Teats v. Phillips

1

JEROME MAURICE TEATS #313227, Petitioner, v. SHAWN PHILLIPS, Respondent.

No. 3:19-cv-00841

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division

March 23, 2022

MEMORANDUM

WILLIAM L. CAMPBELL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

Petitioner Jerome Maurice Teats, a pro se state prisoner, filed a petition for the writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Doc. No. 1) with supporting facts and legal argument. (Doc. Nos. 4, 5). Respondent filed an Answer (Doc. No. 16) and Petitioner filed a Reply. (Doc. No. 23).^[1] Petitioner submitted a motion to add fifteen documents to the record and the Court opted to consider these documents as appropriate when it considers the underling Petition. (Doc No. 26 at 2). Petitioner also filed motions to appoint counsel (Doc. No. 27), hold an evidentiary hearing (Doc. No 28), and amend the Petition. (Doc. No. 30). Respondent filed a Response in opposition to the Motion to Amend (Doc. No. 32), and Petitioner filed a Reply. (Doc. No. 34). The Court now considers the underlying Petition^[2] and the pending motions. And as explained below, Petitioner is not entitled to relief under Section 2254, the pending motions will be DENIED, and this action will be DISMISSED.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Petitioner's state criminal case arose from an incident at a Shoney's restaurant in May 2009. See State v. Teats, No. M2012-01232-CCA-R3-CD, 2014 WL 98650, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 10, 2014) (“Teats I”). The Tennessee Supreme Court summarized the basic facts of this incident as follows:

Shortly before six o'clock on the morning of May 18, 2009, Jerome Maurice Teats [(“Petitioner”)] and Tirrone Akillia Simpkins (“the accomplice”) forced their way into the back door of a Shoney's restaurant in Nashville. Armed with guns, they threatened four employees in the kitchen area, forced them to gather in a storage area in the back of the kitchen, and told them to put their heads down and not to move. As the accomplice guarded these employees, [Petitioner] forced the Shoney's manager to take him to the restaurant's money drawer. After taking the money, the intruders fled on foot but were soon apprehended by police.

State v. Teats, 468 S.W.3d 495, 496-97 (Tenn. 2015) (“Teats II”).

The court appointed Christopher Coats (“appointed counsel”) to represent Petitioner. (See Doc. No. 14-1 at 10-11). A Davidson County grand jury indicted then Petitioner and the accomplice for “aggravated robbery of the Shoney's manager and four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping of the four Shoney's employees.” Teats II, 468 S.W.3d at 497. The accomplice's “case was severed before trial, and he later pleaded guilty to all charges.” Id. at 497 n.1 (citing Simpkins v. State, No. M2012-01558-CCA-R3-PC, 2013 WL 775957, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 28, 2013)).

In January 2010, appointed counsel filed a motion to withdraw after Petitioner's family retained James Todd (“trial counsel”) to represent Petitioner. (Doc. No. 14-1 at 11-12). In February 2011, trial counsel filed a motion to suppress statements Petitioner made to police following his apprehension in May 2010. (Id. at 24-34). The court held a hearing (Doc. No. 14-4) and denied relief. (Doc. No. 14-1 at 43). As trial approached in late 2011, Petitioner retained Patrick McNally (“co-counsel”) to assist trial counsel. Teats v. State, No. M2017-00855-CCA-R3-PC, 2019 WL 76643, at *2, 5 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 2, 2019) (“Teats III”).

The Tennessee Supreme Court summarized the State's evidence at trial as follows:

During a four-day trial from October 31 to November 3, 2011 fourteen witnesses testified for the State. Francisco Carrizosa Perez, a cook and food preparer at Shoney's, testified that on the morning of May 18, 2009, as he opened the restaurant's back door to take out some trash, two men came to the door. One man, later identified through trial testimony as [Petitioner], was wearing a mask and had a pistol. [Petitioner], pointing the pistol at Mr. Perez's head, told Mr. Perez not to look at him and to close his eyes and walk down the hallway leading to the storage area. Mr. Perez followed his orders. Meanwhile, the other intruder, who was not wearing a mask and was later identified as the accomplice, brought the other employees, Dora Delacruz Moreno, Arcelia Ruiz, and Teresa Diane Cline, to the storage area.2 Later the store manager came to the area, where the group sat and waited with their heads down until the intruders left the store.

