Apelt v. Ryan

• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
• Writing for the Court: CALLAHAN, Circuit Judge
• Citation: Apelt v. Ryan, 878 F.3d 800 (9th Cir. 2017)
• Decision Date: 28 December 2017
• Docket Number: Nos. 15-99013,15-99015,s. 15-99013
• Parties: Michael APELT, Petitioner-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. Charles L. RYAN, Respondent-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

878 F.3d 800

Michael APELT, Petitioner-Appellee/Cross-Appellant,

v.Charles L. RYAN, Respondent-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Nos. 15-99013

15-99015

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted August 9, 2017 Pasadena, California

Filed December 28, 2017

Kristina B. Reeves (argued), Assistant Attorney General, Capital Litigation Section; Lacey Stover Gard, Chief Counsel; Mark Brnovich, Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Phoenix, Arizona; for Respondent-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Emily Katherine Skinner (argued), Arizona Capital Representation Project, Tucson, Arizona; Dana Carpenter, Phoenix, Arizona; for Petitioner-Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

Before: Jerome Farris, Consuelo M. Callahan, and John B. Owens, Circuit Judges.

CALLAHAN, Circuit Judge:

In December 1988, Michael Apelt ("Apelt") and his brother, Rudi, murdered Apelt’s wife of less than two months in order to collect on her life insurance policy. The brothers were tried separately, convicted of first degree murder, and given death sentences. Having obtained no relief in the Arizona courts, Apelt filed a habeas petition in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. After a stay of proceedings to allow Apelt to advance a claim in the state courts based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Atkins v. Virginia , 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), the district court granted the writ on one issue, ineffective assistance of counsel ("IAC") at sentencing, and denied relief on all of Apelt’s other claims.

In No. 15-99013, the state of Arizona appeals, challenging the district court’s jurisdiction to reach the merits of Apelt’s IAC claim, as well as its grant of the writ. In No. 15-99015, Apelt appeals two claims certified by the district court: the denial in state court of funding to investigate mitigating evidence, and the determination that Apelt had failed to show that he was intellectually disabled under Atkins . In addition, Apelt raises two issues that were not certified by the district court: whether the Arizona Supreme Court applied an unconstitutional causal nexus requirement in reviewing Apelt’s sentence; and whether trial counsel was ineffective in failing to challenge Apelt’s competency to be tried and sentenced.

Apelt’s habeas petition is subject to review under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). See Mann v. Ryan , 828 F.3d 1143, 1151 (9th Cir. 2016) (en banc). We first determine that federal court review was not procedurally barred. We then vacate the district court’s grant of relief because we cannot find the Arizona Supreme Court’s determination that Apelt’s counsel’s deficient performance at sentencing was not prejudicial to be clearly unreasonable. See Davis v. Ayala , ––– U.S. ––––, 135 S.Ct. 2187, 2199, 192 L.Ed.2d 323 (2015) ; Cullen v. Pinholster , 563 U.S. 170, 189, 131 S.Ct. 1388, 179 L.Ed.2d 557 (2011). We affirm the district court’s denial of relief on Apelt’s claims of inadequate funding to investigate mitigating evidence, and mental disability pursuant to Atkins , 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242. We grant the certificate of appealability for Apelt’s claims of an application of an unconstitutional causal nexus standard by the Arizona Supreme Court and for ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to challenge Apelt’s competency to stand trial, and we deny those claims on the merits.

I.

A. The Facts

Michael Apelt, the youngest of seven siblings, was born in August 1963 in Germany. He came to the United States in the late summer of 1988. The underlying facts leading to Apelt’s conviction were fairly and fully set forth in the Arizona Supreme Court’s opinion, State v. Apelt , 176 Ariz. 349, 861 P.2d 634 (Ariz. 1993), as follows:

In August 1988, the defendant, his brother Rudi Apelt, Rudi’s wife Susanne, and Michael’s ex-girlfriend Anke Dorn, all German citizens, traveled to San Diego, California. The defendant and his brother met two women in a nightclub. Cheryl Rubenstein and Trudy Waters lived in Phoenix and were in San Diego to cater a party for Cheryl’s brother. They spent the evening chatting with the Apelts. Because Michael’s English was not very good and Rudi’s was worse, communication was difficult until they found an interpreter among the other patrons of the bar. The Apelts first claimed to be wind surfing board manufacturers, then Mercedes importers. Rudi denied being married. Before leaving, the women gave the Apelts their addresses and phone numbers.

Approximately two weeks later the Apelts flew to Phoenix. Cheryl picked them up at the airport and took them to a hotel in Mesa. They soon moved to a nearby Motel 6, but pretended to be staying at the Holiday Inn, a more expensive hotel nearby. After a couple of weeks, they flew back to San Diego, picked up Anke Dorn and returned to Phoenix. Susanne, Rudi’s wife, returned to Germany.

Over the next month the brothers met and "conned" a series of women, spinning tales of wealth and intrigue. The immediate goal of at least some of their ruses was to get money and other assistance. They were looking for a woman to marry Michael.

On October 6, the Apelts met Annette Clay at Bobby McGee’s, a bar and restaurant. Rudi claimed to be an international banker. Annette gave him her phone number, and Rudi called her on Saturday. She met the Apelts at Bobby McGee’s that evening, and introduced them to her friends, Cindy and Kathy Monkman. Michael immediately focused on Cindy and spent the evening dancing and talking with her. He said several times "you're the woman I want to marry" and "me you marry." He and Rudi claimed to be computer and banking experts.

During the next week Annette and Cindy saw the Apelts several times. When Cindy noticed that after the Apelts visited her apartment she was missing over $100 in cash, she and Annette began to get suspicious. They questioned whether the Apelts were actually staying at the Holiday Inn and, by calling several hotels in the area, discovered that the Apelts were registered at the Motel 6.

When confronted with this information, the Apelts insisted that there was some mistake. That evening, after dropping the Apelts at the Holiday Inn, the women located their room at the Motel 6 and discovered Anke Dorn.

The next day, the Apelts were furious and claimed that the women’s snooping destroyed their "high security clearance" and cost them their jobs and their work visas. They explained that Anke was a family friend whose husband was in the hospital. The women were apologetic and suggested various ways they could help the Apelts get their jobs back or find new jobs, but the Apelts refused these suggestions. Finally, in frustration, Annette exclaimed "what do you want us to do, marry you?" The Apelts replied, "yes."

Rudi moved into Annette’s apartment and Michael moved into Cindy’s. Annette discussed with Rudi the possibility of a sham marriage so that he could work in the United States, but Rudi insisted that he loved her and that if they married it would be forever. He also insisted that they keep the marriage secret. Rudi had been staying with Annette less than a week when Annette discovered that the story regarding Anke was a lie. Annette asked Rudi to leave and did not see him again. Rudi and Anke moved into a motel. Thereafter, Michael told Annette several times that Rudi had returned to Germany. Cindy also believed that Rudi and Anke had left the country.

On October 28, 1988, Cindy and Michael were married in Las Vegas. They did not tell anyone about the marriage. On November 7, at Michael’s suggestion, they consulted Doug Ramsey about a million dollar life insurance policy. Cindy believed Michael was wealthy and that purchasing large insurance policies was a customary investment practice for couples in Germany. Ramsey informed them that they could not get such a large policy but that they might qualify for a $400,000 policy. They filled out an application, and Cindy wrote a check for the first month’s premium.

Around this time, and continuing up to the time of the murder, the Apelts and Anke began a series of shopping sprees. They looked at expensive Piaget and Rolex watches, at one time contracting to buy three for a total price of approximately $130,000. They looked at expensive boats and cars, arranging to buy two Jaguars for $144,000 and two Toyota Supras for about $66,000. Their pattern was to fill out a purchase contract, make a nominal down-payment with assurances that they would pay cash upon receiving money from sources in Germany, and then never return. They drove to the stores and car dealers in Cindy’s Volkswagen.

During one of the first shopping trips, Michael told Anke that if Cindy died an unnatural death, he would be rich. By this time they were without funds. Michael paid most of Rudi’s and Anke’s expenses with Cindy’s money, even though Cindy’s income from her two part-time jobs was very modest. She withdrew over $4,000 from an account from October through December 1988.

On November 25, Ramsey informed Michael and Cindy that they could only get a $100,000 life insurance policy. They executed a change form and, on November 30, applied for a $300,000 policy from another company.

Early in December, Rudi and Anke reserved a rental car for December 9, specifically requesting one with a large trunk. Around this time, Ramsey informed Cindy that the second insurance company would not approve their application for a $300,000 policy until it had more background and financial information. Cindy provided the needed information, and Ramsey resubmitted the application. In the interim, Rudi cancelled the car reservation.

On December 22, 1988, Ramsey informed Cindy and Michael that the $300,000 policy was approved and would be effective after Cindy gave him a check for the premium. He also delivered the $100,000 policy.

On the morning of December 23, Cindy and Michael took the Volkswagen in for some repairs and rented a Subaru. Cindy was busy getting

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