Caudill v. Jago

• Decision Date: 22 October 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-3886,83-3886
• Citation: 747 F.2d 1046
• Parties: Ross CAUDILL, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Arnold R. JAGO, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 1046

747 F.2d 1046

Ross CAUDILL, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Arnold R. JAGO, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 83-3886.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued June 7, 1984.

Decided Oct. 22, 1984.

Elizabeth Manton (argued), Steve M. Brown, Gregory Ayers, Chief Counsel, Ohio Public Defender, Columbus, Ohio, for petitioner-appellant.

Christine Manuelian (argued), Asst. Atty. Gen., Crim. Section, Columbus, Ohio, for respondent-appellee.

Before MARTIN and KRUPANSKY, Circuit Judges, and McRAE, Chief District Judge. ^*

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Ross Caudill appeals the district court's dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254. The question presented is whether Caudill's guilty plea to a charge of aggravated murder was the result of coercion due to the statements of a state court judge.

Caudill was indicted in 1974 in Allen County, Ohio, for aggravated murder with a death penalty specification because the victim was a police officer engaged in official duties at the time of the offense. Ohio Rev.Code Sec. 2903.01. After Caudill entered a plea of nolo contendere, a three-judge panel found him guilty of aggravated murder. Although the judges apparently agreed on Caudill's guilt, the panel could not agree on whether the death penalty was appropriate under the terms of the specification contained in the indictment. Thus, Caudill was given a term of life imprisonment rather than the death penalty. This sentence, however, was vacated and remanded by the Ohio Supreme Court on procedural grounds. State v. Caudill, 48 Ohio St.2d 342, 358 N.E.2d 601 (1976).

On remand, the case was transferred to the Court of Common Pleas for Madison County, Ohio. A new trial was scheduled for June 6, 1977, before the Honorable Robert D. Nichols. On the morning of June 3, Judge Nichols telephoned Caudill's defense counsel, Mr. Sifird, to inquire whether Caudill wished to proceed with a jury or not. Though Judge Nichols did not speak with Sifird over the telephone, he later met Sifird at the county jail. At this meeting Sifird apparently expressed some confusion over whether Caudill's trial would proceed on the original indictment with the death penalty specification, or whether Caudill would only be charged with aggravated murder, without the possibility of a death penalty. In response to Sifird's inquiries, Judge Nichols informed Sifird and his co-counsel that Caudill's trial would proceed on the charges contained in the original indictment. Sifird then responded that the defense wished to proceed with a jury.

On the morning of June 6--the day of trial--Caudill was brought into Judge Nichols' chambers. In two depositions, Judge Nichols was unable to recall why Caudill was brought to his chambers, or who asked the judge to speak with the defendant. The judge did recollect, however, that Caudill was not brought into his chambers for the specific purpose of eliciting a plea. In any event, Caudill was escorted into the judge's chambers, accompanied by his attorney. No prosecutor was present. At this meeting, which lasted approximately five minutes, Judge Nichols made the following statements to Caudill:

I indicated to him we were proceeding on the original indictment. I indicated to him that if the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of aggravated murder and additionally returned a verdict of guilty on one or more of the specifications which were annexed so that he was found guilty of the aggravated murder and the specifications and if at the mitigation hearing by a preponderance it was not determined that there were mitigating circumstances I would have no hesitation or reservation in imposing the death penalty. I asked him if he understood and he indicated he did.

I indicated that if the jury brought back a verdict of aggravated murder with the specification that there was evidence of mitigation going to any one of the three mitigating circumstances obviously death would not be imposed.... I indicated to the defendant and made a remark at some point. I said, "If you're rolling the dice that's okay with me because we have the jury here and it doesn't matter to me what we do."

I did indicate that I had read a substantial portion of the file from Allen County and had glanced through the mitigation proceedings, though I can't remember whether I had read the entire mitigation proceedings and I can't remember whether I represented to the defendant that I had read the entire previous mitigation proceeding.

In a subsequent deposition, Judge Nichols repeated the thrust of these statements, and added that, at the time of the meeting with Caudill, he "had no reason to believe at that point [that Caudill] wasn't aware that he was being exposed in this case to a death penalty if he were found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and mitigation wasn't established as to one of the three elements."

