Watkins v. Medeiros

KYLE WATKINS, Plaintiff, v. SEAN MEDEIROS, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 16-cv-10891-ADB

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

January 7, 2020

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BURROUGHS, D.J.

On June 2, 2005, following a jury trial in the Bristol County Superior Court, Petitioner Kyle Watkins ("Petitioner") was convicted of murder in the first degree in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 1 and unlawful possession of a firearm in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 269, § 10(b). Petitioner was sentenced to life in prison for the murder conviction with a concurrent term of four to five years on the firearm conviction.

Before the Court is Petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 ("the Petition"). [ECF No. 1]. Petitioner raises a number of constitutional arguments in support of the Petition and alleges that the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ("SJC") affirming his conviction was unreasonable and contrary to clearly established federal law and based on unreasonable determinations of facts. For the reasons stated herein, the Petition, [ECF No. 1], is DENIED.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In Commonwealth v. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d 10 (Mass. 2015), the SJC described the facts of this case, which are summarized in relevant part below and "supplemented with other record facts consistent with the SJC's findings." Yeboah-Sefah v. Ficco, 556 F.3d 53, 62 (1st Cir. 2009) (quoting Healy v. Spencer, 453 F.3d 21, 22 (1st Cir. 2006)).¹

Petitioner spent the evening of April 25, 2003, at the New Bedford Elks Lodge, a private club located on Mill Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. [Respondent's Supplemental Answer ("S.A.") Vol. I at 121]. Vernon Rudolph ("Rudolph"), a long-time friend of both Petitioner and Paul Coombs ("the victim"), was also present at the club that night. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 15. According to Rudolph, Petitioner spent a portion of the evening arguing loudly with the victim over the phone. [S.A. Vol. I at 121]. After Petitioner ended the call, Rudolph looked out of a window in the club and noticed that the victim was standing on the sidewalk outside of the club "frisking" people who attempted to enter. [Id.]; Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 15. Rudolph suggested to Petitioner that he should go outside and fight the victim, but Petitioner refused and stayed at the club until after the victim had left. [S.A. Vol. I at 121]; Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 15. The next morning, the victim told his girlfriend that he wanted to fight Petitioner, saying he would like to "whoop" him. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 15.

On April 26, 2003, the day of the shooting, Petitioner was seen at the Elks Lodge at least twice, first by the club's bartender and then by Rudolph. The bartender spotted Petitioner in the bathroom between 2:30 and 3:30 PM and testified that he looked upset and said he was "tired of people [messing] with him." Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 15 (alteration in original). Rudolph saw Petitioner after he returned to the club sometime after 8:30 p.m. [S.A. Vol. I at 121]. At the time Rudolph saw him, Petitioner was wearing a black hoodie, black jeans, white and black sneakers, and batting gloves. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 16. Rudolph reported that Petitioner's attitude wasnoticeably changed from his dejected appearance the day before, that he was acting "tough" and was overheard saying, "things are going to change around here." Id. at 15; [S.A. Vol. I at 121]. Petitioner left the club sometime around 9:30 p.m. [S.A. Vol I. at 143]. At about 9:50 p.m., the victim abruptly ended a phone call with his girlfriend after calling out, "Why don't you fight me now?" to an unidentified individual. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 16. He was shot shortly thereafter.

Mill Street, on which the victim was standing at the time of the shooting, runs perpendicular to Cedar Street, which is a one-way street. [ECF No. 24-3 at 42-43, 75-76]. There is a stop sign on Cedar Street at the intersection of the two streets. See [id.; id. at 20, 108]. Four witnesses—Ernestina Soares ("Ernestina"), Beatriz Soares ("Beatriz"), Michael Couture ("Couture"), and Rudolph—testified that they drove through this intersection at around 9:50 p.m. on April 26, 2003, and either heard the incident or saw a young African-American man shoot the victim.² Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 16-17. All four witnesses also said that when they approached the intersection, they noticed a blue Lincoln Mark VIII automobile stopped on Mill Street. Id. This car was later connected to Petitioner when police learned that he had asked a friend to register the car in the friend's name but paid for the costs of registering and insuring the car himself. Id. at 17 n.5.

