McNair v. Allen

• Decision Date: 29 January 2008
• Docket Number: No. 08-10100.,08-10100.
• Citation: 515 F.3d 1168
• Parties: Willie McNAIR, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant, James Callahan, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellee, v. Richard ALLEN, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, individually and in his official capacity, Grantt Culliver, Warden, Holman Correctional Facility, in his individual and official capacity, Defendants-Counter-Claimants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

515 F.3d 1168

Willie McNAIR, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant James Callahan, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellee, v. Richard ALLEN, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, individually and in his official capacity, Grantt Culliver, Warden, Holman Correctional Facility, in his individual and official capacity, Defendants-Counter-Claimants-Appellants.

No. 08-10100.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

January 29, 2008.

J. Clayton Crenshaw, Montgomery, AL, for Culliver.

Stephanie Lynn Cohen, Heather K. McDevitt, Vincent R. Fitzpatrick, Jr., White & Case, LLP, New York CIty, for Callahan.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Before TJOFLAT, BLACK and WILSON, Circuit Judges.

BLACK, Circuit Judge:

James Callahan is an Alabama death row inmate scheduled for execution on January 31, 2008. On October 11, 2006, Callahan filed an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, contending the method of execution chosen by the State of Alabama constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Finding Callahan's case had a significant possibility of succeeding on its merits, the district court entered a stay of execution on December 14, 2007, in order to permit Callahan to fully litigate his constitutional challenge. On appeal, Appellants contend the court abused its discretion by entering the stay.

We do not reach the relative merits of Callahan's constitutional claim because we conclude the claim, is barred by the statute of limitations. Callahan's limitations period began to run on July 31, 2002, when he selected lethal injection as the method by which he would be put to death, and expired two years later, on July 31, 2004. In light of the fact Callahan's complaint was filed more than two years beyond the limitations period, the district court abused its discretion by entering a stay of execution. We now vacate that decision.

I. BACKGROUND

The full details of Callahan's crime are set forth in Callahan v. Campbell, 427 F.3d 897, 903-10 (11th Cir.2005). In short, on February 3, 1982, Callahan abducted 26-year-old Rebecca Suzanne Howell from a laundromat in Jacksonville, Alabama. He murdered her, then dumped her body in a creek, where it was discovered two weeks later.¹

On June 26, 1982, Callahan was convicted of a capital offense, and shortly thereafter was sentenced to death. The Alabama Supreme Court reversed Callahan's conviction and sentence after finding incriminating statements had been admitted improperly, and the case was remanded for a new trial. Ex parte Callahan, 471 So.2d 463 (Ala.1985). At the second trial, the jury again found Callahan guilty, and a sentence of death was re-imposed. Both the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed Callahan's conviction and sentence. Callahan v. State, 557 So.2d 1292 (Ala.Crim. App.1989); aff'd, Ex parte Callahan, 557 So.2d 1311 (Ala.1989).

Callahan's conviction and sentence became final on October 1, 1990, when the United States Supreme Court denied his petition for certiorari. See Callahan v. Alabama, 498 U.S. 881, 111 S.Ct. 216, 112 L.Ed.2d 176 (1990). Callahan then filed a state postconviction motion. The trial denied the motion, and the court of appeals affirmed the denial. Callahan v. State, 767 So.2d 380 (Ala.Crim.App.1999). On March 31, 2000, the Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari. Ex parte Callahan, 767 So.2d 405 (Ala.2000).

On March 29, 2001, Callahan petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Twice the district court granted relief, and twice this court reversed. See Callahan v. Haley, 313 F.Supp.2d 1252 (N.D.Ala.2004), vacated and remanded sub. nom. Callahan v. Campbell 396 F.3d 1287 (11th Cir.2005); Callahan v. Campbell 427 F.3d 897 (11th Cir.2005). On October 10, 2006, the Supreme Court denied Callahan's petition for a writ of certiorari on his habeas claims. Callahan v. Allen, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 427, 166 L.Ed.2d 269 (2006).

At the time Callahan was sentenced, Alabama executed inmates by electrocution. On July 1, 2002, Alabama adopted lethal injection as its preferred form of execution and gave inmates already on death row 30 days in which to select electrocution as the method by which they would die. Callahan did not opt out of the new protocol, and therefore became subject to death by lethal injection on July 31, 2002.

