Davis v. Cain, Civ.A. 98-1272.

• Decision Date: 03 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. Civ.A. 98-1272.,Civ.A. 98-1272.
• Citation: 44 F.Supp.2d 792
• Parties: Joseph DAVIS v. Burl CAIN, Warden.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana

44 F.Supp.2d 792

Joseph DAVIS v. Burl CAIN, Warden.

No. Civ.A. 98-1272.

United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana.

March 3, 1999.

Joseph Davis, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, LA, pro se.

Charles Edwin F. Heuer, District Attorney's Office, New Orleans, LA, for Burl Cain, for defendant.

ORDER AND REASONS

PORTEOUS, District Judge.

Before the Court is a petition by Joseph Davis for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Having considered the petition, the record, and the applicable law, the Court hereby DENIES the Petitioner's request for habeas corpus relief.

I. Background

The Petitioner, Joseph Davis, is currently serving a fifty-year sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. On January 18, 1990, a jury of twelve found Davis guilty of two counts of armed robbery. Davis was sentenced to two concurrent fifty-year terms at hard labor.

Davis appealed his conviction alleging that the sentence imposed was constitutionally excessive. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction in an unpublished opinion. State v. Davis, 573 So.2d 268 (La.App.4th Cir.1991). Davis subsequently filed a Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence in January 22, 1992, for failure of the trial court to include the stipulation that the sentence be served "without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence" in accordance with La.R.S. 14:64. The trial court denied the motion, but the Fourth Circuit remanded on appeal for the trial court to resentence the petitioner. After repeated supervisory writs by the Fourth Circuit, the trial court resentenced Davis on June 16, 1995 to two concurrent fifty-year terms without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The petitioner's subsequent appeal to the Fourth Circuit was denied on October 26, 1995, and the Louisiana Supreme Court denied writs on April 4, 1997.

Davis filed an application for post-conviction relief in October 1996. wherein Davis challenged a reasonable doubt jury instruction. The application was denied by the trial court on September 17, 1997. Davis did not appeal this claim.

On April 3, 1998, Davis filed the instant petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Davis alleges three grounds for relief: first, that the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to follow the sentencing guidelines and determine the intent of the original sentencing judge when resentencing the petitioner; second, that petitioner was denied due process under the Pearce doctrine when the resentencing imposed a harsher sentence; and third, the sentence imposed was constitutionally excessive.

II. Legal Analysis

A. Standard of Review under the AEDPA

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 its merits in a state court proceeding, unless the state court's decision was unreasonable in its application of clearly established Federal law, or unreasonable in light of the factual evidence presented in the state court proceeding. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), which President Clinton signed into law on April 24, 1996, includes a comprehensive overhaul of federal habeas corpus legislation, including 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214. Amended subsections 2254(d)(1) and (2) contain revised standards of review for questions of fact, questions of law, and mixed questions of law and fact. Drinkard v. Johnson, 97 F.3d 751, 767 (5th Cir.1996).¹

As to questions of fact, the amended statute "permits federal court relief if the state court adjudication of the claim `resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence.'" Id. (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2)). The newly amended statute codifies the "presumption of correctness" that attaches to state court findings of fact and the "clear and convincing evidence" burden placed on a petitioner who attempts to overcome that presumption. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

Regarding purely legal questions, "a federal court may grant habeas relief only if it determines that a state court's decision rested on a legal determination that was contrary to ... clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court." Drinkard, 97 F.3d at 768 (quotation omitted).

"[W]hen reviewing a mixed question of law and fact, a federal court may grant habeas relief only if it determines that the state court decision rested on `an unreasonable application of[ ] clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court,' to the facts of the case." Id. at 768 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(I)). In further explaining the standard of review applicable to mixed questions of law and fact, the Fifth Circuit held that "an application of law to facts is unreasonable only when it can be said that reasonable jurists considering the question would be of one view that the state court ruling was incorrect." Id. at 769 (emphasis in original). "In other words, [a federal court] can grant habeas relief only if a state court decision is so clearly incorrect that it would not be debatable among reasonable jurists." Id.

