Pickens v. Howes
| Decision Date | 02 December 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-1264.,No. 07-1266.,07-1266.,08-1264. |
| Citation | 549 F.3d 377 |
| Parties | James A. PICKENS, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Carol R. HOWES, Respondent-Appellant. James A. Pickens, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Carol R. Howes, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Andrew N. Wise, Federal Defender Office, Detroit, Michigan, for Petitioner. Debra M. Gagliardi, Office of the Michigan Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Respondent.
ON BRIEF:
Andrew N. Wise, Federal Defender Office, Detroit, Michigan, for Petitioner. Debra M. Gagliardi, Office of the Michigan Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Respondent.
Before: BOGGS, Chief Judge; and COLE and COOK, Circuit Judges.
While in jail on concealed-weapon and automobile-theft charges, James Pickens pleaded guilty in 1981 to prison escape and second-degree murder. See MICH. COMP. LAWS § § 750.193, 750.317. Under the terms of his plea agreement, the escape and murder sentences were to be served concurrently with one another and consecutively with his earlier sentence. Unbeknownst to the defendant, prosecutors, or the court, Michigan law requires that any escape conviction be served consecutive to all other sentences. When the state trial court discovered the error, rather than allowing Pickens to withdraw his plea, the court simply amended his sentence to comply with the state law—even though that action meant Pickens now had a sentence with an additional 3-to-5 years in prison. Pickens did not learn of the discrepancy between the state court's oral pronouncement and its written order until 2002.
There are two appeals now before us. After Pickens was denied relief in state court, he filed a federal habeas petition contending that the plea violated his due process rights. The district court agreed and issued a conditional writ, requiring that Pickens be permitted to withdraw his plea agreement. Michigan filed a motion to modify the court's order, arguing that if a state court vacated Pickens's escape conviction, it would no longer be necessary to allow Pickens to withdraw his plea. Pickens maintained that he must be permitted to withdraw his plea and the state should have to retry him on the 29-year-old charge even if the escape conviction is vacated. At Michigan's request, a state court then vacated Pickens's escape conviction. The district court declined Michigan's motions to modify, and Michigan filed a notice of appeal. (No. 07-1266). While this appeal was pending, Michigan filed a Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) motion, which the district court proceeded to grant. In its January 16, 2008 decision, the district court declared that the writ had been satisfied and dismissed Pickens's complaint. (No. 08-1264). Unsurprisingly, Pickens appealed this latter decision, and now contends that Michigan's previous notice of appeal divested the lower court of jurisdiction.
We hold that the district court erred both in denying Michigan's motion to modify its original order and in granting Michigan's Rule 60(b) motion. Pickens's due process rights were fully vindicated by the state court's decision vacating his escape conviction, and the Constitution does not require withdrawal of a plea to an illegal sentence when the defendant's sentence is modified to give him the benefit of his original agreement. With respect to Pickens's appeal, the district court was without jurisdiction to grant Michigan's Rule 60(b) motion, and we therefore reach the merits of the district court's original rulings on Pickens's habeas petition. See First Nat. Bank of Salem, Ohio v. Hirsch, 535 F.2d 343, 345 n. 1 (6th Cir.1976); Bovee v. Coopers & Lybrand C.P.A., 272 F.3d 356, 359 n. 1 (6th Cir.2001).
Pickens was serving a sentence on concealed-weapon and automobile-theft charges. He subsequently pleaded guilty to escape from prison and second-degree murder. Under the plea agreement, the sentences for these new crimes were to run consecutive to his previous convictions and concurrently with each other (40 to 60 years for second-degree murder, 3-to-5 years for escape). In entering the plea, Pickens, his attorney, the judge, and the prosecutors were all apparently ignorant of a Michigan law requiring that any sentence for escape must be served consecutive to all other sentences. MICH. COMP. LAWS § 768.7a. Rather than vacate the agreement and give the defendant an opportunity to renegotiate, the state trial court simply entered a written judgment of the sentence that comported with Michigan law. The overall effect was to add 3-to-5 years to Pickens's prison term by making the escape and murder sentences run consecutively.