On October 11, 2006, one day after the Supreme Court denied Callahan's request for certiorari on the denial of his federal habeas petition, Callahan filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging Alabama's lethal injection protocol violates his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Appellants moved for summary judgment, contending the claim was barred by the statute of limitations and Callahan had failed to adduce evidence from which a rational trier of fact could conclude Alabama's method of execution violates his constitutional rights. In addition, Appellants urged the court to find the lawsuit equitably barred because of Callahan's delay in filing it. After denying Appellants' motion for summary judgment in its entirety, the district court set trial for October 3, 2007.

On September 25, 2007, eight days before the trial was slated to begin, Alabama announced it would be reviewing its execution protocol. That same date, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Baze v. Rees, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 34, 168 L.Ed.2d 809 (Sept. 25, 2007), a case brought by a death row inmate raising a challenge to Kentucky's nearly identical lethal injection protocol.²

In the midst of these events, the district court determined it was prudent to continue the case, despite the parties' readiness for trial. On October 26, 2007, the State filed its revised lethal injection protocol, which differed only minimally from prior procedures. Five days later, on October 31, 2007, the Alabama Supreme Court set Callahan's execution date for January 31, 2008.³

Callahan moved for a stay of execution, arguing his claim was timely brought and had a significant possibility of success. The district court agreed, and granted the stay. Appellants now ask this court to find the entry of a stay was an abuse of discretion.

II. ANALYSIS

When a capital defendant seeks to challenge on constitutional grounds the method by which he will be executed, courts must balance the competing interests of the defendant and the State. A defendant's interest in being free from cruel and unusual punishment is primary; however, the State's interest in effectuating its judgment remains significant. Nelson v. Campbell, 541 U.S. 637, 644, 124 S.Ct. 2117, 2123, 158 L.Ed.2d 924 (2004) ("State retains a significant interest in meting out a sentence of death in a timely fashion"). The Supreme Court has repeatedly admonished courts regarding their obligation to guard against litigation brought solely for the purpose of delay. Hill v. McDonough, 547 U.S. 573, 126 S.Ct. 2096, 2103, 165 L.Ed.2d 44 (2006) (noting "courts should not tolerate abusive litigation tactics" in constitutional tort cases challenging methods of execution). Courts have given special attention to the timeliness of method of execution challenges brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Courts assessing the timeliness of a § 1983 method of execution challenge may do so in either of two ways. The first is to ask whether the action has been timely brought under the applicable statute of limitations. The second involves an equitable inquiry that arises when a prisoner requests a stay of execution in order to fully litigate his constitutional claim. In the latter circumstance, courts ask whether the litigant "unreasonably delayed" before filing his claim and should therefore be barred from raising his challenge on the eve of execution.

While acknowledging the existence of a statute of limitations for § 1983 claims, our prior cases addressing method of execution challenges have focused exclusively on the second inquiry, employing an equitable analysis to determine whether a capital litigant's challenge has been brought too late to warrant a stay of execution. See, e.g., Schwab v. Sec., Dep't of Corr., 507 F.3d 1297, 1301 (11th Cir.2007). We have yet to determine how the relevant statute of limitations applies to inmates who wish to bring a § 1983 challenge to the method of their execution, because the question has not been placed squarely before us.

In Jones v. Allen, 485 F.3d 635 (11th Cir.2007), we affirmed on equitable grounds the district court's denial of a stay of execution in a case closely analogous to this one.⁴ Although we took note of the district court's finding that the claim was not barred by the statute of limitations, we did not review that decision because the Government had not cross-appealed. Id. at 638 n. 1. We have dealt similarly with other cases, all of which involved appeals by a defendant, rather than by the Government. See, e.g., Williams v. Allen, 496 F.3d 1210, 1215 n. 2 (11th Cir.2007) ("Because we affirm on equitable grounds the district, court's judgment dismissing Williams's challenge to the State's method of execution, we need not address the State's alternative argument that Williams's suit is barred by the statute of limitations."); Grayson v. Allen, 491 F.3d 1318, 1326 n. 5 (11th "Cir.2007).

There is a close connection in this case between the district court's decision to impose a stay and its finding that Callahan's claim was timely filed. In granting. Callahan's request for a stay, the district court properly engaged in a traditional equitable analysis, considering, among other things, whether Callahan had shown "a significant possibility of success on the merits" of his § 1983 claim. See Hill, 126 S.Ct. at 2104. The district court concluded Callahan made the required showing.

We review the district court's grant of preliminary injunctive relief for abuse of...