Talbert v. Pennsylvania Attorney General, CIVIL ACTION 20-6330-CFK

Charles Talbert, Petitioner v. Pennsylvania Attorney General, Respondent

CIVIL ACTION No. 20-6330-CFK

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania

July 27, 2021

MEMORANDUM

CHAD F. KENNEY, J.

Charles Talbert (“Petitioner”), representing himself, has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction under Rule 65 (ECF No. 14), along with a habeas corpus petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (ECF Nos. 8 and 15), challenging his current incarceration pending trial for three separate criminal cases of robbery, terroristic threats, and recklessly endangering another person. Upon referral from this Court, Magistrate Judge Lynne A. Sitarski issued a Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) finding that Petitioner’s claims for habeas relief and his Rule 65 Motion are without merit and recommending that his petition and motion be denied and dismissed. ECF No. 18. Petitioner has timely filed Objections to the R&R. ECF No. 19.

After a review of Petitioner’s habeas petition, his Rule 65 Motion, the R&R, and the Objections thereto, and for the reasons set forth below, this Court overrules the Objections approves and adopts the R&R in its entirety, and denies and dismisses the habeas petition and the Rule 65 Motion.

I. RELEVANT BACKGROUND

A. Petitioner’s Charges and Procedural History

This petition for habeas corpus arises out of three separate criminal cases filed against Petitioner.^[1] In the Petitioner’s first case (“Case Number 1”), Petitioner was charged with robbery, terroristic threats, and recklessly endangering another person. Crim. Docket 1 at 3. In the Petitioner’s second case (“Case Number 2”), he was charged with robbery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime, and terroristic threats. Crim. Docket 2 at 3. In the Petitioner’s third case (“Case Number 3”), he was charged with robbery, attempted theft by unlawful taking, attempted receipt of stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime, and terroristic threats. Crim. Docket 3 at 3. Petitioner has been in detention on charges related to these cases since his arrest on January 8, 2019. Crim. Docket 1 at 1; Crim. Docket 2 at 1; Crim. Docket 3 at 1.

The trial court granted several continuances at the request of both defense counsel and the Commonwealth.^[2] In March 2020, under the direction of Governor Wolf, Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 600-the “Speedy Trial Statute”-was suspended due to the Covid-19 public health emergency. ECF No. 19 at 5. On February 16, 2021, the trial court continued the case due to the closure of the courthouse to jury trials during the Covid-19 pandemic. Crim. Docket 1 at 7; Crim. Docket 2 at 8; Crim. Docket 3 at 8. Petitioner’s trial is currently scheduled for September 13, 2021. Crim. Docket 1, 2, & 3 at 2.

State court records show that on November 29, 2018, an offender-later identified as Petitioner-walked into a PNC Bank and handed the teller a demand note that stated, “FILL ME UP A BAG OF MONEY OR I WILL SHOOT.” The teller did not comply and walked behind the teller line and entered the emergency code to alert the police. The offender then walked out of the bank empty handed in an unknown direction. Members of the FBI Task Force responded to the bank robbery within fifteen minutes and processed the scene. The demand note was photographed and recovered, the teller and another witness were interviewed, and video surveillance, including still images, were recovered. The teller was able to describe the offender in detail.

Two days later, on December 1, 2018, an offender entered a TD Bank and handed the teller a demand note that stated, “GIVE ME TEN THOUSAND IN 10 SECONDS OR YOU WILL DIE.” The teller complied and gave the offender approximately $3,000.00. The offender took the money and fled the bank in an unknown direction. About an hour later a detective responded to the bank robbery and processed the scene. The demand note was photographed and recovered, the teller was interviewed, and the still images were recovered. The offender was described in detail by a witness.

On December 2, 2018, still images taken from video surveillance from the bank robbery were uploaded to the Philadelphia Police Department’s home page and were submitted to the local media outlets to solicit tips from the public.

