William Kenney, Jr. v. USA

2002 DNH 099
District Court, D. New Hampshire·Decided May 15, 2002·No. CV-97-603-B·Published

Opinion

William Kenney, Jr. v. USA CV-97-603-B 05/15/02 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

William F. Kenney, Jr.

Civil No. 97-603-B

Opinion No. 2002 DNH 099

United States of America

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

William Kenney was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank robbery, armed and unarmed robbery, violation of the Hobbs Act, and using and carrying firearms during the commission of crimes of violence. He argues in a motion filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 that his convictions must be vacated because the government withheld exculpatory evidence during his trial. I reject Kenney's motion because he has not established that the government's alleged misconduct prejudiced his defense.

FACTS

The government contended at trial that Kenney was a participant in a conspiracy led by co-defendant Charles Flynn to commit several armed robberies during the spring and summer of

1991. Kenney's exculpatory evidence claims relate specifically to his convictions for the June 7, 1991 robbery of an employee of a retail store known as the Dress Barn (the "Dress Barn robbery"), the August 3, 1991 robbery of James Fitzpatrick's home (the "August 3rd robbery"), the August 17, 1991 robbery of James Fitzpatrick's person (the "August 17th robbery"), and the September 9, 1991 robbery of the Stratham branch of the First New Hampshire Bank (the "First N.H. robbery"). I summarize the trial testimony and the allegedly withheld evidence that pertains to each robbery in turn. A. The Dress Barn Robbery 1. Trial Testimony Linda Sherouse, a Dress Barn employee, was robbed on June 7, 1991 as she was attempting to deposit $763 into a night deposit box at the First National Bank's North Hampton, New Hampshire branch office. She testified at trial that her assailant was between 18 and 22 years old, was approximately 5'8" tall, and weighed between 150 and 160 pounds.1 She recalled that he was

1 Kenney is 5'11" tall. He was 22 years old when the robbery occurred and he weighed approximately 175 pounds at the time of trial.

wearing jeans and a bright blue Patagonia jacket with an emerald green collar. He also was wearing a white "woodworker's" mask and was carrying a semi-automatic handgun.

The government relied on testimony from several co­ conspirators to implicate Kenney as the perpetrator of the Dress Barn robbery. Thomas McQueeney testified that Flynn asked McQueeney during an evening in June to take Kenney to a spot in North Hampton a few hundred yards from the site of the robbery. Kenney was carrying a bag containing a white "painter's" mask and a semi-automatic handgun when McQueeney dropped him off near the bank. The next day, McQueeney overheard Flynn taunting Kenney by claiming that he would rather rob a woman carrying only $600 than a man carrying more money because he was too afraid to rob a man. Kenney responded by stating that he had robbed a woman "because that was who was there."

Another co-conspirator, Richard Ferguson, testified that Kenney admitted that he had robbed several night depositories in New Hampshire. Finally, co-conspirator Brian Raineri testified that he had had discussions with Kenney concerning how to rob night depositories.

2. Undisclosed Evidence The officers investigating the Dress Barn robbery used a police tracking dog to determine the path that the robber followed as he left the scene. The dog picked up a scent and followed it behind the bank to an asphalt walkway. There, the dog lost the scent and police surmised that the robber left in a car that may have been parked in a nearby lot. If, instead, the robber had continued to walk south through a wooded area, he could have emerged from the woods at the back of a nearby restaurant. In an effort to determine whether anyone at the restaurant had seen the robber, Hampton police detective, Philip Russell, interviewed the restaurant's general manager, Timothy Gilpin.

Detective Russell's interview report noted that Gilpin was wearing glasses and a bright royal blue shirt, was 35 years old, was 5'8" tall and had a small pot belly. Detective Russell also noted that Gilpin's eyes were bloodshot and that his speech was slow and slurred. Gilpen told Detective Russell that he had been working in his office on the second floor at the time of the robbery but had not witnessed anything suspicious.

