Kindell v. Capra
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:20-cv-00304
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kindell v. Capra, Judge Abrams dismissed Kindell’s petition challenging his conviction and sentence after finding no clear error in an unopposed recommendation.
Eugene Kindell’s federal challenge to his New York conviction and sentence was dismissed; Michael Capra was the respondent. The case was closed, and no certificate of appealability was issued.
What happened
In Kindell v. Capra, Eugene Kindell challenged his New York convictions for second-degree burglary, attempted second-degree burglary, and second-degree bail jumping. He received a sentence of 19.5 years to life and raised three issues: insufficient evidence for the bail-jumping conviction, ineffective assistance of counsel, and an excessive sentence.
A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the petition. Neither Kindell nor Michael Capra objected to that recommendation. The court therefore reviewed it for clear error rather than conducting a new review of the disputed issues.
Judge Ronnie Abrams found no clear error and dismissed the petition. The court also declined to issue a certificate allowing an appeal because Kindell had not made a substantial showing that his constitutional rights were denied, directed that the order be mailed to him, and closed the case.
The detailed version
- Kindell v. Capra · No. 1:20-cv-00304
- Ronnie Abrams
- Sept. 30, 2024
Background
Eugene Kindell filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, a federal procedure for challenging a state-court conviction or sentence. The New York Supreme Court entered a judgment convicting him, after trial, of second-degree burglary, attempted second-degree burglary, and second-degree bail jumping. He was sentenced to an aggregate term of 19.5 years to life.
Kindell challenged the conviction and sentence on three grounds: insufficient evidence to support the bail-jumping conviction; ineffective assistance of counsel based on his attorney’s failure to immediately move to reopen the suppression hearings; and an excessive sentence.
Report and Recommendation
Magistrate Judge Wang recommended that the petition be dismissed. The respondent argued, among other things, that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence for a rational juror to find Kindell guilty of bail jumping, that the suppression hearings were reopened before trial and any delay was not prejudicial, and that the sentence was within the range allowed by state law.
Neither party filed objections to Judge Wang’s Report and Recommendation. Under the review standard described by the court, when no objections are filed, the district court may adopt the recommendation if the record shows no clear error. The court stated that Judge Wang had warned that objections were due within 14 days after service and that no objections were filed within that period.
Ruling
Judge Ronnie Abrams reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error and found none. The court adopted the recommendation and dismissed the habeas petition. The court did not issue a certificate of appealability, stating that the petition made no substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail a copy of the order to Kindell and close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.