# Shannon v. Artuz, 984 F. Supp. 807 (S.D.N.Y. 1997): habeas petition from a state murder conviction

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/courtlistener-shannon-v-artuz-984-f-supp-807/

Judge Whitman Knapp's opinion of November 24, 1997 denying Kenneth Shannon's federal habeas petition against his 1989 state conviction for helping Billie Bokun in the 1985 shooting of Michael Holly.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, opinion of Senior District Judge Whitman Knapp, the judge who had presided over the federal Westies trials. Kenneth Shannon petitioned under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 to vacate a New York State conviction. He argued that evidentiary rulings at his state trial denied him a fair trial. The petition is denied.

The background states: "At trial, it was established that petitioner belonged to the "Westies" organized crime group which was formed in the mid-1960's and based in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan." Citing the Second Circuit's 1991 opinion, it describes the group's activities and its alliance with the Gambino family, and says that by the mid-1970s Francis "Mickey" Featherstone "had become second-in-command of the Westies."

The opinion explains how the state case came about. Featherstone "was originally convicted of murdering Holly." He then entered a cooperation agreement under which he agreed to plead guilty to a federal racketeering offense, and the authorities promised to investigate his claim of innocence. During that investigation tape-recorded conversations were found in which Billie Bokun acknowledged shooting Holly and Shannon said he had driven Bokun to and from the scene. Bokun and Shannon were then charged, and Featherstone's conviction was set aside. On July 28, 1989 Shannon was convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to eighteen years. The Appellate Division affirmed on September 22, 1994.

Shannon's membership is stated here as a fact established at his state trial, in a federal judge's summary. It is not a finding of rank, and the opinion gives Shannon no role in the group beyond the Holly shooting.

## Sources

- CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1401747/shannon-v-artuz/