On December 4, 2018, a police officer from Galloway Police Department in New Jersey was dispatched on a report of a male who wanted to turn himself in for a bank robbery. Upon arrival, the officer made contact with Petitioner, who stated that he robbed the TD Bank in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. The Petitioner was detained and transported to Galloway Township Police Department for investigation, where the officer was able to verify that there was a bank robbery at the TD Bank in Chestnut Hill. The officer was also able to locate a bulletin issued by the Philadelphia Police FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, which further verified a robbery at the TD Bank. The officer observed that the still image in the bulletin had distinct similarities with the Petitioner, which further corroborated his admission. The Petitioner had $760.00 in his possession. The Petitioner was not arrested at the time and was transported to Atlanticare Mainland Division Hospital, as he reported having ingested cocaine before calling the police.

Investigators then compared the driver’s license photograph of Petitioner with images from the surveillance videos from the bank robberies and concluded that the offender was Petitioner. When detectives showed the tellers from the PNC and TD Bank robberies photo arrays that included Petitioner, neither was able to make a positive identification.

Then, on December 22, 2018, an offender approached the cash register at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Philadelphia and threw a demand note over the front counter. When the cashier asked, “What’s this?” the offender replied, “If you don’t give me the money, I’ll kill you!” The cashier stated that the offender had his jacket pulled up to his face covering his mouth, and she had difficulty understanding him. She asked the offender three times what he said, and on the third time he stated, “If you don’t open the register, I’m gonna kill you!” The cashier then ran to the back of the restaurant and informed the restaurant manager. The cashier and manager then ran to the front of the store and observed the offender fleeing. The manager then got into his vehicle, followed the offender and used his cell phone to record him talking to an older man outside of a dark blue car. The manager then left the location and flagged down Patrol Officers in the area and informed them of the robbery. The North West Detectives Division responded to the location, photographed the scene, and interviewed the cashier and manager. At the scene, the Patrol Officers recovered a piece of a brown paper bag that read, “Give me 5k or I’m gonna kill you,” from the front counter of the restaurant. The manager provided the officers with the video from his cell phone of the offender.

On December 27, 2018, the same two officers were on patrol in the same area when they observed a blue car with the same license plate from the manager’s video. The officers stopped the vehicle and recognized the operator of the vehicle as the man speaking to the offender in the video. The man provided the officers with his recollection of his encounter with the offender on December 22, 2018. He informed the officers that he knew the offender from living in the same neighborhood as him, and that the offender asked him for a ride. When the man observed the manager recording them with his cell phone, he declined to give “Charlie” a ride and went inside his residence.

With this information, the Patrol Officers searched a prior offender database using the offender’s physical description from the video. The assigned detective also submitted a facial recognition request to the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center using a screenshot obtained from the video. The results implicated Petitioner as a possible suspect. When the detective showed a photo array containing a photograph of Petitioner to the cashier and manager, the cashier was unable to make a positive identification, but the manager positively identified the Petitioner as the offender that committed the robbery on December 22, 2019 at the KFC.

Petitioner was later arrested on January 8, 2019 and charged in connection with the robberies of the PNC Bank, the TD Bank, and the KFC.

B. The Instant Habeas Corpus and Rule 65 Motion

On September 3, 2020, Petitioner filed his pro se habeas corpus petition with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which was transferred to the Eastern District. ECF Nos. 1 and 9. On October 19, 2020, Petitioner filed an Amended Petition, with an accompanying brief filed on March 15, 2021. ECF Nos. 8 and 15.

Petitioner argues that his current incarceration pending trial is unlawful and in violation of his First, Fourth, Sixth Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. ECF No. 15 at 3. Petitioner explains that he has not been brought to trial in two years in violation of Pa. R. Crim. Pro. 600. Id. at 11. Additionally, Petitioner contends that his health conditions, including high blood pressure, asthma, and heart complications, put him at an increased risk of suffering serious complications from Covid-19, and that prison conditions have become inhumane due to the pandemic. Id. at 12. Finally, Petitioner argues that his mental and physical health have deteriorated substantially enough that he requires additional medical care. Id. at 13. Petitioner seeks four forms of relief: (1) grant Petitioner immediate supervised release; (2) order the open criminal cases against...