Thompson v. Gelb

63 F. Supp. 3d 125, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167760, 2014 WL 6845413
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedDecember 2, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 13-11764-NMG
StatusPublished

This text of 63 F. Supp. 3d 125 (Thompson v. Gelb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Gelb, 63 F. Supp. 3d 125, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167760, 2014 WL 6845413 (D. Mass. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

NATHANIEL M. GORTON, District Judge.

This habeas corpus petition, filed by petitioner David Thompson (“Thompson” or “petitioner”), arises out of his conviction for armed robbery and malicious destruction of property in March, 2009 in the Massachusetts Superior Court for Essex County in Salem, Massachusetts. Petitioner alleges that the state prosecution violated the 180-day speedy trial provision under Article III of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act (“IAD”) such that his motion to dismiss was improperly denied. Because the Court finds that petitioner’s claim is not cognizable under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, Thompson’s habeas corpus petition will be dismissed.

I. Background

A. State Court Proceedings

In July, 2008, petitioner was indicted on two counts of armed robbery, both in violation of M.G.L. c. 265, § 17, two counts of stealing by confining or putting a person in fear, both in violation of M.G.L. c. 265, § 21 and one count of malicious destruction of property over $250, in violation of M.G.L. c. 266, § 127. All of the counts stem from a July, 2005 robbery of a CVS pharmacy in Georgetown, Massachusetts, in which petitioner stole $3,000 in cash and a safe containing controlled substances.

In June, 2008, Petitioner, then incarcerated in Maine for' an unrelated offense, requested final disposition of his Massachusetts indictment pursuant to the IAD (“IAD request”). The Superior Court for Essex County and the Essex County District Attorney’s Office both received petitioner’s IAD request on June 23, 2008. Pursuant to the speedy trial provision of the IAD, the state prosecutor then had [127]*127until December 22, 2008 to begin petitioner’s trial unless good cause for a reasonable continuance was shown.

On October 9, 2008, petitioner was transported from Maine to Massachusetts for his arraignment, pursuant to the IAD. At arraignment, petitioner’s counsel moved for trial that same day. The judge declined to set a trial date and instead granted the Commonwealth a continuance through November 5, 2008 to allow it to file a motion to obtain petitioner’s DNA. The Commonwealth was granted a second continuance through December 11, 2008 specifically to obtain and test a buccal swab of petitioner’s DNA.

Petitioner’s counsel objected to both continuances on speedy trial grounds pursuant to Mass. R.Crim. P. 36 (“Rule 36”). Indeed, before granting the second continuance on November 5, 2008, the judge specifically asked petitioner’s counsel whether his objections and requests for an immediate trial were based upon Rule 36, to which counsel responded, “[cjorrect.” At no time did petitioner’s counsel inform the court that the 180-day time limitation under the IAD was at issue.

At the pretrial conference on December 11, 2008, petitioner’s counsel again moved for an immediate trial. Due to session limitations and the scheduling of other significant cases, the judge scheduled petitioner’s trial for March 17, 2009. Again, petitioner’s counsel objected to the. delay solely on Rule 36 grounds.

On February 4, 2009, almost two months after the postponed trial date had been set, petitioner filed a motion to dismiss alleging that the Commonwealth had violated the IAD’s 180-day speedy trial provision. On March 14, 2009, the state court denied petitioner’s motion on the grounds that the continuance was reasonably necessary to obtain DNA testing in a major felony prosecution.

On March 24, 2009, after a one-week trial, petitioner was found guilty by a jury of armed robbery and malicious destruction of property. The Commonwealth filed a nolle prosequi to dismiss each of the two counts brought under M.G.L. c. 265, § 21. That same day, petitioner was sentenced to concurrent terms of 19 to 20 years for armed robbery and ten years probation for malicious destruction of property.

Petitioner filed a direct appeal with the Massachusetts Appeals Court, contending that his motion to dismiss was improperly denied because the continuances granted to the Commonwealth were without “good cause” resulting in a violation of the 180-day speedy trial provision of the IAD. In November, 2011, the Appeals Court affirmed petitioner’s convictions, holding that the continuances were reasonable and necessary to allow the prosecution to collect-and test DNA in a case that turned on identification. Commonwealth v. Thompson, 80 Mass.App.Ct. 1117, 2011 WL 5924578 (2011). The Appeals Court further noted that petitioner’s counsel deliberately

misled the judge into believing that the more expansive time limitation of [R]ule 36, and not the IAD, was the focus of [counsel’s objection].

In February, 2012, petitioner filed an application for leave to obtain further review with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which was denied in June, 2012.

B. Federal Court Proceedings

Petitioner filed the instant petition in this Court in July, 2013. Thompson argues that he was denied due process under the IAD’s speedy trial provision because the continuances of his case were not granted for “good cause.” Moreover, he contends that he was prejudiced as a result because [128]*128the DNA use to convict him was obtained after the 180-day period provided for in the IAD.

II. Legal Analysis

A. Habeas Standard

A federal court may grant habeas corpus relief to a prisoner in state custody on the ground that “[the] conviction violated the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.” Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 68, 112 S.Ct. 475, 116 L.Ed.2d 385 (1991). State court factual findings are entitled to a presumption of correctness. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

The Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act (“IAD”) is a compact among 48 states, the District of Columbia and the federal government. 18 U.S.C.App. § 2. Under the IAD, a prisoner incarcerated in one member state may be transferred to another member state to be tried on criminal charges. Reed v. Farley, 512 U.S. 339, 341, 114 S.Ct. 2291, 129 L.Ed.2d 277 (1994). Article III of the IAD provides that a transferred prisoner must

be brought to trial within [180] days ... provided[, however,] that for good cause shown in open court, [with] the prisoner or his counsel being present, the court ... may grant any necessary or reasonable continuance.

New York v. Hill, 528 U.S. 110, 112, 120 S.Ct. 659, 145 L.Ed.2d 560 (2000) (citation omitted).

Claims alleging a violation of the IAD are cognizable under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 only if the alleged violation results in “a fundamental defect which inherently results in a complete miscarriage of justice.” Reed, 512 U.S. at 348, 114 S.Ct. 2291.

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Related

United States v. Dowdell
595 F.3d 50 (First Circuit, 2010)
Bowen v. Johnston
306 U.S. 19 (Supreme Court, 1939)
Estelle v. McGuire
502 U.S. 62 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Reed v. Farley
512 U.S. 339 (Supreme Court, 1994)
New York v. Hill
528 U.S. 110 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Maples v. Thomas
132 S. Ct. 912 (Supreme Court, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
63 F. Supp. 3d 125, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167760, 2014 WL 6845413, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-gelb-mad-2014.