United States v. Marlow

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ALONZO MARLOW, Defendant.

Criminal No. 10-0051-4 (PLF)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

July 8, 2021

OPINION

This matter is before the Court on defendant Alonzo Marlow's pro se motion [Dkt. No. 593] to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, as amended by his supplemental motion [Dkt. No. 630] to vacate his conviction and order a new trial pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The United States opposes the motion. Upon careful consideration of the parties' papers, the relevant legal authorities, and the entire record in this case, the Court will deny Mr. Marlow's motion.¹

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant Alonzo Marlow's criminal case arises from his involvement in an interstate drug conspiracy. Mark Pray, a co-defendant of Mr. Marlow's in the instant case, was the leader of a drug distribution organization operating out of the Barry Farm public housing complex in Washington, D.C. See United States v. Danson, Criminal No. 10-0051, 2020 WL 3467887, *1 (D.D.C. June 25, 2020) (explaining that the nature of the enterprise was to "obtain as much money and things of value as possible through the trafficking of controlled substances"); see also Feb. 7, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 4-5. As a result of his involvement with the organization, Mr. Marlow was charged with and convicted of several drug-related crimes and several violent crimes. See Verdict Form at 18-23. Among those crimes were the murders of Crystal Washington and Jheryl Hodge. See id. at 21-22. Those convictions are the subject of this motion.

A. The Murder of Crystal Washington

Testimony offered at Mr. Marlow's trial established the connection between Crystal Washington and Mr. Marlow. For example, Assistant United States Attorney ("AUSA") Mona Sahaf testified concerning conversations she had with Crystal Washington prior to Ms.Washington's death. Feb. 6, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 61. During those conversations, AUSA Sahaf learned that Mr. Pray's organization used Ms. Washington's house to prepare and package crack cocaine, marijuana, and phenylcyclohexyl piperidine (PCP). Id. at 70; Feb. 7, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 7-9. Officer John McElhenny of the Metropolitan Police Department also testified at Mr. Marlow's trial. He stated that on September 1, 2006, he, along with two other officers, responded to a reported burglary at Ms. Washington's house. Feb. 6, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 18-21. When they arrived, the officers found Mr. Pray, Ms. Washington, and several other members of Mr. Pray's organization, along with a "large quantity of narcotics." Id. at 30-31. The officers placed the individuals at the scene under arrest. Id. at 47.

Other testimony at Mr. Marlow's trial established Ms. Washington's role in the criminal cases against Mr. Pray and members of his organization. In particular, AUSA Courtney Saleski testified at trial that Ms. Washington ultimately entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors and testified against Mr. Pray before a grand jury. Feb. 6, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 74-78. AUSA Saleski stated that Ms. Washington also agreed to testify against Mr. Pray at trial. Id. at 77. Mr. Pray was subsequently indicted on November 12, 2008, along with other members of his organization. Feb. 7, 2012 AM Trial. Tr. at 7. Consistent with Ms. Washington's plea agreement, she was released to a halfway house in February 2009, where she lived during the months leading up to Mr. Pray's trial. Feb. 6, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 28-29. The trial was scheduled to begin on April 13, 2009. On April 10, 2009, Ms. Washington was shot and killed outside of her place of work. Feb. 7, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 60.

Mr. Marlow was charged with the murder of Ms. Washington. Superseding Indictment at 39. Marvin Benton, a co-defendant in Mr. Pray's criminal case in Superior Court, testified as a cooperating witness at Mr. Marlow's trial. See Feb. 16, 2012 AM Trial Tr.at 94, 121. He testified that in the spring of 2009, he learned the location of the halfway house where Ms. Washington was residing. Feb. 21, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 11. He shared that information with Mr. Pray on March 14, 2009. Id. at 25-26. Several days later, Mr. Benton heard from his cellmate, another high-level member of Mr. Pray's organization, that Mr. Marlow planned to attend the next court hearing. Id. at 33. Mr. Benton testified that he understood that Mr. Marlow wanted to confirm Ms. Washington's identity at the hearing so that he could later kill her. Id. at 33, 56-57. On March 20, 2009, Mr. Benton saw Mr. Marlow at a hearing in Superior Court during which the prosecutor identified Ms. Washington as a trial witness for the government. Id. at 34-36. Ms. Washington was shot and killed on April 10, 2009. The day after her murder, Mr. Benton's cellmate showed him a newspaper article regarding the murder and stated that it "was [Mr. Marlow's] work." Id. at 57-58.