Caudill recalled the meeting as follows:

And so he [Judge Nichols] stressed--he told me that--he got to talking about the possibility of a death sentence being implied (sic) and they would imply it if I was found guilty. Then he told me that he thought it would be best if I took his plea bargaining because he said if I didn't I'd go back to Lucasville and end up on death row.... [H]e said that he would impose a death sentence if that's what the sentence called for if I was found guilty of the specification.

I still wanted to have a jury trial. And I understood the possibility of having the death sentence being implied (sic) but I was still--all I wanted was a jury trial.

When I went in there and the judge told me that if I didn't take his plea bargaining that I'd end up on death row, he was threatening me, that's just as plain as I could put it.

Q. So it was Judge Nichols' remarks to you that you--

A. That made me change my mind.

Q. --that made you plead guilty to this case?

A. Yes, it was. ¹

After Judge Nichols' comments, which the Judge described as "primarily unilateral," Judge Nichols left his chambers to prepare for trial; Caudill and his attorney remained in chambers for a "fairly protracted period of time." When the judge returned, defense counsel informed the court that Caudill wished to plead guilty. Judge Nichols then reviewed the admonitions contained in Rule 11 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure with Caudill off the record. Caudill acknowledged that he understood the explanations and that no promises, threats or other representations were made to induce his plea. This exchange occurred in the presence of Caudill's attorney. Caudill was then taken into the courtroom where he was again advised of his legal rights. A formal guilty plea was then entered onto the record. Caudill again was asked if his plea had been coerced; he responded that it had not. Judge Nichols then accepted Caudill's plea as knowingly and voluntarily made. He also dismissed the death penalty specification and sentenced Caudill to life imprisonment.

Following his conviction, Caudill filed a motion for post-conviction relief in the trial court, alleging that his plea was coerced. The trial court denied the motion because Caudill had failed to show that his guilty plea was involuntary. ² The court rejected Caudill's contention that he was summoned into the judge's chambers in order to "threaten" the defendant with the death penalty should the jury find him guilty. Rather, the court specifically found that the meeting was held "because he [Judge Nichols] wanted defendant to understand the possibili[ty that] ... if convicted he might receive the death penalty." The trial court also concluded that the meeting in Judge Nichols' chambers was not a negotiating session, and that the judge had not pressured Caudill into pleading guilty. Finally, the trial court stated that Caudill was of "above average intelligence" and was represented by competent counsel at the time he entered his plea. Based on these findings, the trial court ruled that Caudill had not been threatened or coerced into pleading guilty to aggravated murder.

In his habeas petition before the district court, Caudill argued that the state courts had failed to consider the impact of Judge Nichols' remarks in light of Caudill's subjective impressions. The district court, while acknowledging that a defendant's subjective impressions should be considered in assessing the voluntariness of a guilty plea, nonetheless found that the factual circumstances surrounding Caudill's plea, as determined by the state courts, revealed that his plea was rendered voluntarily. The district court distinguished the ruling in Longval v. Meachum, 651 F.2d 818 (1st Cir.1981), vacated, 458 U.S. 1102, 102 S.Ct. 3475, 73 L.Ed.2d 1362, on remand, 693 F.2d 236 (1st Cir.1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1098, 103 S.Ct. 1799, 76 L.Ed.2d 364 (1983), because there the First Circuit ruled that--despite contrary findings by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts--the trial judge's remarks to defense counsel "viewed from the crucial perspective of the defendant," could reasonably have been understood as a threat. Longval v. Meachum, 651 F.2d at 821. In this case, however, the district court found that the earlier findings of the state courts precluded such a conclusion. Moreover, the court held that Caudill had failed to overcome the "presumption of correctness" accorded to the factual findings of state courts. Marshall v. Lonberger, 459 U.S. 422, 103 S.Ct. 843, 74 L.Ed.2d 646 (1983); Sumner v. Mata II, 455 U.S. 591, 102 S.Ct. 1303, 71 L.Ed.2d 480 (1982); Sumner v. Mata I, 449 U.S. 539, 101 S.Ct. 764, 66 L.Ed.2d 722 (1981). ³

Here, Caudill argues the district court erred in refusing to find that the remarks of Judge Nichols could reasonably have been perceived as a threat to Caudill to plead guilty. In support of this argument, he notes Judge Nichols' depositions indicate that on the Friday prior to trial, Judge Nichols learned from defense counsel that Caudill was...