Parker v. Booker

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedJuly 31, 2020
Docket7:19-cv-00568
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Parker v. Booker, (W.D. Va. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA ROANOKE DIVISION

CHANTZ PARKER, ) Petitioner, ) Civil Case No.: 7:19cv00568 ) v. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION ) BERNARD BOOKER, ) By: Michael F. Urbanski Respondent. ) Chief United States District Judge

Chantz Parker, a Virginia inmate proceeding with counsel, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging his 2015 Pittsylvania County criminal convictions. This matter is before the court on respondent’s motion to dismiss. After reviewing the record, the Court concludes that respondent’s motion must be granted. Parker procedurally defaulted two of his claims, with no showing of cause and prejudice, and the state courts’ adjudication of his third claim was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, nor was the adjudication based on an unreasonable determination of the facts. I. Following a trial on August 12 through August 14, 2015, a jury sitting in Pittsylvania County Circuit Court convicted Parker and co-defendant Ralphael Brown of armed burglary in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-89, attempted robbery in violation of Virginia Code §§ 18.2-26 and 18.2-58, wearing a mask in public in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-422, and three counts of using a firearm during the commission of a felony in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-53.1.1 The jury then sentenced Parker to 20 years in prison for the burglary, 2 years for the attempted robbery, 3 years for the first use of a firearm in commission of a felony, 5 years each on the other two convictions for use of a firearm in commission of a

felony, and an $800 fine for wearing a mask, resulting in a total sentence of 35 years plus $800.2 (Va. Ct. App. R., Vol. 2, hereafter “Vol. 2,” at 414–16.) Following consideration of a presentence report and a second sentencing hearing, the court entered judgment on the verdict, imposing 35 years in prison, plus adding and suspending 3 years for a period of post- release supervision, suspending the fine, and ordering restitution of $500 jointly with Brown and another defendant, Jamison Canavan, who had pled guilty in a separate proceeding. (Va.

Ct. App. R., Vol. 1, hereafter “Vol. 1,” at 13–15.) The Virginia Court of Appeals summarized the evidentiary background of the case, in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the prevailing party, as follows: Around 11:15 p.m. on March 26, 2014, Mark and Janet Moore heard an unexpected knock at their front door. Through a window, they saw a young man wearing a black hoodie. The man in the hoodie told the Moores that his car had broken down. He then asked to use a telephone. Feeling uneasy, Mark Moore went to his bedroom and retrieved his handgun. He returned to the entrance way and began to unlock the door.

As Moore turned the deadbolt, the man in the hoodie forced his way through the front door, knocking him into a coffee table and pushing Moore’s wife over a recliner. Two masked men, carrying “assault”-style rifles entered into the home as well.

1 The trial court struck the evidence on one count of maliciously shooting into an occupied dwelling, and the jury acquitted both defendants of another count of maliciously shooting into an occupied dwelling and of malicious wounding. (Va. Ct. App. R., Vol. 2, at 411–12.)

2 The 35-year sentence was the lowest sentence the jury could give, as the 13 years for the firearm charges were mandatory sentences, and the statutory range for armed burglary was 20 years to life, while the statutory range for attempted robbery was 2 to 10 years. The maximum possible sentence for wearing a face mask was 5 years in prison, but the jury chose the option of imposing only a fine. The man wearing the hoodie shot Moore through the thigh. As he fell, Moore fired at one of the masked men. Although Moore was not sure that he struck his target, the rifle fell from the targeted man’s hands. The man in the hoodie continued firing, grazing Moore’s scalp. As the intruders regrouped and fled, Moore fired another shot at them.

The home invasion lasted twenty to twenty-five seconds. None of the intruders demanded anything or attempted to take any property from the home during the encounter.

After midnight the same evening, Raphael (sic) Brown and [Parker] arrived at Annie Penn Hospital’s emergency room in Reidsville, North Carolina [near the Virginia border, approximately 40 minutes from Danville]. Brown had multiple gunshot wounds to his arms and chest. [Parker] had a gunshot wound in the back of his left calf. Both men told the police that they were hit by stray gunfire when shooting broke out at a party in Reidsville. No reported shooting incidents in Reidsville were noted for that evening. Neither Brown nor [Parker] could recall where the party was held, names of other party guests or who hosted the party.

Both men denied involvement in the home invasion.

Brown and [Parker] were indicted on a number of felonies arising out of the home invasion, including armed burglary, attempted robbery, and wearing a mask in public. Each man was also indicted on three counts of using a firearm during the commission of a felony.

After the Commonwealth moved to try the two men jointly, [Parker] filed a motion to sever. At a pretrial hearing, [Parker] argued that a joint trial might impede his ability to introduce alibi evidence if Brown offered a conflicting alibi. He also argued that the evidence against Brown, which he perceived to be substantially stronger, would implicate him by association in a joint trial. [Parker] further suggested that any minor contradictions between his and Brown’s statements to police might be used to impeach him. The trial court denied [Parker’s] motion, observing that [Parker] had at most demonstrated potential prejudice, not actual prejudice. [Parker] renewed his motion immediately before trial. The court again denied his motion. The Commonwealth also filed pretrial motions to procure the attendance of several witnesses from North Carolina, including the custodians of records for both Annie Penn Hospital and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where Brown’s surgery was performed. [Parker] objected to orders granting these motions, asserting that they represented “an attempt to introduce confidential medical records.” He renewed his objection to the issuance of a new round of certificates procuring their attendance after the trial was continued.

Brown raised a similar objection to the introduction of the medical records during the trial itself, arguing that their disclosure “would be in violation of his medical privacy rights under HIPAA3 and . . . any sort of state HIPAA as well.” [Parker] joined in this objection, expressly incorporating Brown’s arguments as well as his handwritten objections on the original certificates. The court overruled their objections, observing that even if admission of the records violated HIPAA, the appropriate remedy was not exclusion in the criminal trial but a separate action for damages.

Wendy Gibson, a forensic scientist, testified at trial that the projectiles that hit Brown were consistent with the unusual ammunition that Moore used against the intruders. The shells in Moore’s revolver each contained three disc-shaped slugs and a number of spherical pellets. Police found four slugs embedded in the doors and walls at the Moores’ residence. Surgeons found two more slugs and a pellet embedded in Brown. Gibson compared these projectiles with Moore’s remaining shells and available literature on the ammunition. She opined that the slugs and pellet removed during Brown’s surgery shared the characteristic dimensions and weight as the slugs and pellets removed from Moore’s unfired ammunition.

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Parker v. Booker, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parker-v-booker-vawd-2020.