Fisher v. Carroll
| Decision Date | 29 June 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. 04-206-JJF.,CIV. 04-206-JJF. |
| