United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
JERRY D. COLE, Petitioner,
v.
RANDEE REWERTS, Respondent.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF
HABEAS CORPUS AND DENYING CERTIFICATE OF
APPEALABILITY
Hon.
Avern Cohn United States District Judge
I.
Introduction
This is
a habeas case under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner,
proceeding pro se, challenges his conviction for
armed robbery, in violation of M.C.L. § 750.529, for
which he received a sentence of 190 to 360 months. Petitioner
claims his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to
impeach a prosecution witnesses with inconsistent testimony
from his first trial. For the reasons which follow, the
petition will be denied for lack of merit.
II.
Background
Petitioner’s
first trial ended in a hung jury. At Petitioner’s
second trial, Kenneth Pugh (Pugh) testified that Petitioner
was an acquaintance. On the date of the incident, Petitioner
gave Pugh a ride in his truck. Petitioner pulled his vehicle
truck to the side of the road, announced he was robbing Pugh,
pointed an ice pick at him, and demanded his money. Pugh gave
Petitioner around $400 and Petitioner drove away.
Pugh
called 9-1-1, and the tape was played for the jury.
Petitioner was later arrested in his vehicle and was found
with about $400 on cash on him.
During
the 9-1-1 call, Pugh falsely claimed that Petitioner
threatened him with a gun and gave inconsistent descriptions
of Petitioner’s vehicle. Pugh later falsely told police
that Petitioner was armed with a gun. Pugh explained at trial
that he lied about these details because he was angry at
Petitioner.
Police
Officer Charles Ruffin (Ruffin) testified at both trials. On
cross-examination at the first trial Ruffin testified about
the inventory search of Petitioner’s vehicle:
Q. Okay. And you said you found some clothing items. Did you
find any type of a -- did you find a knife?
A. No, sir, I did not.
Q. Did you find a gun?
A. No, sir, I did not.
Q. Did you find an ice pick or any other ...