(HC) Williams v. Neuschmid

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedOctober 28, 2019
Docket2:18-cv-02954
StatusUnknown

This text of (HC) Williams v. Neuschmid ((HC) Williams v. Neuschmid) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
(HC) Williams v. Neuschmid, (E.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BILLY DEWAYNE WILLIAMS, No. 2:18-cv-2954-MCE-EFB P 12 Petitioner, 13 v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 ROBERT NEUSCHMID, 15 Respondent. 16 17 Petitioner is a California state prisoner who, represented by counsel, brings an application 18 for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He was convicted in the San Joaquin 19 County Superior Court of two counts of carjacking (Pen. Code, § 215, subd. (a)), two counts of 20 second degree robbery (§ 211); and one count of dissuading a witness (§ 136.1, subd. (b)(1)). 21 ECF No. 12-8 at 8. Firearms enhancements pursuant to §§ 12022.5(a)(1) and 12022.53(b) were 22 applied to each count. ECF No. 12-8 at 8. The immediate habeas petition raises the following 23 claims: (1) he is entitled to resentencing with respect to his firearm enhancements under 24 California Senate Bill 620; and (2) that the state court violated the prohibition against double 25 jeopardy when it imposed a consecutive – rather than concurrent – sentence for the second 26 carjacking conviction (Count 2). 27 For the reasons stated below, the court recommends that this petition be denied in its 28 entirety. 1 FACTUAL BACKGROUND 2 In August of 2011, Robert Older and Shane Jauregui were travelling by car from southern 3 California to Sacramento. They had audio and video equipment worth approximately 50,000 4 dollars which they were selling on commission and out of the back of their vehicle. The two men 5 stopped in Stockton and saw petitioner at a local gas station. Older approached petitioner, and the 6 two negotiated a deal in which the latter agreed to buy some home theater equipment. Petitioner 7 had passengers in his car, however, and told Older that he would need to take them home before 8 fitting the items into his car. Older agreed to proceed to a nearby shopping center parking lot 9 where they would complete the transaction after the latter drove his passengers home. 10 Older and Jauregui waited in the market parking lot for a short time. Petitioner returned 11 with two other men. Older conferred with petitioner at the back of the vehicle while Jauregui 12 moved into the driver’s seat of the car. After a short time, petitioner beckoned to the two men 13 that accompanied him, put Older in a headlock, and placed a firearm against Older’s neck. 14 Petitioner then ordered Jauregui out of the car. One of petitioner’s companions opened the car 15 door and pulled Jauregui out. 16 Petitioner took Older and Jauregui’s wallets and other pocket items. Petitioner’s 17 companions jumped into the victims’ vehicle and drove off with all of the equipment. Petitioner 18 left in his own car, but not before warning Older not to call the police or he would find and kill 19 him. 20 A security guard and a supermarket employee witnessed the events and, after petitioner 21 and his companions had left, loaned a cell phone to the victims. Older and Jauregui called their 22 boss and then the police to report the robbery. The victims described petitioner to Garret 23 Schumacher – the investigating officer. Schumacher was familiar with petitioner and, based on 24 the description, had a hunch that he was involved. He took the victims to the police station and 25 created a six-pack photo line-up that he presented to each victim separately. Both selected 26 photographs of petitioner. 27 ///// 28 ///// 1 The following day, Older and Jauregui, now accompanied by their boss, located their 2 stolen vehicle near the shopping market where they had been robbed. It had been emptied of the 3 audio and visual equipment. 4 STANDARDS GOVERNING HABEAS RELIEF UNDER THE AEDPA 5 I. Applicable Statutory Provisions 6 28 U.S.C. § 2254, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 7 1996 (“AEDPA”), provides in relevant part as follows: 8 (d) An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court shall not be 9 granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim - 10 (1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved 11 an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United 12 States; or 13 (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented 14 in the State court proceeding. 15 Section 2254(d) constitutes a “constraint on the power of a federal habeas court to grant a 16 state prisoner’s application for a writ of habeas corpus.” (Terry) Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 17 362, 412 (2000). It does not, however, “imply abandonment or abdication of judicial review,” or 18 “by definition preclude relief.” Miller El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 340 (2003). If either prong 19 (d)(1) or (d)(2) is satisfied, the federal court may grant relief based on a de novo finding of 20 constitutional error. See Frantz v. Hazey, 533 F.3d 724, 736 (9th Cir. 2008) (en banc). 21 The statute applies whenever the state court has denied a federal claim on its merits, 22 whether or not the state court explained its reasons. Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 99-100 23 (2011). State court rejection of a federal claim will be presumed to have been on the merits 24 absent any indication or state law procedural principles to the contrary. Id. at 784-785 (citing 25 Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 265 (1989) (presumption of a merits determination when it is 26 unclear whether a decision appearing to rest on federal grounds was decided on another basis)). 27 “The presumption may be overcome when there is reason to think some other explanation for the 28 state court's decision is more likely.” Id. at 785. 1 A. “Clearly Established Federal Law” 2 The phrase “clearly established Federal law” in § 2254(d)(1) refers to the “governing 3 legal principle or principles” previously articulated by the Supreme Court. Lockyer v. Andrade, 4 538 U.S. 63, 71 72 (2003). Only Supreme Court precedent may constitute “clearly established 5 Federal law,” but courts may look to circuit law “to ascertain whether…the particular point in 6 issue is clearly established by Supreme Court precedent.” Marshall v. Rodgers, 133 S. Ct. 1446, 7 1450 (2013). 8 B. “Contrary To” Or “Unreasonable Application Of” Clearly Established Federal Law 9 10 Section 2254(d)(1) applies to state court adjudications based on purely legal rulings and 11 mixed questions of law and fact. Davis v. Woodford, 384 F.3d 628, 637 (9th Cir. 2003). The two 12 clauses of § 2254(d)(1) create two distinct exceptions to AEDPA’s limitation on relief. Williams, 13 529 U.S. at 404-05 (the “contrary to” and “unreasonable application” clauses of (d)(1) must be 14 given independent effect, and create two categories of cases in which habeas relief remains 15 available). 16 A state court decision is “contrary to” clearly established federal law if the decision 17 “contradicts the governing law set forth in [the Supreme Court’s] cases.” Id. at 405. This 18 includes use of the wrong legal rule or analytical framework. “The addition, deletion, or 19 alteration of a factor in a test established by the Supreme Court also constitutes a failure to apply 20 controlling Supreme Court law under the ‘contrary to’ clause of the AEDPA.” Benn v. Lambert, 21 283 F.3d 1040, 1051 n.5 (9th Cir. 2002). See, e.g., Williams, 529 U.S.

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(HC) Williams v. Neuschmid, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hc-williams-v-neuschmid-caed-2019.