Brantley v. McKaskle, 82-1424

Decision Date03 January 1984
Docket NumberNo. 82-1424,82-1424
Citation722 F.2d 187
PartiesRonald Ray BRANTLEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Dan V. McKASKLE, Acting Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Claudia Wilson Frost, Houston, Tex. (Court appointed), for petitioner-appellant.

Charles Palmer, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for respondent-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before WISDOM, REAVLEY and JOHNSON, Circuit Judges.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

The defendant, Ronald Ray Brantley, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Brantley exhausted his state remedies and now appeals the denial by a federal district court of his application for a federal writ of habeas corpus. We affirm the denial of the writ.

Mary Emma Davis was murdered in late August 1972. She had been struck in the head with an iron skillet, her throat had been cut, and her vagina had been cut out. Five weeks later, an offduty detective stopped Brantley on a secluded road and searched Brantley's car, allegedly with Brantley's consent. The detective discovered two knives, a blank pistol, and pornographic materials; he arrested Brantley for possession of the knives.

Brantley was held at the police station from 4:30 p.m. until 10:25 p.m., when officers gave him Miranda warnings and began to interrogate him about Mrs. Davis' death. The police allegedly were questioning about the murder all persons who were found in possession of pornographic material. Officers showed Brantley a photograph of the murder scene during questioning. Sometime before 11:00 p.m., Brantley orally confessed to Mrs. Davis' murder. He then went with officers to an abandoned house and pointed out where he had buried the victim's vagina. Officers recovered a sack which contained deteriorating flesh. The contents of the sack were not identified as human flesh and were not introduced at trial.

Brantley was arraigned before a magistrate, who repeated the Miranda warnings. After a detective gave the Miranda warnings a third time, Brantley signed a written confession. Brantley stated at that time that he did not want to speak with an attorney.

At trial, Brantley moved to suppress his confessions and the objects found in his car. After hearing evidence outside of the presence of the jury, the trial court denied the motions. The trial court also recorded its findings on the issue of the voluntariness of Brantley's confession.

Brantley petitioned the federal district court for a writ of habeas corpus. The court referred the cause to a magistrate, who recommended denial of relief on all grounds. In doing so, the magistrate applied 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(d), which provides that findings of fact made by a state court after a hearing on the merits are presumptively correct. The magistrate found that Brantley had failed to overcome the presumption. The trial court adopted the magistrate's report and denied relief.

Brantley has below-average intelligence. Tests placed his IQ between 50 and 75, with the most reliable estimate placed at 72. At trial, four experts, two from each side, classified Brantley as a borderline retardate, who can grasp concrete ideas but has a tenuous grasp of abstract concepts.

The only significant issue presented on appeal is the applicability of section 2254(d) to the voluntariness of Brantley's confession. Precedent in this Circuit has been ambiguous and potentially conflicting, but much of the uncertainty has been remedied by recent decisions. It now appears that the position of this Court is that the voluntariness of a confession is a mixed question of law and fact. Gray v. Lucas, 677 F.2d 1086, 1107 (5th Cir.1982) ("The determination of whether Gray's confession was voluntary presents a mixed question of law and fact and may be assessed independently by this Court."); Dobbert v. Strickland, 670 F.2d 938, 940 (11th Cir.1982); Jurek v. Estelle, 623 F.2d 929, 932 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1001, 101 S.Ct. 1709, 68 L.Ed.2d 203 (1981). A majority of the Circuits concur: Gray v. Lucas, supra (pre-split Fifth Circuit decisions accepted as precedent by new Eleventh Circuit); Castleberry v. Alford, 666 F.2d 1338 (10th Cir.1981); United States v. Charlton, 565 F.2d 86 (6th Cir.1977), cert. denied sub nom. Jacek v. United States, 434 U.S. 1070, 98 S.Ct. 1253, 55 L.Ed.2d 773 (1978); Lyle v. Wyrick, 565 F.2d 529 (8th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 954, 98 S.Ct. 1585, 55 L.Ed.2d 805 (1978); Hayward v. Johnson, 508 F.2d 322 (3d Cir.1975), cert. denied, 422 U.S. 1011, 95 S.Ct. 2637, 45 L.Ed.2d 675 (1975); Mancusi v. Clayton, 454 F.2d 454 (2d Cir.1972), cert. denied sub nom. Montanye v. Clayton, 406 U.S. 977, 92 S.Ct. 2413, 32 L.Ed.2d 677 (1972). Compare United States v. Wertz, 625 F.2d 1128 (4th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 904, 101 S.Ct. 278, 66 L.Ed.2d 136 (1980) (voluntariness is question of fact). The Supreme Court has held that section 2254(d) does apply to the fact portion of a mixed question.

We agree with the Court of Appeals that the ultimate question as to the constitutionality of the pretrial identification procedures used in this case is a mixed question of law and fact that is not governed by Sec. 2254. In deciding this question, the federal court may give different weight to the facts as found by the state court and may reach a different conclusion in light of the legal standard. But the questions of fact that underlie this ultimate conclusion are governed by the statutory presumption.

Sumner v. Mata, 455 U.S. 591, 102 S.Ct. 1303, 1306-07, 71 L.Ed.2d 480 (1982) (footnote omitted; emphasis in original). Clearly, the federal district court must defer to the findings of fact of the state court unless such findings are clearly erroneous. Just as clearly, the conclusion drawn by the state court from those facts is subject to the independent review of the federal district court.

Less clear is the line dividing fact from law. If the challenge to voluntariness is based entirely on a disputed fact, the finding of fact inexorably determines the conclusion; acceptance of the fact forces acceptance of the conclusion. If, however, the challenge goes to the inferences drawn from the facts, the reviewing court need not accept the conclusion and may independently examine and weigh the facts. On rehearing, the Gray Court...

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6 cases
  • Bell v. Lynbaugh
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas
    • June 3, 1987
    ...of a state courts' conclusions of law. Miller v. Fenton, 474 U.S. 104, 106 S.Ct. 445, 450-453, 88 L.Ed.2d 405 (1985); Brantley v. McKaskle, 722 F.2d 187, 189 (5th Cir.1984). However, as to the "subsidiary factual questions" found by the state court in support of its conclusions of law, the ......
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    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • December 3, 1985
    ...of criminal justice, we granted certiorari. 471 U.S. 1003, 105 S.Ct. 1863, 85 L.Ed.2d 157 (1985). Compare Brantley v. McKaskle, 722 F.2d 187, 188 (CA5 1984) "( [V]oluntariness of a confession is a mixed question of law and fact"), with Alexander v. Smith, 582 F.2d 212, 217 (CA2) (state-cour......
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    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • December 22, 2000
    ...period of time to be mixed question of fact and law implicating no deference to state court's conclusion); see also Brantley v. McKaskle, 722 F.2d 187, 189 (5th Cir. 1984) ("If, however, the challenge goes to the inferences drawn from the facts, the reviewing court need not accept the [stat......
  • Mann v. Lynaugh
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas
    • October 20, 1987
    ...although the voluntariness of a confession is a "mixed question of fact and law" in a federal habeas proceeding, Brantley v. McKaskle, 722 F.2d 187, 188 (5th Cir.1984), these findings of "specific historical facts" and these specific credibility determinations8 are binding upon a federal co......
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