Other evidence supported Mr. Benton's testimony. John Defant, the vice president of hardware design at 3M Electronic Monitoring, testified about global positioning system ("GPS") data related to Mr. Marlow's case. See March 1, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 4-6. He testified that Mr. Marlow began wearing a GPS tracking device on April 9, 2009, one day before Ms. Washington's murder. Id. at 37. He further testified that GPS data show that, on April 10, 2009, Mr. Marlow's device was stationary near Ms. Washington's workplace for more than an hour prior to her murder. Id. at 75-76. At the time of the murder, Mr. Marlow's device moved at a high speed toward the lot where the shooting took place. Id. at 83. One minute after the murder, the GPS device had traveled one block away from the scene. Id. It then traveled to the Barry Farm housing complex, reaching speeds of up to 67 miles per hour. Id. at 85. The testimony of Special Agent Scott Eicher of the FBI's Cellular Analysis and Survey Team also supported Mr. Benton's testimony. Agent Eicher stated that cell-site data from Mr. Marlow'sphone indicated that Mr. Marlow was in the vicinity of the crime scene at the time of the murder. March 5, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 68-69.

Some evidence at trial did not support the prosecution. For example, Luciano Morales, a firearms examiner with the Metropolitan Police Department's Firearms Examination Branch, determined that a .40-caliber pistol recovered from Mr. Marlow's home "did not fire the cartridge casings recovered" from the scene of Ms. Washington's murder. March 14, 2012 Trial Tr. at 36. At trial, the parties stipulated to this firearms comparison.

B. The Murder of Jheryl Hodge

On July 23, 2009, Lamare Larkins, a high-level member of Mr. Pray's organization, and his step-brother were shot. Officer Bryan Kasul of the Metropolitan Police Department testified about the shooting at Mr. Marlow's trial. See Feb. 22, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 102. He stated that Mr. Larkins survived the shooting, but his step-brother died from his injuries. Id. at 103-104. Witnesses indicated that one of the shooters was the brother of a man named Jheryl Hodge. Id. at 116-118. When Officer Kasul spoke to Mr. Larkins, however, he denied knowing the identity of his assailants. See id. at 109-110.

Mr. Marlow was incarcerated at the time of the assault on Mr. Larkins, but he was released on December 30, 2009. Feb. 28, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 33-34. Two weeks later, on January 13, 2010, Jheryl Hodge was shot and killed. Feb. 23, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 26. At trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Mr. Marlow was the perpetrator. Lawson White, another member of Mr. Pray's organization, testified at Mr. Marlow's trial. He stated that on the day of Mr. Hodge's murder, Mr. Marlow called Mr. White and then came over to his house and asked for a gun. Feb. 28, 2012 AM Trial. Tr. at 18-20. Mr. Marlow told Mr. White that he had seen someone at Barry Farm who "killed his man." Id. at 20. Mr. White supplied Mr. Marlow witha .40-caliber Glock and drove Mr. Marlow to the alley where the murder took place. Id. at 21-23. Mr. White testified that Mr. Marlow exited the vehicle and walked behind a dumpster, while Mr. White stayed in the car. Id. at 26. When Mr. Marlow returned to the car, he told Mr. White that he "just crushed this dude" and instructed Mr. White to dispose of the gun. Id. at 27.

Again, Mr. Defant of 3M Electronic Monitoring testified regarding Mr. Marlow's GPS tracking data on the day of the murder. March 1, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 61-64. He stated that Mr. Marlow's device was recorded moving toward the alley and dumpster where Mr. Hodge was killed, at the time he was killed. See id. at 63. One minute later, his device was recorded moving in the opposite direction, back to the point where it had started from. Id. at 64-65. Cell-site data, testified to by FBI Special Agent Catherine Hanna, corroborate the GPS data. See March 5, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 46-49.

Officer Thomas Coughlin of the Metropolitan Police Department's crime scene search unit was among those who responded to the scene of the Hodge murder. Feb. 27, 2012 AM Trial Tr. at 7-9. At trial, he testified that officers recovered fourteen ammunition casings from the scene. Id. at 14-15. The parties stipulated that Daniel Barrett, a firearms examiner with the Metropolitan Police Department's Firearms Examination Branch ("FEB"), determined that the fourteen casings had all been fired from the same .40-caliber firearm. See Feb. 28, 2012 PM Trial Tr. at 35-36 (reading Government Exhibit 2031, Stipulation of Testimony Regarding Firearms Comparisons, into the record). A civilian crime scene technician, Shannon Gill, also testified at trial. See id. at 54. She stated that eleven days after the Hodge murder, on January 24, 2010, officers recovered twenty-two ammunition casings from Mr. White's house, where he often fired test rounds. Id. at 61-64. The parties stipulated that the FEB determined that six casings from Mr. White's house had been fired from the same .40-caliber firearm thatfired the fourteen...