Opinion
No. 05-CV-2279 (NGG).
May 18, 2006
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Pro se Petitioner Maurice Simpson ("Simpson" or "Petitioner") brings this application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Simpson challenges his convictions rendered in New York Supreme Court, Kings County for Burglary in the Second Degree (New York Penal Law § 140.25(2)) and Theft of Services (New York Penal Law § 165.15(3)). For the reasons set forth below, Simpson's Petition is DENIED.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Simpson was charged with second degree burglary and four alternative counts of third degree robbery, petit larceny, fifth degree criminal possession of stolen property, and seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and with theft of services in connection with an incident involving the robbery of an apartment on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. (Wrenn Aff. Opp. Pet. ¶¶ 4, 12.) On August 2, 2000, at approximately 5:30 p.m., livery cab driver Alpha Yagouba Bah ("Bah") was stopped by Petitioner at a traffic light at the intersection of Fulton Street and Franklin Avenue. (Transcript of the Trial, dated May 31, 2001 ("Trial Tr."), at 104-06, 117.) Simpson asked Bah to drive him to Nostrand Avenue between Lenox and Linden streets. (Id. at 106.) Upon arrival, Bah demanded his fare, and Simpson told him to wait at the curb. (Id.) Bah parked the livery cab, and Simpson stood outside 1367 Nostrand Avenue "for a long time," and then entered the building with another man. (Id. at 106-07.) About a half hour later, he came out and promised Bah twenty dollars if he would continue to wait. (Id. at 107.) Simpson entered the building again, and a half hour later he returned to the cab, carrying several VCR's in his arms. (Id. at 107-08.) Simpson instructed Bah to drive him to a place where he could sell the VCR's, and warned Bah that if he did not do so, that Simpson would not pay him at all. (Id.