Ata v. Scutt

• Decision Date: 28 November 2011
• Docket Number: No. 09–1522.,09–1522.
• Citation: 662 F.3d 736
• Parties: Muzaffer ATA, Petitioner–Appellant, v. Debra SCUTT, Warden, Respondent–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

662 F.3d 736

Muzaffer ATA, Petitioner–Appellant,

v.Debra SCUTT, Warden, Respondent–Appellee.

No. 09–1522.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: July 28, 2011.Decided and Filed: Nov. 28, 2011.

ARGUED: Daniel N. Jabe, Jones Day, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Mark G. Sands, Office of the Michigan Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Daniel N. Jabe, Carrie M. Lymanstall, Jones Day, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Brian O. Neill, Office of the Michigan Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.Before: GIBBONS, STRANCH, and ROTH, Circuit Judges.^*

OPINION

JANE ROTH, Circuit Judge.

Muzaffer Ata appeals the district court's dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Ata contends that the district court improperly granted the State of Michigan's motion for summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds because, at a minimum, his motion for equitable tolling required an evidentiary hearing. In support of his petition and his motion for equitable tolling, Ata alleged that the existence of his serious and protracted mental illness prevented him from timely filing. In his petition, his motion, and their supporting documents, he provided specific allegations of his long history of severe mental illness and the effect on his mental capacity of this illness and of the medications he took for it. We conclude, therefore, in light of these detailed factual allegations, that the district court should have granted Ata an evidentiary hearing to determine whether these allegations are true, and if so, whether they entitle Ata to equitable tolling. See Schriro v. Landrigan, 550 U.S. 465, 474–75, 127 S.Ct. 1933, 167 L.Ed.2d 836 (2007). Accordingly, we vacate the order of the district court and remand this case for such a hearing. See McSwain v. Davis, 287 Fed.Appx. 450, 456–58 (6th Cir.2008) (not for publication) (quoting Schriro, 550 U.S. at 474, 127 S.Ct. 1933).

I. BackgroundA. The Crime

On the afternoon of September 24, 1995, Ata asked his neighbors, Terri Holland and her daughter, if they needed anything from the store. Ata and Holland were on good terms. Ata occasionally ran errands for her and she occasionally offered him food. Holland asked Ata to buy a few items at the store and gave Ata approximately $20.00 for the purchases. When Ata returned from the store, an argument broke out between Holland, her daughter, and Ata. He had bought some items that Holland had not requested and he also gave her incorrect change.¹ Holland's son, Rodney Westbrook, was in the house. On hearing the argument, Westbrook came out onto the front porch. He asked what was wrong and requested that Ata keep his voice down. Westbrook then went back into the house. Shortly thereafter Ata left the front porch. A few minutes later, Holland and her daughter saw Ata running toward them with a rifle. Ata began shooting in their direction. The daughter ran back into the house and told Westbrook that Ata was shooting at them. Westbrook came to the front door, and Ata shot him several times, killing him. Ata then ran back to his apartment, remaining there for several hours until he surrendered to the authorities. After his arrest, Ata confessed to the police. He recounted his argument with Holland and her daughter and described how Westbrook had confronted him, telling him to lower his voice and to leave. Ata believed that Westbrook was implying that Ata had not given the correct change and further that Ata “was a sissy.” Ata also felt threatened: “I didn't see any gun, but I knew he had one by the way he got in my face.” ²

B. Trial and Appeals

After his arrest, the Recorder's Court, City of Detroit (now the Wayne County Circuit Court) assigned counsel for Ata and ordered Ata to undergo a mental examination to determine his competency. At a hearing on January 18, 1996, Ata was found incompetent to stand trial and was sent to a state psychiatric facility. Ata's counsel initially indicated that Ata would raise an insanity defense. Following nearly a year at the facility, however, a state psychiatrist found Ata competent to stand trial, competent at the time of his statement to police, as well as capable of forming the intent necessary to commit premeditated murder. Later, a court-appointed independent examiner also found Ata competent, and Ata's counsel withdrew the insanity defense.