[FN2] Three of the Shoney's employees testified through an interpreter. Ms. Cline passed away before trial, and the Shoney's manager was unavailable. The jury heard a 911 call, wherein the caller, identified as “Teresa, ” reported that the restaurant had just been robbed by men with guns. The caller further stated that they had been put into the stockroom and told to “get in the corner.”

Arcelia Ruiz, a food preparer at Shoney's, testified that the morning of May 18, 2009, was the worst day of her life. She was in the kitchen preparing food, when she heard Mr. Perez make a noise as if he were scared. She turned around and saw two men enter the back of the restaurant. One of the men, identified at trial as [Petitioner], had his face covered, and both men were carrying guns. She saw [Petitioner] put a gun to Mr. Perez's head while his accomplice pointed a gun at her. The accomplice screamed at Ms. Ruiz not to look at him and asked where the office was located. When she told him the manager was in the office, [Petitioner] led Mr. Perez to the back storage area and then proceeded to the office. The accomplice led Ms. Ruiz to the storage area where Mr. Perez was waiting. Pointing the pistol at Ms. Ruiz and Mr. Perez, the accomplice asked how many people were in the restaurant. As other employees arrived in the kitchen, the accomplice ordered them at gunpoint to the storage area. Continuing to guard the four employees, the accomplice told them “not to move.” Eventually, the manager came back and told the employees that the men were going to leave. Ms. Ruiz then heard a voice tell them all to “bow down, ” and [Petitioner] and his accomplice left.

Dora Delacruz Moreno, a Shoney's employee, testified that on the morning of May 18, 2009, she was in the front of the restaurant preparing the buffet when the intruders entered the restaurant. As she was heading toward the back, she saw [Petitioner] taking the manager toward the restaurant's safe. The man was speaking strongly to the manager, but Ms. Moreno could not understand what he was saying. Ms. Moreno then walked to the kitchen, where the accomplice pointed his gun at her. She could not understand what the man was saying, so she stood there until another employee, Ms. Cline, came and led her to the back with the others. Ms. Moreno's head was down, but she could see the man's feet. He was standing by the back door, blocking their exit, and was waving a gun back and forth. Eventually, the manager arrived and gestured for all of the employees to get down, and the two intruders left. Ms. Moreno estimated that they were in the storage area for a total of about eight minutes, staying there four or five minutes after the men were gone.

Jack Liev, a frequent patron of Shoney's, testified that on May 18, 2009, he arrived at the restaurant a couple of minutes before it opened for business. When he attempted to enter, he noticed that the inner doors of the foyer were locked, which he thought was unusual. He was then met by the manager who frantically explained that the restaurant had just been robbed and asked Mr. Liev to call the police. Mr. Liev called 911 from the parking lot. While waiting for the call to be answered, the manager pointed out one of the suspects, who was walking down the street, wearing a black hoodie. As Mr. Liev talked to the 911 operator, he got into his truck and followed the person, attempting to keep him in his sight. When officers arrived, Mr. Liev directed them to the area he last saw the suspect and returned to Shoney's.

Officer Derek Smith, a patrol officer with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (“MNPD”), was the first officer to arrive at the scene. He testified that he received the call around 6:00 A.M. and arrived three or four minutes later. Officer Smith obtained a description of the two suspects from the manager and broadcast the description to other officers in the area. The Shoney's manager then led Officer Smith around the restaurant, describing what had happened. Officer Smith noticed that the manager had a small laceration on the top of his head and that the drawer from the cash register was lying on the floor in the front of the restaurant, along with the register's contents and a black garbage bag.

Also responding to the call and testifying at trial were Officers Patrick Ragan and Paul Sorace, Sergeant Vernon Teague, Detectives Diana McCoy and William Stokes, and Tim Matthews, a crime scene investigator. According to these officers, the accomplice was apprehended in a field near the Bellevue Mall, and [Petitioner] when he emerged from a crawl space beneath a nearby house. While searching for the suspects, police found a white vehicle belonging to [Petitioner] parked across the street from Shoney's. Inside the vehicle, police found [Petitioner's] wallet and a “large black plastic garbage bag” full of loose bills and coins. Police also recovered a loaded .357 magnum revolver, a black pair of pants, a black sweatshirt, and a black hoodie. Lorita Marsh, an expert in latent fingerprint examination, testified that she matched the accomplice's and [Petitioner's] fingerprints to a number of prints collected from [Petitioner's] vehicle.

At the police station, [Petitioner] gave a statement to Detective Stokes and Detective McCoy. An audio

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