Deal v. Cline1
| Decision Date | 23 November 2010 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 08-3162-WEB |
| Parties | TODD DEAL, Plaintiff, v. SAM CLINE1, Warden, Ellsworth Correctional Facility, and STEPHEN SIX, Attorney General, State of Kansas,Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
Petitioner Todd Deal filed this 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 1), requesting the court vacate his sentence and issue an order that he receive a new trial.
In a federal habeas proceeding, a determination of the facts made by the State court is presumed to be correct. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). The Kansas Supreme Court found the following facts:
The victim, Aubrey Phalp, was spending the night at her father's house on August 2, 1998. Her parents were divorced. Her father did not wake her in the morning, and when he attempted to wake her later in the day, he discovered the bedroom door was locked. Upon opening the door, he discovered Phalp was not in her room, and a bedroom window was open. A few days later, Phalp's body surfaced along the shore of Hillsdale Lake in Miami County, Kansas. Her body had a heavy tow chain wrapped around her ankles. Evidence at trial established the chain belonged to Deal.
The coroner determined that Phalp died from asphyxia, a general term for a lack of oxygen to the brain. The coroner was unable to determine what caused the asphyxia, and indicated that Phalp could have died from drowning, suffocation, smothering, or choking.
During the investigation, officers discovered that in late July, 1998, there was an altercation between J.R. Waters and Phalp. According to the testimony of Phalp's father at trial, Phalp told her father that J.R. Waters had beaten her and held a knife to her throat. Phalp told her father that Deal was present when this occurred, and commented, Testimony from a friend of Phalp's contradicted that testimony, stating that Deal said that Phalp was the one who pulled the knife. Deal also contradicted that testimony, telling officers in an interview that Phalp became upset with Waters, she pulled out a knife and tried to stab Waters. Deal stated Phalp was injured when Waters grabbed and pushed her trying to deflect the knife away from him.
The police interviewed Deal on August 6, 1998, the day after Phalp's body was found. Deal denied seeing Phalp recently and denied any knowledge of her disappearance. A videotape of the interview was shown to the jury, and the jury was allowed to take the videotape and viewing equipment to a jury room during deliberations. Deal told police he was in Independence, Missouri, with Shaun Garrett, visiting Jesse Cook. He stated he returned home on August 3, after Phalp had disappeared. He denied being at Hillsdale Lake and denied any knowledge of Phalp's death.
Carrie Brown testified that on the night of Phalp's disappearance, Deal and Garrett had shown up at her house around eleven at night looking for Phalp.
Jason Cook was interviewed by the police and stated that Deal had come to visit him on August 5, and Deal told Cook that "he was around when someone got seriously hurt." Law enforcement then equipped Cook with a body pack transmitter, and the conversation between Cook and Deal was played at trial. Cook asked Deal, "So you and Shaun seriously did kill her?" Deal replied, "Seriously, I'm not gonna answer that." Cook says, "I didn't think you'd ever be able to do something like that." Deal responded, "It's pretty evident you thought wrong." Later in the conversation, Cook asks, "Why'd you pull fucked up shit man?" Deal responds, "I can't tell you Jason." Cook states, "Alright, but you do know you pulled some major fucked up shit." Deal replies,
Deal met with officers again on August 14, 1998. Officers obtained consent to search his truck and found a chain hook behind the passenger seat of Deal's truck. Deal approached one of the officers, and admitted that he lied about where he was on the night Phalp was killed. He then told the police he was in the park smoking marijuana. Deal was arrested for Phalp's murder approximately 17 days later.
