Clayton v. Haynes
| Decision Date | 09 June 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 74-2175,74-2175 |
| Citation | 517 F.2d 577 |
| Parties | Harry Lee CLAYTON, Appellee, v. Lloyd E. HAYNES, Warden of the Huttonsville Correctional Center, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
David P. Cleek, Asst. Atty. Gen. of West Virginia (Chauncey H. Browning, Jr., Atty. Gen., Richard E. Hardison, Deputy Atty. Gen. of West Virginia, on brief), for appellant.
Thomas M. Chattin, Charleston, W.Va., for appellee.
Before BRYAN, Senior Circuit Judge, FIELD, Circuit Judge, and HALL, District Judge. *
Harry Lee Clayton is presently confined in the West Virginia State Penitentiary under a ten year sentence imposed by the Circuit Court of Wood County on December 31, 1971, after he was found guilty of armed robbery by a jury. Clayton filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court and after a plenary hearing the court granted the writ and the State has appealed.
While the petition alleged five grounds for relief, 1 the district court granted the writ upon its finding that at the petitioner's trial the State unconstitutionally used prior uncounseled misdemeanor convictions to impeach Clayton when he took the witness stand in his own behalf. 2 In granting relief the district judge concluded that in view of the Court's decision in Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 92 S.Ct. 2006, 32 L.Ed.2d 530 (1972), the rationale of Loper v. Beto, 405 U.S. 473, 92 S.Ct. 1014, 31 L.Ed.2d 374 (1972), constitutionally proscribed the State's use of uncounseled misdemeanor convictions. The district court reasoned that such a conclusion is a logical extension of Argersinger just as Loper was a logical extension of Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963).
Assuming that the district court correctly decided the constitutional question, we agree with the State that Clayton failed to meet his burden of proving the invalidity of the prior convictions. While the petition alleges that Clayton had been denied his right to counsel in regard to each of the misdemeanor convictions, no evidence whatever was submitted to the district court in support of this allegation. Clayton testified at the plenary hearing, but his testimony, both on direct and cross-examination, focused on other claims in his petition and nothing bearing upon the challenged use of the misdemeanor convictions was presented. 3 Additionally, nothing in the way of documentary evidence was offered in support of this allegation.
The burden of showing a substantial constitutional deprivation is upon the petitioner in a habeas corpus proceeding. As the United States Supreme Court stated in Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 468-469, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1025, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938):
(Emphasis in original) (Footnote omitted).
The requirement that a petitioner carry "the traditional Johnson burden * * * to establish a substantial constitutional deprivation" is still viable, 4 and in our opinion it was error for the district court to grant relief in this case based upon nothing more than the allegations of Clayton's petition. Accordingly, the order appealed from is reversed and the case remanded to the district court for a further hearing on this issue.
Upon remand the petitioner should be required to show that at the time of each of his four misdemeanor convictions he...
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State v. Pam
...violation bearing upon the reliability of the conviction occurred. State v. Roland, 379 So.2d 721 (La.1979); Clayton v. Haynes, 517 F.2d 577 (4th Cir.1975); Potts v. Estelle, 529 F.2d 450 (5th Cir.1976). We find no evidence, however, to suggest that the defendant presented affirmative proof......
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St. John v. State of NC Parole Com'n
...deprivation in order to prevail on the habeas petition, and the Petitioner carries the burden of proof. See Clayton v. Haynes, 517 F.2d 577 (4th Cir.1975). In order to maintain standing in a § 2254 action, the Petitioner must raise a cognizable claim — one that alleges violations of the fed......
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Youngworth v. US Parole Com'n, C-C-89-0421-P.
...show by convincing evidence a substantial constitutional deprivation. See Jarrett v. Headley, 802 F.2d 34 (2d Cir.1986); Clayton v. Haynes, 517 F.2d 577 (4th Cir.1975); see also Prisoner Petitions at I-36 (stating standard of proof on petitioner in habeas action in Fourth Circuit is convinc......
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Barentine v. US
...a substantial constitutional deprivation at his initial trial. See Jarrett v. Headley, 802 F.2d 34 (2d Cir. 1986); Clayton v. Haynes, 517 F.2d 577 (4th Cir.1975). Where a petitioner contends that he was deprived of effective assistance of counsel, he must meet a two prong test. See Strickla......