Atkins v. Davison

• Decision Date: 01 December 2009
• Docket Number: Case No. EDCV 07-1202-AHM (JTL).
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California
• Parties: Susan ATKINS, Petitioner, v. Dawn DAVISON, Warden, Respondent.

687 F.Supp.2d 964

Susan ATKINS, Petitioner, v. Dawn DAVISON, Warden, Respondent.

Case No. EDCV 07-1202-AHM (JTL).

United States District Court, C.D. California.

December 1, 2009.

James W. Whitehouse, James W. White-house Law Offices, San Juan Capistrano, CA, for Petitioner.

Kim Aarons, CAAG-Office of Attorney General of California, San Diego, CA, for Respondent.

ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

A. HOWARD MATZ, District Judge.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 636, the Court has reviewed the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, all the records and files herein, and the Final Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge. Objections to the Report and Recommendation have been filed herein. Having made a de novo determination of those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which objection has been made, the Court concurs with and adopts the findings, conclusions and recommendations set forth in the Final Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge.

IT IS ORDERED that judgment be entered dismissing the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with prejudice.

JUDGMENT

In accordance with the Final Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge filed concurrently herewith,

IT IS HEREBY ADJUDGED that the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is denied and this action is dismissed with prejudice.

FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

JENNIFER T. LUM, United States Magistrate Judge.

The Court submits this Final Report and Recommendation to the Honorable A. Howard Matz, United States District Judge, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 636 and General Order 05-07 of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

PROCEEDINGS

On September 20, 2007, Susan Atkins ("Petitioner"), a prisoner in state custody, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 ("Petition"). On January 11, 2008, Dawn Davison ("Respondent") filed an Answer to the Petition ("Answer"). Petitioner filed a Reply to the Answer ("Reply") on February 7, 2008.

On February 24, 2009, the Court issued a Report and Recommendation, recommending that the district court dismiss the Petition with prejudice. Thereafter, on March 12, 2009, Petitioner filed her Objections to the Report and Recommendation ("Objections").

BACKGROUND

I. THE COMMITMENT OFFENSE

Petitioner's conviction stems from her participation in the Manson family murders that occurred in 1969.¹ On January 25, 1971, in Los Angeles County Superior Court case number A253156, a jury found Petitioner guilty of seven counts of first degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and fixed the penalty at death. (See Respondent's Lodgment No. 2). On April 19, 1971, the trial court sentenced Petitioner to death. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 3). On May 27, 1971, Petitioner pleaded guilty to an additional charge of first degree murder, in Los Angeles County Superior Court case number A267861, and was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 4; see Respondent's Lodgment Nos. 5, 6). Shortly thereafter, the California Supreme Court held that the death penalty was unconstitutional. People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628, 100 Cal.Rptr. 152, 493 P.2d 880 (1972), cert. denied, 406 U.S. 958, 92 S.Ct. 2060, 32 L.Ed.2d 344 (1972). On December 13, 1972, the trial court vacated Petitioner's death sentence and re-sentenced Petitioner to seven concurrent terms of life with the possibility of parole. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 1).

In this habeas action, Petitioner challenges the execution of her sentence, rather than her conviction. Specifically, she asserts that there were numerous constitutional errors in the June 1, 2005 Board of Prison Terms ("BPT" or "Board") finding that she was unsuitable for parole.²

II. PAROLE PROCEEDINGS

On June 1, 2005, Petitioner appeared before a panel of the Board for her seventeenth parole suitability consideration hearing. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 7). The Board found that Petitioner was unsuitable for parole and that Petitioner posed an unreasonable risk of danger to society or threat to public safety if released from prison. The Board based its decision first and foremost on the nature of Petitioner's commitment offense. (See id. at 157-59).