In his petition to this Court for a writ of habeas corpus, Davis raises questions of law, and mixed questions of law and fact. The Court must evaluate the petitioner's claim in light of the foregoing standards if the petitioner's claim is properly before this Court.

B. Exhaustion of State Court Remedies

A federal court's power to grant writs of habeas corpus is discussed in 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Although § 2241 has no specific exhaustion requirement, the jurisprudence has clearly established that federal courts should abstain from considering § 2241 matters when "the issues raised in the petition may be resolved either by trial on the merits in the state court or by some other state procedure available to the petitioner." Dickerson v. Louisiana, 816 F.2d 220, 225 (5th Cir.1987) (citations omitted); see Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court of Kentucky, 410 U.S. 484, 489-92, 93 S.Ct. 1123, 35 L.Ed.2d 443 (1973).

The AEDPA codifies this principle by specifying that a writ of habeas corpus for a prisoner in state custody shall not be granted unless an applicant "has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A). The Fifth Circuit noted in Drinkard that the threshold question in habeas review under the amended statute is whether the claim raised by the petitioner was adjudicated on the merits in state court; that is, the petitioner must have exhausted state court remedies and not be in "procedural default" on a claim. Drinkard, 97 F.3d at 764; 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(2). Generally, the exhaustion requirement is satisfied only when the grounds urged in a federal petition were previously presented to the state's highest court in a procedurally proper manner. Dupuy v. Butler, 837 F.2d 699, 702 (5th Cir.1988).

In the case at hand, Davis has not filed for post-conviction relief in state court on the grounds of excessive sentence.² However, Davis challenged the excessiveness of his sentence both in his original appeal of conviction and his appeal of the Motion to Reconsider Sentence under Louisiana Constitution Art I, § 20. Article I, § 20 was derived from the federal Eighth Amendment, with enhancement of safeguards through particular prohibitions against "euthanasia," "torture," and "excessive punishment." State v. Perry, 610 So.2d 746, 761-62 (La.1992). The Louisiana Constitution "affords no less, and in some respects more, protection than that available to individuals under the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment." Id. at 762.

A constitutionally excessive sentence under the Louisiana Constitution is one that is grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime. State v. Brogdon, 457 So.2d 616, 625 (La.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1111, 105 S.Ct. 2345, 85 L.Ed.2d 862 (1985). Louisiana courts use federal jurisprudence as the minimum threshold of evaluating excessive punishment. Perry, 610 So.2d at 762 (citing Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346); Brogdon, 457 So.2d at 625 (citing Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 103 S.Ct. 3001, 77 L.Ed.2d 637 (1983), for analytical framework to evaluate gross disproportionality). Thus, Davis's failure to cite the federal constitution in his original challenge does not preclude this Court's review because the state's highest court denied writs on direct appeal from the issue of whether the sentence is excessively severe in relation to the crime.³ See, e.g. Bocian v. Godinez, 101 F.3d 465 (7th Cir.1996) (finding exhaustion where petitioner framed sentence as severe even without "eighth amendment" buzzword); Velez v. State, 941 F.Supp. 300 (E.D.N.Y.) (finding exhaustion satisfied by reliance on federal and state cases employing the relevant constitutional analysis).

The same three claims at issue here were presented and rejected by the state's highest court on direct appeal of both the conviction and the subsequent Motion to Reconsider the sentence imposed. Therefore, Davis has exhausted the state court remedies regarding these claims. Accordingly, his petition to this Court for habeas corpus relief is proper.

C. Alleged Abuse of Discretion in Sentencing

In his first claim, Davis challenges the trial court's failure to follow the sentencing guidelines of La.C.Cr.P. art 894.1 and the intent of the original sentencing judge according to the Louisiana Supreme Court in State v. Husband, 593 So.2d 1257 (La.1992). However, federal courts generally decline to review a state court's interpretation of its own law in a federal habeas proceeding. See Mills v. Collins, 924 F.2d 89, 92 (5th Cir.1991) (citing Seaton v. Procunier, 750 F.2d 366, 368, (5th Cir.1985)); Moreno v. Estelle, 717 F.2d 171, 179 (...