The government informed Kenney that a police dog had picked up a scent at the scene and followed it to the asphalt walkway. Kenney alleges, however, that the government withheld Detective Russell's report of his interview with Gilpen. He claims that the report is exculpatory because it provides a description of Gilpen that is in some respects similar to Sherouse's description of her assailant. B. The August 3rd Robbery 1. Trial Testimony James Fitzpatrick's residence in Hampton, New Hampshire, was robbed on August 3, 1991, while he and other family members were asleep in the residence. The robbers took a number of Hummel figurines as well as a small amount of cash, various other personal items, and an undetermined number of checks.

The government relied on testimony from two co-conspirators to prove that Kenney participated in the robbery. Brian Raineri testified that Flynn planned the robbery, he and Kenney committed the robbery, and Flynn, McQueeney, and Brian's brother, Bruce Raineri, provided transportation. McQueeney corroborated Raineri's testimony and provided additional details concerning his planning sessions with Flynn. He also testified that Kenney told him that he and Raineri had taken several Hummel figurines from Fitzpatrick's residence.

2. Undisclosed Evidence Detective Russell obtained videotape bank surveillance pictures of a then-unknown person who was shown cashing several checks that Raineri had taken from Fitzpatrick's residence during the August 3rd robbery. The government also learned from Raineri that he had sold the checks to Charles Petralia, a relative of Raineri's by marriage. Petralia, who died in February 1991, had a lengthy criminal record involving convictions for theft of mail and armed robbery.

Kenney asserts that the government failed to disclose both the bank surveillance pictures and Raineri's claim that he had sold Fitzpatrick's checks to Petralia. He argues that the withheld evidence is exculpatory because it suggests that Raineri committed the robbery with Petralia, rather than Kenney. C. The August 17th Robbery 1. Trial Testimony On August 17, 1991, James Fitzpatrick was robbed of

- 6

-

approximately $2,300 as he was attempting to enter his residence. Fitzpatrick described his assailant as a white male who was 5'8" to 5'9" tall and weighed approximately 155 pounds. Fitzpatrick recalled that the robber wore a sweatshirt with a hood that he had pulled over his head and tied down over his eyes and under his nose.

At trial, another co-conspirator, Richard Ferguson, testified that Kenney told him that he had robbed Fitzpatrick.

2. Undisclosed Evidence Richard Ferguson admitted at trial that he had been convicted of armed robbery in 1980 and that he had had a significant drug problem. He claimed, however, that he had not committed any other robberies from 1986 until 1991,2 when he met Flynn and became involved in the criminal conspiracy on which Kenney's convictions are based.

Richard Ferguson's brother, James, later testified in an unrelated case that, in 1990, Richard had driven with him and

2 Kenney argues that Ferguson testified that he had not been involved in anything illegal during this time period. A fair reading of the trial transcript, however, indicates that Ferguson stated affirmatively only that he had not been involved in any robberies between 1986 and 1991.

three other men in two cars to the residence of a person who had stolen $60,000 from one of his associates. James gave the three men weapons and told them to "light up the house." After issuing these instructions, James and Richard left the scene and the three remaining men then fired a number of shots into the residence.

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

William Kenney, Jr. v. USA, 2002 DNH 099 (D.N.H. 2002).

2002 DNH 099 (William Kenney, Jr. v. USA) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

United States v. Bagley
473 U.S. 667 (Supreme Court, 1985)
McCleskey v. Zant
499 U.S. 467 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Kyles v. Whitley
514 U.S. 419 (Supreme Court, 1995)
Strickler v. Greene
527 U.S. 263 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Prou v. United States
199 F.3d 37 (First Circuit, 1999)
Sustache-Rivera v. United States
221 F.3d 8 (First Circuit, 2000)
Mastracchio v. Vose
274 F.3d 590 (First Circuit, 2001)
Theodis Watkins v. Joseph Ponte
987 F.2d 27 (First Circuit, 1993)
Elizabeth Diane Downs v. Sonia Hoyt
232 F.3d 1031 (Ninth Circuit, 2000)
Calderon v. Coleman
525 U.S. 141 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Coleman v. Calderon
150 F.3d 1105 (Ninth Circuit, 1998)