Williams v. Cain, 96-30668
| Citation | 117 F.3d 863 |
| Decision Date | 15 July 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-30668,96-30668 |
| Parties | Barry WILLIAMS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Burl CAIN, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary; Richard P. Ieyoub, Attorney General, State of Louisiana, Respondents-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
Page 863
v.
Burl CAIN, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary; Richard P.
Ieyoub, Attorney General, State of Louisiana,
Respondents-Appellees.
Fifth Circuit.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Barry Williams, Angola, LA, pro se.
Karen Godail Arena, New Orleans, LA, for Respondents-Appellees.
Before GARWOOD, BENAVIDES and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge:
This appeal addresses whether the new prior certification requirement of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA" or "the Act"), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), applies to habeas corpus petitions that were filed in non-capital cases and were pending on the day the statute was enacted. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3). Concluding that § 2244(b)(3) of the AEDPA applied to pending petitions, the district court dismissed the subject petition without prejudice in order for the petitioner to comply with the Act's prior certification requirement. For the reasons that follow, we hold that § 2244(b)(3) of the Act does not apply to petitions filed in non-capital cases before the AEDPA was enacted. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is vacated and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I. Background
In 1978, the petitioner, Barry Williams, was convicted by a Louisiana jury of second-degree murder. Williams was sentenced to life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole or probation for forty years. The Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on direct appeal.
In 1989, Williams filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court raising the same claims that he raised on direct review in state court. That petition was denied in April 1990. In 1991, Williams again sought post conviction relief in state court. Williams claimed that the trial court erroneously charged the jury and that he was denied his constitutional right to be present during all stages of the trial. After an evidentiary hearing, the state trial court denied relief. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied a supervisory writ.
Williams then filed the subject petition for habeas relief in federal district court. Although the district court received the petition on November 1, 1994, it was not stamped "filed" until April 22, 1996. In the petition, Williams argued that the trial court issued an erroneous jury instruction and that he was
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