Hoskins v. Pierce

217 F. Supp. 3d 798, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158516, 2016 WL 6802484
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedNovember 16, 2016
DocketCiv. No. 14-1409-SLR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 217 F. Supp. 3d 798 (Hoskins v. Pierce) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hoskins v. Pierce, 217 F. Supp. 3d 798, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158516, 2016 WL 6802484 (D. Del. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Robinson, District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Presently before the court is petitioner Tremein Hoskins’ (“petitioner”) pro se application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and his counseled opening brief in support (hereinafter singularly referred to as “application”). (D.I. 1; D.I. 27) The State filed an answer in opposition to the pro se application and a memorandum in opposition to the counseled brief. (D.I. 14; D.I. 29) For the reasons that follow, the court will dismiss the application.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The facts leading to petitioner’s arrest and convictions are presented below, as set forth by the Delaware Supreme Court in petitioner’s direct appeal:

Late one September evening, fifteen to twenty people were socializing outside of a community known as Capital Green in Dover. The group was “just standing out there talking, having fun.” Music could be heard playing from one of their cars. The group included Brandon Beard, Leía Tolson, Jermaine Brown, Lentia Brown, Ashley Walton, and Lisa Moa-ney.
Meanwhile, less than two miles away in a residential area known as Capitol Park, another group of individuals was [801]*801preparing to make the short trip to Capital Green. That group included [petitioner], Brett Hoskins, Darryl Copperhead, and Alonzo West. Those four men got into West’s burgundy Buick. West drove the car, [petitioner] sat next to him in the front passenger seat, and Brett Hoskins and Copperhead sat in the back of the car. The group stopped at a nearby Royal Farms to get gas and continued on to Capital Green.
Shortly thereafter, Leia Tolson observed at least two vehicles approach the crowd at Capital Green, First, a Jeep Cherokee drew near, and then a burgundy Buick “slowed down in front of [the crowd]” and “the person in the back seat rolled their window down.” At that time, Tol-son knew “something wasn’t right,” and that “some shots or something was going to get fired because of the way the cars [] came in at that time of night; you don’t usually see cars come in like that.” The ears parked one behind the other, not far from the crowd. Then, Tolson “just heard gunshots” coming from “where the cars had parked at.” Although it is unclear how many shots were fired that night, Tolson heard “at least fifteen gunshots.” Tolson and the others then started to run to Lisa Moa-ney’s nearby house.
Tolson looked back “to make sure that [they] didn’t leave anybody outside.” She saw Brandon Beard “on his knees; and he was holding his chest with one of his arms out.” Tolson and a friend then carried Beard into Moaney’s house and laid him on a couch. Beard “patted his chest” and informed his friends that he had been hit. Then, Tolson observed “the blood just [] coming through his sweats.” Tolson called 911 from her cell phone. Beard stated, “I can’t breathe.” Beard then told his friends: “[c]all my mom” and “[d]on’t leave me.” Beard repeatedly stated: “I am going to die” and “[t]ake care of my kid.” Shortly thereafter, paramedics arrived and transported Beard to nearby Kent General Hospital. Dr. Samuel Wilson, who was on call that night, received a page and reported to the hospital. Doctors began operating on Beard at approximately 2:00 a.m., but they were unable to save him. Beard was pronounced dead at 5:36 a,m. Doctor Judith Tobin identified the cause of death as “irreversible shock due to massive hemorrhage due to a gunshot wound to the left lung and the left sub-clavian vein.” Tobin opined that Beard “had his back to where the bullet came from.”
Later that day, Detective Robert Roswell interviewed [petitioner]. First, [petitioner] told Roswell that he was not at Capital Green when Beard was^shot. Later in that interview, he recanted and admitted that he was at Capital Green, but stated that he did not see the shooting. During that interview with [petitioner], Roswell learned that [petitioner] and Brett Hoskins were in a burgundy Buick on the night of Beard’s death and that a man named “Lonny” supposedly drove the car.
Two days later, Roswell and another detective drove to Capitol Park, where they believed “Lonny” resided. As they approached the entrance to the development, Roswell saw a burgundy Buick pulling out of the Capitol Park entrance. Roswell stopped the vehicle and its driver, Alonzo West. Roswell searched the vehicle, with West’s consent, but found nothing related to the homicide. West arrived at a nearby police station approximately thirty minutes later and voluntarily discussed the events of the night in question. West stated that he was playing pool with friends earlier during the night of the shooting and that he had drank one beer. He also stated [802]*802that he went to various liquor stores in Dover and then returned to Capitol Park. When asked who got into West’s car later that night to go to Capital Green, West replied: “Well, Copperhead, as we call him, and me and [petitioner]. And that is it.” West then admitted that he owned a Ruger 9mm, but that neither he nor Copperhead exited the vehicle or fired a gun that night. But, West stated that [petitioner] used his gun:
Detective: So, who did you let use your gun? Was it somebody in your car?
West: Hm, yeah.
Detective: Which one?
West: Ah, [petitioner].
Detective: Ok, now afterwards, does He give it back to you?
West: Well, yeah.
Detective: All right. Does he get out and shoot, or does he shoot out the window, or what?
West: Hm, got out.
Detective: How many times you figure he shot?
West: Who?
Detective: [petitioner].
West: Could only shoot five rounds.
At the end of the interview, Roswell obtained West’s consent to retrieve the Ruger 9mm from West’s girlfriend’s trailer. Roswell found a blue gym bag, which contained a gun case. That gun case contained a Ruger 9mm handgun. The Ruger 9mm contained a magazine, but no bullets. Roswell also found a receipt for the Ruger 9mm that identified West as its purchaser. The gym bag also contained, among other things, “a Wal-Mart bag with a box of .22-caliber bullets, a 50-count box, and all the bullets were in the box.” Roswell then interviewed [petitioner] again. In that interview, [petitioner] finally admitted that he fired West’s gun on the night of Beard’s death, but [petitioner] did not describe the type of gun he fired. In his previous interview, [petitioner] had denied even observing the shooting. [Petitioner] explained his recantation as follows: “I didn’t know what was going on yet. I didn’t know what was what. I am not—that’s something that I don’t do all the time, so I wasn’t involved in anything like that on any other occasion.”
Back at the scene of the crime, police recovered twelve spent shell casings. Carl Rone of the Delaware State Police Forensic Firearms Service Unit determined that seven were fired from one gun and five were fired from another.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
217 F. Supp. 3d 798, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158516, 2016 WL 6802484, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoskins-v-pierce-ded-2016.