Bedford v. Collins

• Decision Date: 04 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-3737.,07-3737.
• Citation: 567 F.3d 225
• Parties: Daniel BEDFORD, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Terry COLLINS, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

567 F.3d 225

Daniel BEDFORD, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Terry COLLINS, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 07-3737.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: April 22, 2009.

Decided and Filed: June 4, 2009.

ARGUED: Linda E. Prucha, Ohio Public Defender's Office, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Matthew A. Kanai, Office of

the Ohio Attorney General, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Linda E. Prucha, Ohio Public Defender's Office, Columbus, Ohio, Karl H. Schneider, Maguire & Schneider, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Daniel R. Ranke, Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.

Before: BOGGS, Chief Judge; SUTTON and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

SUTTON, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Daniel Bedford of the aggravated murder of Gwen Toepfert and the murder of John Smith, and at the jury's recommendation a state trial court sentenced him to death. The Ohio courts affirmed his convictions and sentence on direct review and denied postconviction relief. Bedford sought a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, which the district court denied. We affirm.

I.

In 1978, Bedford met Toepfert, whose father owned the bar where Bedford worked, and for the next several years the two were involved in an "on-again, off-again" relationship. JA 491. By 1984, they were estranged. See State v. Bedford, 39 Ohio St.3d 122, 529 N.E.2d 913, 915 (1988).

Bedford's feelings for Toepfert remained, however, prompting him to try to "rekindle [their] prior romance." Id. On April 21, 1984, he visited her apartment bearing a gift and hoping to make amends—only to learn that Toepfert's new boyfriend, John Smith, was already there. Id. Three days later, Bedford tried again. At around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 24, Bedford, who had spent the evening working at one bar and patronizing another, telephoned Toepfert's apartment—only to learn from her roommate, Jo Ann Funk, that Toepfert was asleep and that Smith was with her. Id.

Later that morning, Funk woke to the sounds of "gunshots and screams." Id. Apparently overcome by Toepfert's rejection, Bedford entered her apartment armed with a .38 revolver and a shotgun, shot Smith after a brief struggle and shot Toepfert. During the melee, Toepfert ran into Funk's bedroom, screaming that she had been shot. Bedford found her there and shot her again with the revolver and the shotgun. Smith and Toepfert died from the gunshots. See id.

Bedford fled to Tennessee. Once there, he visited an acquaintance, to whom he confessed his crime, and who reported Bedford to the police. After Tennessee police arrested Bedford (and Mirandized him), he gave a statement admitting the crimes and eventually gave a similar statement to Cincinnati authorities. Id.

An Ohio jury convicted Bedford of the aggravated murder of Toepfert and the murder of Smith. Id. at 916. After a mitigation hearing, the jury recommended the death penalty, and the trial court agreed. Id. On direct review, the state court of appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed Bedford's conviction and death sentence. See State v. Bedford, No. C-840850, 1986 WL 11287, at * 14 (Ohio Ct.App. Oct.8, 1986) (per curiam), aff'd, Bedford, 529 N.E.2d at 916. Bedford sought state post-conviction relief, which the Ohio courts denied. See State v. Bedford, No. C-900412, 1991 WL 175783 (Ohio Ct.App. Sept.11, 1991) (per curiam), appeal denied, State v. Bedford, 62 Ohio St.3d 1508, 583 N.E.2d 1320 (1992). He filed a motion for reconsideration and another seeking reinstatement of his direct appeal, both to no avail. See State v. Bedford, 68 Ohio St.3d 1453, 626 N.E.2d 957 (1994); State v. Bedford, 67 Ohio St.3d 1509, 622 N.E.2d 656 (1993).

In 1992, Bedford filed a federal petition for habeas corpus in the district court. As amended, his petition raised 87 separate grounds for relief. In a pair of thorough opinions spanning 251 pages, the district court denied each of Bedford's claims. Most of the claims, the court concluded, were procedurally defaulted or otherwise not cognizable in federal court, and the remainder failed on the merits. The court granted a certificate of appealability on several claims. See Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 478, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000).

II.

Because Bedford filed his federal habeas petition before AEDPA's effective date, AEDPA's standard of review does not apply, see Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 336, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). We thus give fresh review to the state courts' legal conclusions and clear-error review to their fact findings. See Fitzgerald v. Withrow, 292 F.3d 500, 503 (6th Cir.2002).

A.

Bedford first claims that the trial court unfairly limited his questioning of prospective jurors during voir dire: (1) by too quickly dismissing four prospective jurors for cause that he wished to rehabilitate and (2) by precluding his counsel from asking certain questions of the jurors.