Ata waived his right to a jury trial, opting for a bench trial. At trial, Ata's counsel argued that Ata was guilty of manslaughter, not intentional murder, because, in the few minutes between the altercation and the shooting, Ata did not have enough time to “cool” in order to form the necessary mens rea. The trial court convicted Ata of intentional murder and of possession of a firearm at the time of the commission of a felony.

At sentencing, Ata's counsel expressed his “firm belief that Mr. Ata, due to his long term mental illness, was not responsible for his actions,” and that Ata is “in desperate need of mental and extensive psychiatric treatment.” The trial court imposed a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction and a two-year sentence for the firearm conviction. The court noted that a clinical report classified Ata as suffering from “schizophrenia paranoid type in remission in an individual who displays passive-aggressive tendencies, mal-depression and noncompliance with medical treatment.” However, the court found that Ata's mental issues “did not, according to the clinicians, rise to the level of useable defense.” Nevertheless, the court endeavored to send Ata's psychiatric assessment to the Department of Corrections in the hope that Ata would receive treatment while incarcerated.

Ata was appointed appellate counsel and appealed his conviction. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Ata then sought leave to file an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court. This was denied on January 31, 2000. Ata did not petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

C. State Post–Conviction Proceedings

On May 2, 2006, Ata filed a motion for post-conviction relief with the state trial court. In the motion, Ata claimed that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to assert an insanity defense and that his post-arrest confession was involuntary due to his mental incompetence. On December 18, 2006, the trial court rejected both grounds on the merits and denied Ata's motion. Ata applied for leave to file a delayed appeal. The Michigan Court of Appeals denied leave on October 24, 2007. Ata's petition to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court was denied on April 28, 2008.

The record developed in Ata's post-conviction proceedings included medical documents reflecting a history of mental illness, including numerous hospitalizations prior to incarceration and a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Documents, which dated from the 1970s, show that Ata had once threatened to kill his family, that he was delusional and paranoid, and that, while at times cooperative and friendly, he could also quickly become agitated and hostile.

D. Federal Habeas Proceedings

On September 8, 2008, Ata, proceeding pro se, filed his first federal habeas petition in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. His federal habeas petition asserted the same grounds he had claimed in his state petition: ineffective assistance of counsel and the involuntariness of his confession.

Because his petition would be time barred by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Ata at the same time filed a motion for equitable tolling. In the motion, Ata asked the district court to equitably toll the AEDPA one-year statute of limitations because his mental incompetence had prevented him from timely filing his petition. Ata alleged that he was mentally incompetent, citing a lengthy history of psychiatric disorders and treatment. Ata also alleged that he had “missed the [filing] deadline because he had been hospitalized on numerous occasions for paranoid schizophrenia and other psychoses. These mental ailments ... disabled him in terms of being able to be percipient of notices of filing requirements or changes in the habeas law pursuant to the [AEDPA].” Ata further alleged that he “missed the deadline because he has been and continues to be medicated by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) for paranoid schizophrenia and other psychoses.” In the affidavit attached to his equitable tolling motion, Ata averred that “due to my mental incapacitation I did not understand the one-year limitation placed on habeas petitioners.” Ata's affidavit also stated that “I have made every attempt known to me and my reasoning and understanding to facilitate any appeals before any court and to diligently prepare my appeal. I have not forsook any opportunity to present my appeal.”

Under the section of the motion entitled “Relief Requested,” Ata asked that the District Court, if it deemed it necessary, grant him an evidentiary hearing.

The State moved for summary judgment and dismissal of the habeas petition. The State argued that, because Ata had failed to show that he was incompetent during the five year period before the statute of limitations expired and because he provided only unsupported and conclusory claims, he was not entitled to equitable tolling.

Eight days later, without waiting for a response from Ata, the District Court granted the State's motion for summary judgment, denied Ata's motion for equitable tolling, and dismissed Ata's habeas petition. The court concluded that Ata “failed to establish that he was incompetent during all or even a significant portion of the over five years he allowed to lapse before the limitations period expired.” The court explained that Ata “provides only unsupported and conclusory allegations,” and that “[e]ven if [Ata] had certain mental ailments in the past, he has failed to meet his burden of establishing...