Ayestas v. Davis

• Decision Date: 21 March 2018
• Docket Number: No. 16–6795.,16–6795.
• Citation: 138 S.Ct. 1080,200 L.Ed.2d 376
• Parties: Carlos Manuel AYESTAS, aka Dennis Zelaya Corea, Petitioner v. Lorie DAVIS, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division.
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

138 S.Ct. 1080

200 L.Ed.2d 376

Carlos Manuel AYESTAS, aka Dennis Zelaya Corea, Petitioner

v.Lorie DAVIS, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division.

No. 16–6795.

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued Oct. 30, 2017.

Decided March 21, 2018.

Lee Kovarsky, appointed by this Court, Baltimore, MD, for Petitioner.

Scott A. Keller, Austin, Texas, for Respondent.

Meaghan VerGow, Deanna M. Rice, Paul T. Stepnowsky, Jason Zarrow, Samantha Goldstein, Kimya Saied, Kathryn A. Clifford, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Washington, DC, Lee B. Kovarsky, The Powell Project, Baltimore, MD, Callie Heller, The Powell Project, Austin, TX, Jared Tyler, Texas Defender Service, Houston, TX, Sheri Lynn Johnson, Cornell Law School, Ithaca, NY, for Petitioner.

Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, Jeffrey C. Mateer, First Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Keller, Solicitor General, J. Campbell Barker, Deputy Solicitor General, Beth Klusmann, Jason R. LaFond, Assistant Solicitors General, Office of the Attorney General, Austin, Texas, for Respondent.

Justice ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court.

Petitioner Carlos Ayestas, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in a Texas court, argues that he was wrongfully denied funding for investigative services needed to prove his entitlement to federal habeas relief. Petitioner moved for funding under 18 U.S.C. § 3599(f), which makes funds available if they are "reasonably necessary," but petitioner's motion was denied. We hold that the lower courts applied the wrong legal standard, and we therefore vacate the judgment below and remand for further proceedings.

I

A

In 1997, petitioner was convicted of capital murder in a Texas court. Evidence at trial showed that he and two accomplices invaded the home of a 67–year–old Houston woman, Santiaga Paneque, bound her with duct tape and electrical cord, beat and strangled her, and then made off with a stash of her belongings.

The jury also heard testimony from Henry Nuila regarding an incident that occurred about two weeks after the murder. Petitioner was drunk at the time, and he revealed to Nuila that he had recently murdered a woman in Houston. Petitioner then brandished an Uzi machinegun and threatened to murder Nuila if he did not help petitioner kill his two accomplices. Fortunately for Nuila, petitioner kept talking until he eventually passed out; Nuila then called the police, who arrested petitioner, still in possession of the gun.

After the jury found petitioner guilty, it was asked to determine whether he should be sentenced to death or to life in prison. In order to impose a death sentence, Texas law required the jury to answer the following three questions. First, would petitioner pose a continuing threat to society? Second, had he personally caused the death of the victim, intended to kill her, or anticipated that she would be killed? Third, in light of all the evidence surrounding the crime and petitioner's background, were there sufficient mitigating circumstances to warrant a sentence of life without parole instead of death? Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann., Art. 37.071, §§ 2(b), (e) (Vernon Cum. Supp. 2017). Only if the jury gave a unanimous yes to the first two questions, and a unanimous no to the third question, could a death sentence be imposed; otherwise, petitioner would receive a sentence of life without parole. See §§ 2(d)(2), (f)(2), (g).

In asking the jury to impose a death sentence, the prosecution supplemented the trial record with evidence of petitioner's criminal record and his encounter with a man named Candelario Martinez a few days after the murder. Martinez told the jury that he was standing in a hotel parking lot waiting for a friend when petitioner approached and began to make small talk. Before long, petitioner pulled out a machinegun and forced Martinez into a room where two of petitioner's compatriots were holding Martinez's friend at knifepoint. Ordered to lie down on the bathroom floor and await his execution, Martinez begged for his life while petitioner and his cohorts haggled about who would carry out the killing. Finally, petitioner relented, but he threatened to kill Martinez and his family if he contacted the police. Petitioner then stole Martinez's truck.

