Opinion ID: 2680099
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Underlying Conviction

Text: In the early morning hours of July 5, 2000, Antonio Houed left the Pink Pony, a Miami strip club, to return to his house. When he arrived home, he noticed a man, later identified as Insignares, had followed him in a red car. Insignares confronted Houed, ordered him to get on the ground, and threatened him with a gun. When Houed did not comply, Insignares shot at him four times. Houed took refuge behind a car, and Insignares fired another six or seven shots. Houed eventually was able to escape, while Insignares left to commit crimes against other victims. 2 Houed testified that he had described the attacker to police as weighing between 250 and 300 pounds, being 6 feet, 1 inch to 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and having a goatee and gold teeth. He also told police the attacker was wearing a 1 Insignares’s petition and initial appeal were pro se, but we appointed counsel for this appeal to assist in determining whether his petition is “second or successive.” 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b). 2 The charges for the other crimes were severed and are not concerned in this habeas petition. 2 Case: 12-12378 Date Filed: 06/23/2014 Page: 3 of 24 white shirt, black shorts, and a hood. Based on that description, police contacted Houed to identify the attacker later that morning. He identified Insignares on sight. Houed also recognized a red Mitsubishi Galant owned by Gloria Insignares, Insignares’s mother, as the car the attacker had used. Houed’s description was not the only evidence identifying Insignares. Luis Correa was working as a bouncer at the Pink Pony on the morning of July 5, 2000. The manager told Correa to keep an eye on a suspicious man at the club. Correa testified that the man was wearing a white t-shirt and dark shorts, and he appeared to be more interested in the patrons of the club than the dancers. At his manager’s direction, Correa recorded the license-plate number for the car in which the man left. Correa testified to the license-plate number, which police later determined was registered to Gloria Insignares’s car; he further stated the car he saw at the Pink Pony was a red or burgundy Mitsubishi Galant. Insignares’s defense at trial was mistaken identity. He contended there was insufficient evidence linking him to the crimes. He challenged the testimony of Correa and argued Correa’s recall of the license-plate number from memory at trial, fourteen months later, was not credible. He also questioned why the victim did not tell police immediately the make and model of the car, and he suggested Houed’s testimony was biased by anger. 3 Case: 12-12378 Date Filed: 06/23/2014 Page: 4 of 24 The jury found Insignares guilty on all counts. He was convicted of (1) attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, Fla. Stat. §§ 775.087, 777.04(1), 777.011, 782.04(1), resulting in a sentence of 40 years of imprisonment, including a 20-year mandatory minimum; (2) criminal mischief, Fla. Stat. § 806.13(1)(b)3, resulting in a sentence of 5 years of imprisonment; and (3) discharging a firearm in public, Fla. Stat. §§ 775.087, 790.15(1), resulting in a sentence of 1 year of imprisonment. These sentences ran concurrently.