Ernestina and Beatriz reported that after they turned left onto Mill Street, they drove past the victim and saw him standing on the left side of the street, next to a parked Honda Accord with its driver's side door open. [S.A. Vol. I at 149]. The victim appeared to be involved in a verbal altercation with a man who was standing on the opposite side of the street. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 16. Both Ernestina and Beatriz described this second man as African American,approximately six feet tall, well-built, and wearing dark clothing including a hooded sweatshirt.³ Id. at 16 n.4. Ernestina and Beatriz reported that the victim cried out to this man, "Don't [mess] with me. I'm not the one to be [messed] with." Id. at 16 (alteration in original). After they drove past the men and the Honda, Ernestina saw the second man walk towards the Honda and raise his hand. Id. Moments later, both sisters heard gunshots. Id. The pair drove away from the scene and called 911. Id.

At about the same time, Couture, who was driving on Cedar Street, crossed through the intersection of Cedar and Mill Streets. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 16. While in the middle of the intersection, he heard a loud noise to his left and saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. [S.A. Vol. I at 144]. He reported that the entire event lasted only a few seconds, but that he saw an African-American man between six feet and six feet two inches tall with a slim to medium build, dressed in dark clothing, wearing either a mask, hat, or hood, fire multiple shots into the parked Honda Accord. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 16. Couture saw the shooter flee the scene, [S.A. Vol. I at 144], and then reversed his car down Cedar and turned left onto Mill Street in order to pull up alongside the Honda Accord that had been parked on Mill Street, [id.]. Upon seeing the victim inside the car, he called 911. [Id.].

Also at about this same time, Rudolph approached the intersection of Cedar Street and Mill Street while driving down Mill Street and had to swerve to avoid the parked Lincoln Mark VIII. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 16. He noticed Petitioner standing next to a parked vehicle on theopposite side of the intersection with Cedar Street, wearing the same clothing he had seen him wearing earlier that evening. Id. Rudolph indicated that he was able to identify Petitioner from afar based on his clothing, his mannerisms, and a glimpse he caught of Petitioner's face when his hood slipped backwards as he fired seven to eight shots at the parked vehicle.⁴ Id. at 16-17. Rudolph drove directly from the crime scene to his mother's house, where he told her that he had just witnessed a shooting, although he did not immediately share the shooter's identity with her. Id. at 17.

Officer Bryan Safioleas of the New Bedford Police Department was the first to arrive at the crime scene. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 17. Just before the shooting, he had been stationed in the area and had noticed a Lincoln Mark VIII, possibly the one connected to Petitioner, drive around the block "a 'couple' of times." Id. Officer Safioleas found the victim seated in the Honda Accord, unconscious and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Id. Emergency medical technicians arrived and transported the victim to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead. Id. Police identified Petitioner as a suspect in the days after the shooting but were unable to locate him for several months. Id. It was during this time that police discovered that Petitioner had paid to register and insure the Lincoln Mark VIII car but had asked a friend to register it in her name. Id. at 17 n.5. Two sources, including Petitioner's girlfriend, indicated that they had seen Petitioner in the car in the past, and one had a photo of the vehicle parked in the driveway of Petitioner's girlfriend. Id.

State troopers located and arrested Petitioner nearly three months after the shooting, on August 3, 2003, when they spotted him entering a restaurant in Lynn, Massachusetts. Watkins,41 N.E.3d at 17. When approached by the state troopers, Petitioner initially gave them a fake name and fake driver's license. Id. A New Bedford police officer who knew Petitioner transported him back to New Bedford and observed that Petitioner was "unshaven and sweating, wearing a dirty white t-shirt and baggy jeans, and appeared to have lost a lot of weight." [S.A. Vol. I at 220]. A state trooper who was also in the car during Petitioner's transport back to New Bedford remarked to Petitioner that he looked "bad," to which Petitioner replied that he was under a lot of stress. Watkins, 41 N.E.3d at 17. Petitioner told the trooper that he was enjoying the car ride because it was "going to be the last ride he was going to have for a long time." Id.

Petitioner was charged with murder and a firearm violation in September 2003, [S.A. Vol. I at 30], and tried in front of a jury from May 24 to June 2, 2005, [id. at 3; ECF No. 38 at 4]. The jury returned a guilty verdict, and Petitioner was sentenced to a term of natural life for homicide and a concurrent term of four to five years for unlawful possession of a firearm. [S.A. Vol. I at 6; ECF No. 24-8 at 7]. Petitioner then moved for entry of a verdict of not guilty pursuant to Massachusetts Rule of Criminal Procedure 25(b)(2), or in the alternative,...