Shankles v. Director

877 F. Supp. 346, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7280, 1995 WL 55269
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 8, 1995
DocketNo. 9:93-CV-186
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 877 F. Supp. 346 (Shankles v. Director) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shankles v. Director, 877 F. Supp. 346, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7280, 1995 WL 55269 (E.D. Tex. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

HANNAH, District Judge.

Petitioner filed this habeas corpus petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

The court heretofore ordered that this matter be referred to the Honorable Earl S. Hines, United States Magistrate Judge, at Beaumont, Texas, for consideration pursuant to applicable laws and orders of this court. The court has received and considered the Report of the United States Magistrate Judge filed pursuant to such order, along with the record, pleadings and all available evidence. No objections to the Report of the United States Magistrate Judge were filed by the parties.

Accordingly, the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the magistrate judge are correct and the report of the magistrate judge is ADOPTED. A final judgment will be entered in this case in accordance with the magistrate judge’s recommendations.

FINAL JUDGMENT

This action came on before the Court, Honorable John Hannah, Jr., District Judge, presiding, and the issues having been duly considered and a decision having been duly rendered, it is

ORDERED and ADJUDGED that this Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED. All motions by either party not previously ruled on are hereby DENIED.

[349]*349 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

HINES, United States Magistrate Judge.

This is a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Gary Wayne Shankles, a convicted prisoner in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division (“TDCJ-ID,” formerly the Texas Department of Corrections, “TDC”), East-ham Unit. Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

This action was referred to a United States magistrate judge pursuant to Title 28 U.S.C. § 636, for review, evidentiary hearing if deemed necessary, and submission of a report and recommendation.

I. Nature of the Case and Exhaustion of State Remedies

On February 19, 1982, in Edgewood, Texas, James H. Bullard was robbed at gunpoint in the driveway of his home. The robber instructed Bullard to remove his shoes, shirt, and pants, then fled in Bullard’s pick-up truck.

Bullard ran to the house, grabbed a gun, and gave chase in another vehicle. He was unable to catch the robber. The robber abandoned Bullard’s truck and entered another, kept waiting by an accomplice.

Approximately an hour after the robbery, the police stopped petitioner at a rural roadblock. He was ordered out of his white pickup truck and placed under arrest with his passenger, Daniel Reardon.

The police brought Bullard to the site of the arrest and Bullard identified petitioner as the robber. Bullard claimed to have been robbed of $1200. The police confiscated six one-hundred dollar bills from petitioner’s person.

The next day, a search warrant for petitioner’s truck was obtained. Six one-hundred dollar bills were found behind the dashboard. Petitioner was indicted for aggravated robbery in the 294th District Court of Van Zandt County, Texas. He entered a plea of not guilty in Cause No. 12,975. Petitioner

further was charged with prior convictions for enhancement of punishment purposes. He pleaded not true to the enhancement provision.

At trial, petitioner claimed Bullard owed Reardon money from gambling debts. Petitioner argued he had accompanied Reardon to Bullard’s house and Bullard had given them $1200 and a .357 caliber handgun as partial payment of the debt. Petitioner contended that after he and Reardon left the house, Bullard concocted the entire robbery to recover his payment and handily dispose of his debt.

On October 13,1983, a jury convicted petitioner of aggravated robbery and found the enhancement conviction true. The jury assessed punishment at fifty years confinement in TDC.

The trial court’s judgment was affirmed on direct appeal by the Court of Appeals for the Twelfth Supreme Judicial District of Texas. Shankles v. State, No. 12-84-0005-CR (Tex. App.—Tyler Mar. 28, 1985). On January 22, 1986, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Shankles petition for discretionary review. Shankles v. State, P.D.R. No. 502-85 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). Petitioner also filed two state writes of habeas corpus, both of which were denied without written orders. Ex Parte Shankles, Application No. 17,875-02 (Tex.Crim.App. Oct. 7, 1992); Ex Parte Shankles, Application No. 17,875-1 (Tex. Crim.App. Mar. 3, 1988). Due to the procedural history of this case, it is properly before this court.

II. Standard of Review for Federal Evidentiary Hearing

To be merit a federal evidentiary hearing, the burden is on the habeas corpus petitioner to allege facts which, if proved, would entitle him to relief. Taylor v. Maggio, 727 F.2d 341, 347 (5th Cir.1984). No hearing is required where the petitioner alleges only conclusory allegations, Mattheson v. King, 751 F.2d 1432, 1448 (5th Cir.1985), cert. dismissed, 475 U.S. 1138, 106 S.Ct. 1798, 90 L.Ed.2d 343 (1986), or where the record is complete and the evidence presented is sufficient to provide a full review of the [350]*350petitioner’s claim. Skillern v. Estelle, 720 F.2d 839, 850-51 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied sub nom., Skillern v. Procunier, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct. 224, 83 L.Ed.2d 153 (1984); Baldwin v. Maggio, 704 F.2d 1325, 1327-28 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1220, 104 S.Ct. 2669, 81 L.Ed.2d 374 (1984). Unless the habeas corpus petitioner alleged with specificity a claim upon which relief can be granted and demonstrated his state hearing was not a full, fair, or adequate hearing, see 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), the decision of whether to hold an evidentiary hearing is discretionary in the district court. Daigre v. Maggio, 705 F.2d 786, 787-88 (5th Cir.1983).

No federal evidentiary hearing is required in this case. The record is complete and the evidence presented at trial and in the state habeas corpus proceeding is sufficient to provide full review of petitioner’s claims.

III. Discussion

Petitioner asserts the following points of error:

1. There was insufficient evidence proffered at trial to support the jury’s verdict of guilty.

2. Disposal of evidence seized from the offense did not conform to state law.

3. He was subjected to an illegal arrest.

4. He was subjected to an illegal search and seizure.

5. The victim’s in-court identification should have been suppressed.

6. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42.12, § 15(b) is an unconstitutional bill of attainder.

7. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
877 F. Supp. 346, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7280, 1995 WL 55269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shankles-v-director-txed-1995.