On January 11, 1999, less than one month before Deal's trial began, Deal met with KBI Agent George Johnston. Deal told Agent Johnston the following: On August 2, 1998, he and Shaun Garrett decided to go to Hillsdale Lake to use Garrett's parents' boat. They picked up a chain, a 30 pack of beer, and left for the lake in Garrett's car. They saw Phalp walking along 87th Street in Lenexa. They picked her up and the three of them went to the lake. At the lake, they discovered they had the wrong keys for the boat storage garage. The three of them went to the lake to smoke marijuana and drink beer. Deal got mad at Phalp while they were at the lake because she was harassing him, and he kicked her in the stomach. Garrett told Deal that he wanted some private time with Phalp, so the two of them left. Garrett came back about 45 minutes later, and said, "We have a problem, Aubrey's dead." Phalp was sitting in the front passenger's seat slumped over. Deal picked up her arm with his foot, raised it up, and let it fall. Deal believed that Phalp was either dead or extremely unconscious. Garrett told Deal to help him get rid of her and threatened to harm Deal and his family if he did not help. They put the chain around Phalp's neck and pulled her to the pier. They then wrapped the chain around her legs. They put her up on the cement railings and dropped her over the side into the water. Deal state that he told Jesse Cook that he had killed Phalp in the hopes that Cook would be an alibi for Garrett and him.
At trial, Jason Cook testified that Deal told him that he had killed a girl by strangling her and had dumped her body in Hillsdale Lake. Cook said that Deal stated he wrapped the chains around the victim's ankles to hold her down. Deal asked Cook to be his alibi.
Jesse Cook testified that Deal told him that he needed an alibi because he had strangled a girl and dumped her body in Hillsdale Lake. Jesse Cook stated that Deal said he did it because "she was a stupid bitch."
Ron Hunke testified at trial that he worked with Garrett and that on Monday, August 2, 1998, Garrett told Hunke, "We don't have to worry about that dumb bitch anymore."
Deal was convicted by a jury of first degree premeditated murder. The defendant filed a direct appeal. His conviction was affirmed by the Kansas Supreme Court. State v. Deal, 271 Kan. 483, 23 P.3d 840 (2001). Deal then filed for habeas relief pursuant to K.S.A. 60-1507. The trial court denied relief, and Deal appealed. The Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court. Deal v. State, 110 P.3d 1053 (2005). Deal then filed a motion to correct sentence pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3504. The trial court denied the motion, and the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed. State v. Deal, 286 Kan. 528, 186 P.3d 735 (2008). While Deal's motion to correct sentence was still pending in the Kansas courts, Deal filed a motion for habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The District Court dismissed the case, ruling that the petition was not timely filed. Deal v. McKune, 2006 WL 3497765 (D.Kan. Dec. 4, 2006). Deal filed a motion for reconsideration, motion for review, and a request for a certificate of appealability with the District Court. The motions were denied. Deal v. McKune, 2007 WL 293893 (D.Kan. Jan. 26, 2007). The Tenth Circuit determined that the Kansas Supreme Court allowed Deal to docket out of time his appeal from the denial of his K.S.A. § 22-3504 motion, and since the appeal was currently pending in state court, the statute of limitations was not expired. Deal v. McKune, 244 Fed.Appx. 185 (10th Cir. 2007). The Tenth Circuit reversed the District Court, and remanded for consideration of whether to stay or dismiss without prejudice. Id. at 187. The District Court dismissed the case without prejudice. Deal v. McKune, 2007 WL 4180392 (D.Kan. Nov. 21, 2007). Deal timely filed this motion.
The court exercises subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
In reviewing a petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254, the federal court must decide if the petitioner is in custody in violation of the constitution or laws of the United States. Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67-68, 112 S. Ct. 475, 116 L. Ed. 2d 385 (1991). The provisions of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) govern this appeal. Martinez v. Zavaras, 330 F.3d 1259, 1262 (10th Cir. 2003). The "AEDPA circumscribes a federal habeas court's review of a state-court decision." Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, 70, 123 S.Ct. 1166, 155 L.Ed.2d 144 (2003). When the state court has adjudicated a claim on the merits, the Court may not grant a writ of habeas corpus 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).
Clearly established Federal law means, "the governing legal principle or principles set forth by the Supreme Court at the time the state court renders its decision." Lockyer at 71-72. Determining what the Supreme Court has clearly established is usually "straightforward." Id. First, a state court's decision is contrary to such law "if the state court applies a rule different from the governing law set forth in our cases, or if it decides a case differently than we have done on a set of...
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