Petitioner's trial counsel presented very little mitigation evidence. This was due, at least in part, to petitioner's steadfast refusal for many months to allow his lawyers to contact his family members, who were living in Honduras and might have testified about his character and upbringing. Petitioner gave in on the eve of trial, and at that point, according to the state habeas courts, his lawyers "made every effort to contact [his] family." App. 171. They repeatedly contacted petitioner's family members and urged them to attend the trial; they requested that the U.S. Embassy in Honduras facilitate family members' travel to the United States; and they met in person with the Honduran Consulate to seek assistance. But these efforts were to no avail. Petitioner's sister told his legal team that the family would not leave Honduras because the journey would create economic hardship and because their father was ill and had killed one of their neighbors. A defense attorney who spoke to petitioner's mother testified that she seemed unconcerned about her son's situation. In general, the state habeas courts found, petitioner "did nothing to assist counsel's efforts to contact his family and did not want them contacted by the consulate or counsel."Id., at 174.

In the end, the only mitigation evidence introduced by petitioner's trial counsel consisted of three letters from petitioner's English instructor. The letters, each two sentences long, described petitioner as "a serious and attentive student who is progressing well in English." Ibid.

The jury unanimously concluded that petitioner should be sentenced to death, and a capital sentence was imposed. Petitioner secured new counsel to handle his appeal, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1998. Ayestas v. State., No. 72,928, App. 115. Petitioner did not seek review at that time from this Court.

B

While petitioner's direct appeal was still pending, a third legal team filed a habeas petition on his behalf in state court. This petition included several claims of trial-level ineffective assistance of counsel, but the petition did not assert that trial counsel were ineffective for failing to investigate petitioner's mental health and abuse of alcohol and drugs. Petitioner's quest for state habeas relief ended unsuccessfully in 2008. Ex parte Ayestas, No. WR–69,674–01 (Tex.Ct.Crim.App., Sept. 10, 2008), 2008 WL 4151814 (per curiam ) (unpublished).

In 2009, represented by a fourth set of attorneys, petitioner filed a federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and this time he did allege that his right to the effective assistance of counsel at trial was violated because his attorneys failed to conduct an adequate search for mitigation evidence. As relevant here, petitioner argued that trial counsel overlooked evidence that he was mentally ill and had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Ayestas v. Thaler, Civ. Action No. H–09–2999 (S.D.Tex., Jan. 26, 2011), 2011 WL 285138, *4. Petitioner alleged that he had a history of substance abuse, and he noted that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia

while the state habeas proceeding was still pending. See Pet. for Writ of Habeas Corpus in Ayestas v. Quarterman, No. 4:09–cv–2999 (SD Tex.), Doc. 1, pp. 21–23. Petitioner claimed that trial counsel's deficient performance caused prejudice because there was a reasonable chance that an adequate investigation would have produced mitigation evidence that would have persuaded the jury to spare his life.

Among the obstacles standing between petitioner and federal habeas relief, however, was the fact that he never raised this trial-level ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim in state court. The District Court therefore held that the claim was barred by procedural default, Ayestas v. Thaler, 2011 WL 285138, *4–*7, and the Fifth Circuit affirmed, Ayestas v. Thaler, 462 Fed.Appx. 474, 482 (2012) (per curiam ).

Petitioner sought review in this Court, and we vacated the decision below and remanded for reconsideration in light of two of our subsequent decisions, Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U.S. 1, 132 S.Ct. 1309, 182 L.Ed.2d 272 (2012), and Trevino v. Thaler, 569 U.S. 413, 133 S.Ct. 1911, 185 L.Ed.2d 1044 (2013). Ayestas v. Thaler, 569 U.S. 1015, 133 S.Ct. 2764, 186 L.Ed.2d 214 (2013). Martinez held that an Arizona prisoner seeking federal habeas relief could overcome the procedural default of a trial-level ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim by showing that the claim is substantial and that state habeas counsel was also ineffective in failing to raise the claim in a state habeas proceeding. 566 U.S., at 14, 132 S.Ct. 1309. Trevino extended that holding to Texas prisoners, 569 U.S., at 416–417, 133 S.Ct. 1911 and on remand, petitioner argued that he fell within Trevino because effective state habeas counsel would have uncovered evidence showing that trial counsels' investigative efforts were deficient.

To assist in developing these claims, petitioner filed an ex parte motion asking the District Court for $20,016 in funding to conduct a search for evidence supporting his petition. He relied on 18 U.S.C. § 3599(f), which provides in relevant part as follows:

"Upon a finding that investigative, expert, or other services are reasonably necessary for the representation of the defendant, whether in connection with issues relating to guilt or the sentence, the court may authorize the defendant's attorneys to obtain such services on behalf of the defendant and, if so authorized, shall order the payment of fees and expenses therefor."

Petitioner averred that the funds would be used to conduct an investigation that would show that his trial counsel and his state habeas counsel...