Moseley v. Kemper

187 F. Supp. 3d 1021, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61664, 2016 WL 2733415
District Court, E.D. Wisconsin·Decided May 10, 2016·No. Case No. 15-CV-0035·Published

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR § 2254 RELIEF

William C. Griesbach, Chief Judge, United States District Court

Petitioner Timothy D. Moseley seeks federal relief from his state court criminal conviction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He claims that his state court conviction and sentence were imposed in violation of the Constitution. For the reasons that follow, Moseley’s petition will be denied.

Moseley was charged in Milwaukee County with two counts of false imprisonment and one count of capturing an image of nudity without consent of a woman with the initials M.K. He was later charged in a separate case with eight counts of possession of a recording of nudity without consent of a woman with the initials T.H. The cases were consolidated for trial and a Milwaukee county jury convicted Moseley of all three counts involving M.K. and three of the eight involving T.H. The trial court imposed a. bifurcated sentence of twelve years, the first eight in confinement. See State v. Moseley, 342 Wis.2d 249, 816 N.W.2d 351 (Wis.Ct.App.2012). Moseley is currently incarcerated at Racine Correctional Institution.

In his. petition for relief under § 2254, Moseley asserts three claims. First, he alleges that the trial court erred in failing to conduct an in camera review of T.H.’s counseling records. Second, Moseley alleges that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence. Third, he alleges that the trial court exhibited bias toward him and, therefore, denied him his right to a fair trial. This Court has jurisdiction over Moseley’s petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 2254.

BACKGROUND

On October 7, 2009, City of Milwaukee police officers arrested Moseley, a United States Deputy Marshal, based on allegations of domestic violence against a woman named M.K. While in custody, Moseley consented in writing to a search of his apartment and South Milwaukee police officers seized numerous items from Moseley’s apartment, including his computer, camera, external hard drive and CDs. A search of the computer revealed sexually explicit images of M.K and T.H. that formed the basis of most of the charges against him.

Moseley moved to suppress the images in question, arguing that he verbally limited his consent to the search for evidence relating to M.K.’s domestic abuse accusations. Moseley also moved for an in camera inspection of T.H.’s counseling records for evidence that she experienced memory lapses, had spoken to her therapist about Moseley allegedly sexually abusing her, and suffered from a psychological disorder at the time he recorded the images of her. The state had received T.H.’s records from the Cheyenne, Wyoming Police Department, which had received a copy from T.H.’s doctor. Wisconsin contended that Moseley had taken the pictures of T.H. in Wyoming and Cheyenne Police officers had interviewed T.H. to determine whether Moseley had committed a crime in Wyoming. During the interview, T.H. told the officers that she could not remember ev[1025]*1025erything Moseley had done to her,, but that she had spoken with her therapist about the acts and authorized the police to obtain her counseling records. Moseley alleged that the records would show that T.H. had a consensual sexual relationship with him in addition to revealing her memory lapses and mental illness. Charges against Moseley in Wyoming were dismissed at the preliminary hearing stage. ■

The circuit court held a hearing on the motions to suppress at which South Milwaukee police officers testified that Moseley, after a phone conversation with a lawyer, signed a consent form for the search of his apartment without oral or written limitations on the scope of the search. Though Moseley agrees he signed the consent form, he testifies that he verbally limited the search to his bedroom and for the items related to the domestic abuse charge. During the hearing Moseley also testified that he signed the form because he was under the impression that his interview was being electronically recorded. In fact, however, no recording now exists of the relevant part of Moseley’s interview with the police.

The trial court found the testimony of the officers more credible, that Moseley did not limit or withdraw his consent at any time, and that the lack of recording was the result of a technical error. Given those findings, the court held that the evidence was legally obtained from Moseley’s apartment and denied the motion to suppress. The trial court also denied the motion for an in camera review of T.H.’s counseling records, holding that Moseley did not need the counseling records to impeach T.H. about her memory lapses, that T.H.’s conversations about the alleged abuse were- other acts unrelated to the charges of possessing the images of nudity, and that Moseley’s assertion that the treatment records have impeachment value was speculative.

On direct appeal from his conviction Moseley - argued that the trial court: (1) erroneously denied his motions to suppress evidence; (2) erroneously denied his motion to conduct an in camera review of T.H.’s counseling records; and (3) exhibited bias, thereby denying Moseléy his right to a fair trial. The court of appeals rejected each argument and affirmed the circuit court’s judgments of conviction. As to the search, the court of appeals found that the evidence supported the trial court’s findings that Moseley did not limit or withdraw his consent, that his decision to sign the consent form was not a result of police misconduct', and that the motion to suppress evidence was therefore properly denied. As to the counseling records, the court of appeals found that Moseley failed to satisfy the burden set forth in State v. Shiffra, 175 Wis.2d 600, 499 N.W.2d 719 (Ct.App.1993), and State v. Green, 2002 WI 68, 253 Wis.2d 356, 646 N.W.2d 298, for an in camera inspection. Specifically, Moseley failed to explain what the counseling records would have added to the demonstrat-. ed memory lapses that was not merely cumulative. Finally, the court of appeals held that Moseley did not overcome the presumption that the trial court was impartial.

Moseley next filed a petition for review in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In his petition for review Moseley argued that the court of appeals erred in affirming the denial of his motion for in camera inspection and in affirming the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress, but did not assert his claim of trial court bias. The supreme court denied his petition.

ANALYSIS

A. Standard Of Review Under AEDPA

Federal review of state criminal convictions is limited to claims that the petitioner’s custody is in violation of the [1026]*1026Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a).

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Moseley v. Kemper, 187 F. Supp. 3d 1021, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61664, 2016 WL 2733415 (E.D. Wis. 2016).

187 F. Supp. 3d 1021 (Moseley v. Kemper) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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