Moritz v. Woods

844 F. Supp. 2d 831, 2012 WL 542583, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21045
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedFebruary 21, 2012
DocketCase No. 2:07-CV-15369
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 844 F. Supp. 2d 831 (Moritz v. Woods) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moritz v. Woods, 844 F. Supp. 2d 831, 2012 WL 542583, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21045 (E.D. Mich. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER CONDITIONALLY GRANTING THE PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

ARTHUR J. TARNOW, Senior District Judge.

Conny Moritz, (“Petitioner”), presently confined at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan, has filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging his conviction for kidnapping, M.C.L.A. 750.349; first-degree home invasion, M.C.L.A. 750.110a(2); carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, M.C.L.A. 750.226; assault with a dangerous weapon, M.C.L.A. 750.82; and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, M. C.L.A. 750.227b.1 This Court finds that petitioner did not knowingly and intelligently waive his Sixth Amendment right to be represented by his retained prepared counsel during a critical stage of his trial, namely, when the trial court was deciding whether or not to give a supplemental jury instruction to the deadlocked jury and when the deadlocked jury was given a supplemental jury instruction to continue with their deliberations. Because this is a structural error, the grant of habeas corpus is automatic. The petition for writ of habeas corpus is therefore CONDITIONALLY GRANTED.

I. Background

Petitioner was convicted following a jury trial in the Macomb County Circuit Court. Petitioner was originally sentenced on August 13, 2003 but was re-sentenced by the trial court on August 3, 2004. Petitioner’s conviction was affirmed on appeal, but his case was remanded for re-sentencing. People v. Moritz, No. 251265, 258436, 2006 WL 2220966 (Mich.Ct.App. August 3, 2006);2 Iv. den. 477 Mich. 975, 725 N. W.2d 21 (2006).

Petitioner was re-sentenced on November 16, 2006. The Michigan appellate courts affirmed petitioner’s re-sentencing. [836]*836People v. Moritz, No. 275210 (Mich.Ct. App. January 10, 2008); lv. den. 480 Mich. 1190, 747 N.W.2d 302 (2008).

While petitioner’s second appeal was pending in the state courts, petitioner filed an application for writ of habeas corpus. On January 3, 2008, the Court held the petition for writ of habeas corpus in abeyance pending the completion of petitioner’s resentencing appeals in the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court. The Court also administratively closed the case. See Moritz v. Lafler, No. 2008 WL 62458 (E.D.Mich. January 3, 2008). On March 19, 2008, the Court amended its prior order of January 3, 2008 and held the petition in abeyance to permit petitioner to seek post-conviction review in order to exhaust additional claims. Moritz v. Lafler, No. 2008 WL 783751 (E.D.Mich. March 19, 2008).

Petitioner filed a post-conviction motion for relief from judgment, which the trial court denied. People v. Moritz, No. 2003-0991-FC (Macomb County Circuit Court, July 2, 2008). The Michigan appellate courts denied petitioner’s post-conviction appeal. People v. Moritz, No. 286628 (Mich.Ct.App. March 4, 2009); lv. den. 485 Mich. 891, 772 N.W.2d 410 (2009).

On December 4, 2009, this Court reinstated the petition to the Court’s active docket and permitted petitioner to file an amended petition for writ of habeas corpus, in which he seeks habeas relief on the following grounds:

I. Petitioner’s Sixth Amendment right to confront the witness against him at trial was violated when the trial court found a witness unavailable for trial and allowed that witness’ preliminary examination testimony to be read to the jury.
II. The court’s imposition of sentence based on facts that were not found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution, contrary to Blakely v. Washington, U.S. v. Booker, and Apprendi
III. The trial court abused its discretion in ordering consecutive sentences.
IV. Petitioner is entitled to re-senteneing before a different judge where the sentencing judge continuously refuses to allow Petitioner allocution before pronouncing sentence.
V. The trial court violated Petitioner’s Sixth Amendment constitutional right to counsel of choice when it replaced defense counsel without obtaining Petitioner’s consent or waiver.
VI. Petitioner was denied his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional right to counsel where his retained counsel was absent at a critical stage.
VII. Petitioner was denied his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel where his trial counsel failed to (A) present the defenses that Petitioner had legal authority over complainant and consent; (B) move for the introduction of complainant’s prior false allegations, and (C) do the above which, when considered cumulatively, prejudiced the Petitioner.
VIII. Petitioner was denied his Fourteenth Amendment due process right to a fair trial where the Prosecutor knowingly used false and perjured testimony.
IX. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was violated where the Prosecutor failed to disclose favorable evidence.
X. Petitioner’s due process rights were violated where his sentence was based on inaccurate information in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment which entitles him to re-sentencing.
XI. Petitioner was denied his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment light to the effective assistance of appellate counsel where all three of his appellate counsels failed to raise habeas claims V through
[837]*837X which establishes good cause for Petitioner’s failure to raise those issues on direct review.
II. Standard of Review
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 granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim—
(1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or
(2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.

28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); Harpster v. State of Ohio, 128 F.3d 322, 326 (6th Cir.1997).

Additionally, this Court must presume the correctness of state court factual determinations. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

A decision of a state court is “contrary to” clearly established federal law if the state court arrives at a conclusion opposite to that reached by the Supreme Court on a question of law or if the state court decides a case differently than the Supreme Court has on a set of materially indistinguishable facts. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Conny Moritz v. Jeffrey Woods
692 F. App'x 249 (Sixth Circuit, 2017)
People v. Yablonsky CA4/2
California Court of Appeal, 2013

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
844 F. Supp. 2d 831, 2012 WL 542583, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21045, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moritz-v-woods-mied-2012.