Guerrero v. Lamanna

325 F. Supp. 3d 476
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 18, 2018
Docket17-cv-1486 (JGK)
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 325 F. Supp. 3d 476 (Guerrero v. Lamanna) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guerrero v. Lamanna, 325 F. Supp. 3d 476 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

JOHN G. KOELTL, United States District Judge:

The petitioner, Lerio Guerrero, brings this pro se petition for a writ of habeas *480corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petitioner pleaded guilty on October 9, 2012, to an indictment in New York State Supreme Court, New York County, charging rape in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, and attempted robbery in the first degree. The petitioner is currently incarcerated and is serving seven concurrent terms of fifteen years. The petitioner argues that his constitutional right to due process of law was violated as a result of his DNA indictment, an amendment to that indictment, and an allegedly delayed prosecution.

For the reasons explained below, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied.

I.

The following is a summary of the relevant facts. On November 8, 1998, a woman was attacked by a man as she was entering her apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Holding a piece of broken glass to the victim's throat, the man raped and sodomized her. State Court Record ("S.R.") at 200. He then stole her wallet, took her to an ATM and forced her to withdraw money. S.R. at 200. The victim escaped and was brought to a hospital, where a rape kit was prepared. S.R. at 200. The police recovered the attacker's blood from the victim's coat, as well as an impression left on the ATM receipt by the joint area of a right index finger. Six usable fingerprints were also recovered from the crime scene. S.R. at 201. The police were also able to isolate the attacker's DNA profile from the rape kit. S.R. at 202.

The New York City Police Department ("NYPD") conducted an extensive investigation into the incident in an attempt to find the attacker. S.R. at 201. However, the usable fingerprints yielded no match in the State ID system. Other avenues pursued by the police, such as canvassing the area, having the victim review mugshots, and distributing surveillance video to the public, were unsuccessful. S.R. at 201-202. The attacker was not found and the case was closed in July, 1999, when it was determined that all leads had been exhausted. S.R. at 202.

On April 13, 2005, a New York County grand jury, using the DNA profile obtained during the police investigation, charged the attacker by DNA indictment with rape in the first degree, two counts of sodomy in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, two counts of robbery in the first degree, and attempted robbery in the first degree. S.R. at 203.

In May 2011, while questioning the petitioner concerning an unrelated rape, investigators recovered his DNA from a cigarette he smoked during the interrogation and left in the police station. S.R. at 203. The DNA profile taken from the cigarette butt matched the DNA profile of the attacker who committed the 1998 rape. S.R. at 203. The finger joint impression taken from the crime scene was also matched to the petitioner. S.R. at 203.

On June 9, 2011, the 2005 indictment was amended to replace the identifying DNA profile with the petitioner's name. S.R. at 203-204. The petitioner was arrested on the amended indictment soon afterwards. S.R. at 9. On July 25, 2011, the petitioner filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds of insufficiency, improper amendment, and as a violation of the statute of limitations and the right to a speedy trial. S.R. at 60. On October 25, 2011, the motion was denied by the New York State Supreme Court. S.R. at 171. On October 9, 2012, the petitioner pleaded guilty to all counts of the indictment and executed a waiver of appellate rights. S.R. at 180-189. The petitioner was sentenced on October 23, 2012 to seven concurrent *481terms of fifteen years of incarceration. S.R. at 35-36.

The petitioner appealed to the Appellate Division, First Department, claiming that the indictment and subsequent amendment violated several provisions of the State and Federal Constitutions and alleging several state statutory claims. People v. Guerrero, 126 A.D.3d 613, 3 N.Y.S.3d 600, 601 (2015), aff'd, 28 N.Y.3d 110, 42 N.Y.S.3d 80, 65 N.E.3d 51 (2016). The Appellate Division affirmed the judgment of conviction. First, the court held that the speedy trial claims raised by the petitioner were meritless because the petitioner had not established prejudice, and the delay was explained by the people's practical inability to prosecute until the attacker's identity was known. Guerrero I, 3 N.Y.S.3d at 601. The court then held that the remainder of the petitioner's claims had been forfeited by his guilty plea and his waiver of the right to appeal. Id. Alternatively, the court held that the DNA indictment and its amendment were proper under state law, and that the remainder of the petitioner's claims failed on the merits. Id.

The petitioner was granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals affirmed over a lone dissent, explaining that New York law provides that only those claims involving "jurisdictional defects" or "rights of a constitutional dimension that go to the very heart of the process" may survive a guilty plea. People v. Guerrero, 28 N.Y.3d 110, 42 N.Y.S.3d 80, 65 N.E.3d 51, 56 (N.Y. 2016). The court found that, of the claims brought by the petitioner, only the constitutional speedy trial claim had survived his guilty plea, and affirmed the Appellate Division's ruling that that claim was meritless. Guerrero II,42 N.Y.S.3d 80, 65 N.E.3d at 56.

On February 28, 2017, the petitioner filed his petition for habeas corpus before this court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
325 F. Supp. 3d 476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guerrero-v-lamanna-ilsd-2018.