Although Pickens filed other legal challenges in subsequent years, there is no indication that he became aware of the change until he filed the habeas petition at issue in this case. He alleged that the original plea was illusory and violated his constitutional rights because of the disparity between the terms he had agreed to and the written order entered by the state trial court. On November 30, 2006, the district court agreed and issued a conditional writ of habeas corpus. In particular, the court held, "Petitioner's plea was not knowingly entered because he was misinformed as to the terms of his plea agreement and his plea was based upon an unfulfilled promise."
Michigan filed a motion to modify, proposing the writ be amended to say that withdrawal of Pickens's plea would be unnecessary in the event that the state court vacated his escape conviction. The district court denied this motion. The court also refused to hold the case in abeyance until a state court had an opportunity to vacate the escape conviction, but suggested this might satisfy the conditional writ. "This denial is without prejudice to Respondent's right to seek amendment of the conditional Writ if the Washtenaw County Circuit Court vacates the escape conviction and credits the time served the escape conviction to Petitioner's sentence for second-degree murder." On February 7, 2007, the Washtenaw County Circuit Court vacated the escape conviction and credited Pickens's time served to the murder conviction. Later that month, Michigan filed a notice of appeal of the district court's order granting a conditional writ.
Michigan then filed a second motion to modify the order on the grounds that the escape conviction had now been vacated and therefore Pickens had received whatever benefit he was entitled to under the original plea. The district court again denied this motion, but did grant Michigan's motion to stay the release of Pickens pending the appeal. In a final attempt to have the district court reopen Pickens's habeas petition and find the conditional writ satisfied, Michigan filed a Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) motion. This rule allows a judge to revisit a final judgment under certain circumstances—such as mistake, fraud, or when the judgment has been satisfied and no legitimate grievance exists. In its motion, Michigan requested that the district court find the writ satisfied and dismiss petitioner's case on the grounds that whatever right Pickens had was vindicated by the state court's decision. Even though a notice of appeal had been filed and both parties had already submitted briefs with the Sixth Circuit, the district court granted Michigan's motion and modified its previous order to provide that the writ had been satisfied by vacation of the escape conviction. In response, Pickens filed a motion for reconsideration and then a notice of appeal. On April 1, 2008, the district court denied Pickens's motion for reconsideration, and granted a certificate of appealability.
The district court was correct in concluding that the amended sentence could not be left in place. At a minimum, the defendant must have a "sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences" of his plea. Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970). And a plea cannot be knowingly entered into if the sentence enumerated in the court's written order deviates from the terms reached with the defendant. Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 261-62, 92 S.Ct. 495, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971) (); United States v. Stephens, 906 F.2d 251 (6th Cir.1990) (). Simply extending Pickens's sentence by several years to reconcile it with state law violated his rights under the Due Process Clause.
That prosecutors did not deliberately withhold information about Michigan law or otherwise mislead Pickens in negotiating a plea makes no difference. The Sixth Circuit has held a sentence pursuant a plea bargain violates the Due Process Clause whenever "false information formed part of the basis for the sentence." United States v. Stevens, 851 F.2d 140, 143 (6th Cir. 1988). This involves a two-step inquiry: "defendant must show, first, that the information before the sentencing court was false, and second, that the court relied on the false information in passing sentence." Ibid. It is unnecessary for the defendant to demonstrate that prosecutors intentionally deceived him or otherwise acted in bad faith. Rather, even when the prosecutor is unaware that certain information is false, the Due Process Clause may still be violated. So when a defendant agrees to a sentence that is not permitted by law, courts have found the plea bargain is illegitimate. United States v. Greatwalker, 285 F.3d 727 (8th Cir.2002); Baker v. Barbo, 177 F.3d 149, 155 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 911, 120 S.Ct. 261, 145 L.Ed.2d 219 (1999); Correale v. United States, 479 F.2d 944, 947 (1st Cir. 1973).
Because the state court vacated the escape conviction, the question before us is whether the district court...
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