1.

A prospective death-penalty juror may be struck for cause if he is "substantially impaired in his ... ability to impose the death penalty under the state-law framework." Uttecht v. Brown, 551 U.S. 1, 127 S.Ct. 2218, 2224, 167 L.Ed.2d 1014 (2007). That includes jurors who express an unwillingness to recommend the death penalty, no matter what the weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors suggests. See Dennis v. Mitchell, 354 F.3d 511, 522-23 (6th Cir.2003).

The four dismissed jurors each expressed views that qualified them as "substantially impaired." Juror Herweh told the court that he "definitely" did not think he could sign a death-penalty recommendation, JA 2192, even if the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors. Juror Tucker did not think she "could be a part of convicting someone to the death sentence," would not recommend a death sentence under any circumstance and could "not follow [a] law" requiring her to do so. JA 2132-34. And Jurors Dotterweich and Jordan stated that they could not sign a verdict recommending the death penalty. Based on these statements, the trial court had ample cause to excuse each juror, see Dennis, 354 F.3d at 522-23, a view amplified by the considerable deference we give to the trial court's on-the-ground assessment of each juror's capacity to serve. See Uttecht, 127 S.Ct. at 2224; Bowling v. Parker, 344 F.3d 487, 519 (6th Cir.2003).

Bedford counters that his counsel might have rehabilitated the jurors had the trial judge not cut short each colloquy. But the court did allow Bedford's lawyers to follow up with questions after initial inquiries elicited disqualifying responses, and each time the additional questions confirmed the juror's unwillingness to sign a death verdict.

The question, then, is not whether the trial court was required to permit follow-up questions; it is whether the court was required to permit still further follow-up questions. Bedford contends that, had the jurors been reminded that their task required them only to make a recommendation to impose the death penalty the jurors might have modified their views. But Bedford's counsel did mention to all four jurors that they would make only a recommendation.

Bedford adds that further questioning might have shown that the jurors were "simply confused" about the task before them, not unwilling to do their duty. Br. at 112. But chalking up the jurors' statements to confusion does not help Bedford, because voir dire responses that signal serious confusion about the jury's role in the process suffice to excuse a juror. See Morales v. Mitchell, 507 F.3d 916, 941-42 (6th Cir.2007).

Even if Bedford could show that the trial court erred in excusing the jurors, at any rate, he still could not obtain relief. To prevail, he must show not only that the trial court's decision was incorrect but also that it resulted in an actually biased jury. Hill v. Brigano, 199 F.3d 833, 844-45 (6th Cir.1999). Yet Bedford has not alleged, let alone proved, that the jury that convicted him was biased. Wilson v. Mitchell, 498 F.3d 491, 514 (6th Cir.2007).

2.

Also unavailing is Bedford's claim that the trial court improperly limited the scope of questioning at voir dire. The Constitution "does not dictate a catechism for voir dire, but only that the defendant be afforded an impartial jury." Morgan v. Illinois, 504 U.S. 719, 729, 112 S.Ct. 2222, 119 L.Ed.2d 492 (1992). Neither due process nor the Sixth Amendment entitles a defendant to ask prospective jurors every question that might prove helpful. Mu'Min v. Virginia, 500 U.S. 415, 425-26, 111 S.Ct. 1899, 114 L.Ed.2d 493 (1991). What matters is whether the defendant's inability to ask a question renders the proceeding "fundamentally unfair" by making it impossible to identify an unqualified juror. Id. at 426, 111 S.Ct. 1899. And in answering that question, we again remain mindful that the trial court's vantage point gives it a superior perspective to assess which inquiries will be fruitful in uncovering bias and which will not be. See Morgan, 504 U.S. at 729, 112 S.Ct. 2222.

The court gave each side ample opportunities to explore the venire members' views—devoting five days (spanning nearly 900 pages of transcript) to the task. Nor did it restrict either side to abstract questions about whether a juror would follow instructions or perform his duties impartially, cf. Morgan, 504 U.S. at 734-35, 112 S.Ct. 2222; it allowed the parties to press jurors about their attitudes.

The trial court, it is true, drew the line at questions that sought to elicit the jurors' views on Bedford's specific case—but many judges understandably (and properly) would do the same thing to prevent the lawyers from previewing their case through voir dire. Cf. United States v. Lawes, 292 F.3d 123, 128 (2d Cir.2002); 6 Wayne R. LaFave et al., Criminal Procedure § 22.3(a) n. 5 (3d ed.2007). The court allowed defense counsel to ask whether a juror would consider a specific fact at all during the sentencing phase, whichever way that fact might cut, but it barred...