's home. When the women arrived, Renner stayed in the car and heard Bloss tell Guzman at the doorway that Renner would have to leave because Hetzel did not want her there. Guzman came back to the car and told Renner that she was taking her home and would return to Hetzel's house. A neighbor saw Guzman at the doorway and watched as she approached her car, banged on the hood, and told her passenger that she was taking her home.

Guzman dropped Renner at their home at approximately 11:30 PM, told her there was nothing to worry about and explained that she would be back soon. Over an hour later, at approximately 12:45 AM, Renner received a call from Hetzel who told her that Guzman never returned to Hetzel's home. At 2:30 AM, Hetzel arrived at Renner's residence with Bloss. Bloss stayed in the car while Hetzel and Renner talked about Guzman's disappearance. Hetzel asked Renner to call the police and report Guzman as a missing person, but Renner refused to do so because Guzman "left before but she always came home." Hetzel then called the Forks Township Police Department and reported Guzman as missing. After giving a description of Guzman to police, the women called some friends and family members in an effort to find her. Several times, Hetzel called police to learn whether they had located Guzman. Hetzel left Renner's place at about 6:30 AM.

Later that morning, Hetzel returned to Renner's residence with food and suggested that the women drive around Easton looking for Guzman's car. Hetzel suggested they search Canal Park, a place she and Guzman often visited together. At the park, they saw the car. Inside the car they discovered Guzman. She was covered with a green jacket and lying across the backseat with her back toward the front seat. Renner noticed that Guzman's eyebrows and lips were purple and so she told Hetzel that they should take her to get help. A city employee who was present at the park told the women that police were on their way and that they shouldn't move the body. Police arrived, checked for a pulse and, finding none, called the coroner.

The coroner removed the green jacket and saw that Guzman's throat had been cut and she had a "massive gaping laceration" to her neck. The wound was a "four inch long cut that wont almost to her spine; it severed Guzman's tongue and cut in half the right carotid artery and the right jugular vein." Also found on the body was a syringe containing a clear liquid. There was no cap on the syringe. Police, securing the scene, insisted that Hetzel's vehicle remain in the lot. Both women were interviewed and released. Bloss was also interviewed by police later that day.

After their interviews with police, for about six weeks Hetzel and Bloss remained married. Hetzel announced to family and friends that she was pregnant with twins, an assertion that was not true. The couple also took a vacation to Mexico together, Meanwhile, the police investigation focused on Hetzel and Bloss. Hetzel's car was searched, as was the home she and Bloss shared. The searches yielded items of physical evidence. From the trunk of Hetzel's car police recovered two pair of rubber gloves, Bloss's T-shirt and a pair of his jeans with blood consistent with Guzman's blood, and Bloss's sweatshirt, socks and sneakers, with indications of human blood too weak for further testing. At the couple's home on the day after the murder, police found a pair of Hetzel's jeans soaking in the washing machine. In a presumptive test, the water tested positive for blood. In the pocket of Hetzel's jeans was a syringe cap matching the open syringe found on Guzman's body.

Police also recovered physical evidence from Guzman's body and her car. On the green jacket that covered her were hairs consistent with Hetzel's hair. In the car were hairs consistent with Bloss's hair. Guzman's pager was not clipped to her pants as Renner described last seeing it; it was found unclipped under the waistband of her pants. Police seized telephone records from the Hetzel/Bloss residence and learned that there had been numerous calls from that address to Guzman's pager the night of the murder. All those calls on the page had been erased.

Police examination of trash set out by Hetzel and Bloss revealed numerous bandages, one of which appeared to bear the pattern of a bite mark. Police sought and received a warrant authorizing them to photograph Bloss and the photographs revealed an injury on Bloss's left forearm. A forensic odontologist concluded that the injury was a human bite mark consistent with Guzman's dental records.

Hetzel and Bloss were charged with first-degree murder and despite Hetzel's effort to sever their trials, they were tried jointly. In addition to witnesses describing the events and those testifying about the investigation and forensic evidence, the Commonwealth presented other witnesses.

Cara Judd, a woman who had dated one of Bloss's sisters, testified that Hetzel admitted she killed Guzman.¹ According to Judd, Hetzel explained that she was very angry that Guzman brought Renner to her home on the night they argued. When Guzman returned alone, the two women began to fight. Guzman bit Bloss when he attempted to intervene on Hetzel's behalf. Hetzel grabbed a knife and the next thing she knew there was blood everywhere. Judd also testified that Hetzel told her about soaking her jeans in the washer and that Bloss had hosed down the garage where the murder had taken place.

George Vine (Vine), a friend of Hetzel and Guzman, testified that Hetzel offered him sex or money to get rid of Guzman approximately two or three months before the murder.

Bloss presented no evidence in his defense. Hetzel offered the testimony of several witnesses, including her mother, who told the jury that Bloss admitted to her he killed Guzman. Hetzel took the stand and testified that she was not involved in the murder and that she believed Bloss committed the crime.

The jury found both defendants guilty of first-degree murder but acquitted them of conspiracy to commit murder. They were sentenced to life in prison.

On direct appeal, Hetzel raised eleven claims of error, including that the trial court erred: 1) with regard to the jury instruction on the specific intent element of accomplice liability for first degree murder; 2) in not granting Hetzel's motion for a change of venue or venire; 3) in dismissing a seated juror; 4) in the admission of inflammatory photographs; and 5) in not granting her motion for severance. She also asserted insufficiency of the evidence to support the guilty verdict. A. 63.

On March 14, 2003, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence. Com. v. Hetzel, 822 A.2d 747, 768 (2003). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Hetzel's petition for allowance of appeal on December 3, 2003. A. 70 (Commonwealth v. Hetzel, No. 253 MAL 2003, 576 Pa. 711, 839 A.2d 351 (Pa. Dec. 2, 2003)).

Hetzel filed a counseled petition under the Pennsylvania Post Conviction Relief Act, 42 Pa. CONS.STAT. ANN. § 9541. She raised as issues for review that trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for: 1) failing to object to the trial court's accomplice liability instruction;...