Diaz v. Bellnier

974 F. Supp. 2d 136, 2013 WL 5454205, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142903
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 27, 2013
DocketNo. 08-CV-4009 (MKB)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 974 F. Supp. 2d 136 (Diaz v. Bellnier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Diaz v. Bellnier, 974 F. Supp. 2d 136, 2013 WL 5454205, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142903 (E.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

MARGO K. BRODIE, District Judge.

Petitioner Frederick Diaz brought the above-captioned pro se petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, in which he alleged that he was being held in state custody in violation of his federal constitutional rights. On September 24, 2012, the Court denied Petitioner’s habeas petition, finding it barred by the statute of limitations. Petitioner has filed a motion for reconsideration of the Court’s Memorandum and Order (“September 24, 2012 Decision”). For the reasons set forth below, Petitioner’s motion is denied.

I. Background

The Court assumes familiarity with the September 24, 2012 Decision, which sets out the facts more fully. Petitioner’s underlying habeas claims arise from a judgment of conviction after a jury trial in New York Supreme Court, Kings County, for four counts of murder (two counts of murder in the second degree and two counts of felony murder).1 (Resp. Aff. Opp. Petition [138]*138for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Resp. Opp. Petition”) Ex. C, Sentencing Transcript 7, 10.) Petitioner was sentenced to 50 years to life imprisonment. (Id.) Petitioner appealed his conviction to the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, claiming that: (1) he was denied due process when the trial court failed to instruct the jury not to consider his co-defendant’s confession as evidence of Petitioner’s guilt; (2) the prosecutor’s summation was prejudicial; (3) the trial court’s instructions regarding the predicate felony charge were erroneous; and (4) the consecutive sentences were excessive and harsh. The Appellate Division rejected Petitioner’s claims and affirmed his conviction. People v. Diaz, 153 A.D.2d 575, 544 N.Y.S.2d 500 (App.Div.1989). On October 26, 1989, the New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal. People v. Diaz, 74 N.Y.2d 895, 548 N.Y.S.2d 428, 547 N.E.2d 955 (1989).

On February 28, 2006, Petitioner filed a post-conviction motion in New York State court pursuant to N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 440 seeking an order directing DNA testing on evidence from the crime scene and vacating or modifying his sentence based on: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel; (2) prosecutorial misconduct; and (3) newly discovered evidence. (Pet. Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Petition”) 4; Resp. Opp. Petition Ex. J, Pet. 440 motion.) In its opposition papers, the People noted that many of Petitioner’s claims were based on the trial record, and thus, they were procedurally barred. (Resp. Opp. Petition Ex. K (“People’s Mem. Opp. 440 motion”) 1-5.) In his reply papers, Petitioner claimed he was actually innocent. (Petition Ex. C, Pet. Reply 440 motion 15-16.) On August 27, 2007, the state court denied Petitioner’s 440 motion. (Resp. Opp. Petition Ex. L, Judge Reichbach’s Decision and Order.) The court found that (1) the crime scene evidence was no longer available for testing; (2) the “vast majority of [Petitioner’s] claims [were] based on the record” and therefore barred from review; (3) Petitioner failed to show ineffective assistance of counsel; and (4) the sentence imposed was “not illegal or otherwise invalid.” (Id.) On December 24, 2007, the Appellate Division denied leave to appeal (Petition Ex. C, Appellate Division decisions.) On February 21, May 19, and September 9, 2008, the Appellate Division denied Petitioner’s repeated motions for reargument. (Id.)

On September 23, 2008, Petitioner filed his habeas petition with this Court. In the petition, Petitioner asserted claims of (1) ineffective assistance of trial counsel; (2) prosecutorial misconduct; (3) newly discovered evidence through DNA tests; and (4) actual innocence. The Court denied his petition, finding that Petitioner’s claims were barred by the statute of limitations set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2254, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”). See Diaz v. Bellnier, No. 08-CV-4009, 2012 WL 4447357 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2012). On October 4, 2012, Petitioner filed this motion for reconsideration. Petitioner seeks reconsideration of the Court’s September 24, 2012 Decision denying his petition, pursuant to Rule 59(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Pet. Recons. Mem.); see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e) (“A motion to alter or amend, a judgment must be filed no later than 28 days after the entry of the judgment.”).2

[139]*139II. Discussion

a. Standard of Review

The standard for granting a motion to reconsider a judgment “is strict, and reconsideration will generally be denied unless the moving party can point to controlling decisions or data that the court overlooked — matters, in other words, that might reasonably be expected to alter the conclusion reached by the court.” Shrader v. CSX Transp., Inc., 70 F.3d 255, 257 (2d Cir.1995) (citations omitted); see also Lesch v. United States, 372 Fed.Appx. 182, 183 (2d Cir.2010) (same) (quoting Shrader, 70 F.3d at 257); Smith v. Schweiloch (“Schweiloch ”) (No. 12-CV-3253, 2012 WL 2277687, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 18, 2012) (“The moving party is required to demonstrate that ‘the Court [ ] overlooked controlling decisions or factual matters that were put before it on the underlying motion, and which, had they been considered, might have reasonably altered the result before the court.’ ”) (alteration in original) (quoting Vincent v. Money Store, No. 03-CV-2876, 2011 WL 5977812, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 29, 2011)); Rule 6.3 of the Local Rules of the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (requiring the moving party to “set[ ] forth concisely the matters or controlling decisions which counsel believes the Court has overlooked”).

It is thus “well-settled” that a motion for reconsideration is “not a vehicle for relitigating old issues, presenting the case under new theories, securing a rehearing on the merits, or otherwise taking a ‘second bite at the apple.’ ” Analytical Surveys, Inc. v. Tonga Partners, L.P., 684 F.3d 36, 52 (2d Cir.2012) (quoting Sequa Corp. v. GBJ Corp., 156 F.3d 136, 144 (2d Cir.1998)), as amended (July 13, 2012), cert. denied, 569 U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1805, 185 L.Ed.2d 812 (2013). In other words, “[r]econsideration of a court’s previous order is an extraordinary remedy to be employed sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of scarce judicial resources.” Hidalgo v. New York, No. 11-CV-5074, 2012 WL 3598878, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 20, 2012) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). A motion for reconsideration “should not be used as a vehicle simply to voice disagreement with the Court’s decision, ... nor does it present an occasion for repeating old arguments previously rejected or an opportunity for making new arguments that could have previously been made.” Premium Sports Inc. v. Connell, No. 10-CV-3753, 2012 WL 2878085, at *1 (S.D.N.Y.

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Bluebook (online)
974 F. Supp. 2d 136, 2013 WL 5454205, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142903, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/diaz-v-bellnier-nyed-2013.