Bentley v. Bock

• Decision Date: 31 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. 99-10441-BC.,99-10441-BC.
• Citation: 239 F.Supp.2d 686
• Parties: Jimmie BENTLEY, Petitioner, v. Barbara BOCK, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

239 F.Supp.2d 686

Jimmie BENTLEY, Petitioner, v. Barbara BOCK, Respondent.

No. 99-10441-BC.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Northern Division.

December 31, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jimmie Bentley, Saginaw, MI, pro se.

Laura G. Moody, Mich. Dept. of Atty. Gen., Lansing, MI, for respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION AND DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

LAWSON, District Judge.

The petitioner, Jimmie Bentley, filed this pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus on November 15, 1999 challenging the constitutionality of his state court conviction for possession of cocaine. The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Charles E. Binder on September 21, 2000 for report and recommendation. The Magistrate Judge has now recommended that the petition be dismissed for lack of merit, and the petitioner has filed timely objections. After conducting a de novo review of the papers submitted by the parties, the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, and the petitioner's thorough objections thereto, the Court concludes that none of the grounds advanced by the petitioner justifies the grant of habeas relief in this case. Accordingly, the Court will adopt the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge and deny the petition with prejudice.

I.

As explained by the Magistrate Judge, the petitioner was arrested in Saginaw County, Michigan, on February 7, 1994 on an outstanding warrant from New Jersey. After the petitioner had spent some time in the back of a police vehicle, the arresting officers noticed rocks of crack cocaine on the backseat floor. The petitioner informed one of the officers that the crack cocaine was for his own use. Further search of the petitioner's person revealed over one thousand dollars in cash.

Later that day, relying on information from both the arresting officers and a confidential informant, a search warrant was obtained for a residence the petitioner had left shortly before his arrest. The search produced, among other things, small quantities of cocaine and marijuana.

The petitioner was bound over for trial on a charge of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.7401(2)(a)(iv), and a supplemental information seeking to enhance his sentence under Michigan's habitual offender law, Mich. Comp. Laws § 769.11.

After a five-day trial, a jury convicted the petitioner on October 31, 1994 of possession of less than twenty-five grams of cocaine, contrary to Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.7403(2)(a)(v), but acquitted him of the greater charge of possession with intent to deliver. On October 27, 1994, an amended supplemental information was filed regarding the habitual offender charge which merely corrected dates and the name of one judge in relation to the petitioner's prior convictions.

On December 27, 1994, the court held a separate hearing on the petitioner's habitual offender status, and found that his sentence was subject to enhancement due to his prior convictions. On January 4, 1995, the petitioner was sentenced to a term of sixty-four to ninety-six months incarceration with credit for 332 days served.

II.

Before proceeding further, the Court notes that on July 19, 2002, the Court issued an Order to Show Cause directing the petitioner, who was released from custody on September 1, 2000, to show cause why the petition should not be denied as moot. In a detailed response filed August 16, 2002, the petitioner explained that while he was indeed discharged on September 1, 2000, he was nonetheless in custody at the time he filed his petition, providing the Court with jurisdiction over this cause. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Furthermore, the petitioner alleges that he continues to suffer the collateral consequences of his conviction, including loss of the right to vote ad to serve on a jury, and access to certain jobs, and that such consequences are in any event presumed in the absence of contrary evidence. See Green v. Arn, 839 F.2d 300, 301-02 (6th Cir.1988). The Court agrees that the petition was properly filed while the petitioner was "in custody," and that the presumed consequences resulting from the petitioner's conviction present an ongoing live dispute for the Court's resolution. Accordingly, the Court will dismiss the show cause order and proceed to the merits of the petition.

III.

The petitioner's claims are reviewed against the standards established by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (AEDPA). The AEDPA applies to all habeas petitions filed after the effective date of the Act, April 24, 1996. Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 336, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). Because the petitioner's application was filed after that date, the provisions of the AEDPA, including the amended standard of review, apply to this case.

As amended, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) imposes the following standard of review for habeas cases An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim—

(1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or

(2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.

28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Therefore, federal courts are bound by a state court's adjudication of a petitioner's claims unless the state court's decision was contrary to or involved an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. Franklin v. Francis, 144 F.3d 429, 433 (6th Cir. 1998). Additionally, this Court must presume the correctness of state court factual determinations. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1) ("In a proceeding instituted by an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court, a determination of a factual issue made by a State court shall be presumed to be correct."); see also Cremeans v. Chapleau, 62 F.3d 167, 169 (6th Cir.1995) ("We give complete deference to state court findings unless they are clearly erroneous").

The United States Supreme Court has explained the proper application of the "contrary to" clause as follows: A state-court decision will certainly be contrary to [the Supreme Court's] clearly established precedent if the state court applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in our cases....

A state-court decision will also be contrary to this Court's clearly established precedent if the state court confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a decision of this Court and nevertheless arrives at a result different from [the Court's] precedent.

Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 405, 406, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000).

With respect to the "unreasonable application" clause of § 2254(d)(1), the Supreme Court held that a federal court should analyze a claim for habeas corpus relief under the "unreasonable application" clause when "a state-court decision unreasonably applies the law of this Court to the facts of a prisoner's case." Id. at 409, 120 S.Ct. 1495. The Court defined "unreasonable application" as follows:

[A] federal habeas court making the "unreasonable application" inquiry should ask whether the state court's application of clearly established federal law was objectively unreasonable....

[A]n unreasonable application of federal law is different from an incorrect application of federal law.... Under § 2254(d)(1)'s "unreasonable application" clause, then, a federal habeas court may not issue the writ simply because that court concludes in its independent judgment that the relevant state-court decision applied clearly established federal law erroneously or incorrectly. Rather, that application must also be unreasonable.

Id. at 409, 410, 411, 120 S.Ct. 1495. See also Lewis v. Wilkinson, 307 F.3d 413, 418 (6th Cir.2002).

A.

First, the petition alleges that the sentencing court violated Michigan state law by sentencing him as a "drug dealer" when he was convicted only of possession, and because the habitual offender information was not timely filed. The petitioner further claims that the late filing of the habitual offender information denied him due process of law and subjected him to double jeopardy in violation of the federal Constitution.

The Magistrate Judge correctly found that "`federal habeas corpus relief does not lie for errors of state law.'" Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67, 112 S.Ct. 475,116 L.Ed.2d 385 (1991) (quoting Lewis v. Jeffers, 497 U.S. 764, 780, 110 S.Ct. 3092, 111 L.Ed.2d 606 (1990)). Any remedy for such a violation lies solely with the Michigan courts. See Long v. Smith, 663 F.2d 18, 22-23 (6th Cir.1981) ("In a federal habeas corpus proceeding, it is not the province of a federal appellate court to review the decision of the state's highest court on purely state law.").

The Magistrate Judge further found that the petitioner had not properly exhausted in the state courts his claim that these acts violated federal constitutional rights as well. The petitioner disputes this conclusion, although he does not deny that unexhausted claims may still be rejected if they lack merit in any event. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(2); see also Cain v. Redman, 947 F.2d 817, 820 (6th Cir.1991) (holding that the doctrine of exhaustion raises only federal-state comity concerns and is not a jurisdictional limitation of the power of the court).

Here, the petitioner's claims lack merit. The petitioner asserts that the late filing of the corrected habitual offender information violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, but fails to respond to the...