In a separate decision, the Board denied Petitioner parole for an additional four years based on the nature of Petitioner's commitment offense, her unstable social history and prior criminal history, and the inconclusiveness of Petitioner's recent psychiatric report dated January 3, 2005, in which the staff psychiatrist wrote that, although Petitioner "offers what appears to be credible expressions of insight and remorse . . . complete assurance of her acceptance of responsibility, insight and remorse will probably always be clouded somewhat by the factual disputes that stem from her earlier versions of the crime." (Id. at 159-64). The Board noted several factors favorable to parole were present (e.g., Petitioner's realistic and acceptable parole plans, development of marketable skills and extensive participation in a variety of programs including substance abuse programs), but concluded that the positive aspects of Petitioner's behavior did not outweigh the factors of unsuitability and, thus, denied parole for four years. (See id. at 162-63). The Board also found that Petitioner needed "further therapy in order to develop insight into the commitment offense and the underlying cause of the offense." (Id. at 163).

III. STATE HABEAS PROCEEDINGS

On July 14, 2006, Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that the Board's 2005 denial of parole violated her right to due process. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 8). In its April 10, 2007 decision denying the petition, the superior court determined that there was "some evidence" to support the Board's finding that Petitioner was unsuitable for parole:

Petitioner was received into custody on April 23, 1971, after being convicted of seven counts of first degree murder. Petitioner received a term of seven years to life with a minimum eligible parole date of September 1, 1976. The record reflects that, at the time of the commitment offenses, Petitioner was a member of Manson Family. On July 25, 1969, Petitioner and four crime partners went to their first victim's home to solicit money. He was kept prisoner in his home for a period of time during which his ear was cut off and he was repeatedly stabbed. Petitioner participated in suffocating the victim as he lay dying from a stab wound to the heart. On August 9, 1969, Petitioner and her co-defendants broke into the home of Sharon Tate Polanski, after shooting a neighbor's visitor outside the residence. Inside, they repeatedly stabbed the four occupants. One victim was killed by a gunshot wound to the back and multiple blunt force traumas to the head. The other three were repeatedly stabbed to death. The blood of one victim was used to paint the word "PIG" on the walls. The following day, Petitioner accompanied other members of the Manson Family to the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, whom they also murdered by stabbing. These murders were all committed for the purpose of inciting a race war.

The Court finds that there is some evidence to support the Board's finding that Petitioner is unsuitable for parole based on the commitment offense. Although the parole authority is prohibited from adopting a blanket rule that automatically excludes parole for individuals who have been convicted of a particular type of offense, the authority properly may weigh heavily the degree of violence used and the amount of viciousness shown by a defendant. (In re Rosenkrantz (2002) 29 Cal.4th 616, 683 128 Cal.Rptr.2d 104, 59 P.3d 174). There is some evidence to support the Board's finding that multiple victims were killed in the same and separate incidents. (Cal.Code Regs., tit. 15 § 2402, subd. (c)(1)(A).) Petitioner personally participated in the deaths of six victims and was involved in the deaths of another two victims. The Court also finds that there is some evidence to support the Board's finding that the offense was carried out in a manner that demonstrates an exceptionally callous disregard for human suffering. (Cal.Code Regs., tit. 15, § 2402(c)(1)(D).) An "exceptionally callous disregard for human suffering" means the offense in question must have been committed in a more aggravated or violent manner than that ordinarily shown in the commission of that offense. (In re Scott (2004) 119 Cal.App.4th 871, at 891 15 Cal.Rptr.3d 32). The Board found that these murders were committed in a manner showing an "extremely high level of violence and savagery." Respondent's Lodgment No. 7 at 158. The victims were stabbed repeatedly over an extended period of time.

(Respondent's Lodgment No. 9 at 1-2).

Petitioner subsequently filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the California Court of Appeal. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 10). The court of appeal summarily denied the habeas petition on July 3, 2007. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 11). Petitioner then filed a petition for review of the court of appeal's denial in the California Supreme Court. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 12). On August 29, 2007, the California Supreme Court summarily denied the petition for review. (Respondent's Lodgment No. 13).

Petitioner filed the instant Petition on September 20, 2007.³

PETITIONER'S CONTENTIONS

1. Petitioner's parole process was arbitrary because the Board intentionally violated the law, falsified information, and used Petitioner's thirty-six year-old conviction.

2. The Board's actions violated substantive due process by intentionally subverting the parole process.

3. Petitioner was not given access to the materials used against her.

4. The Board's reliance on Petitioner's...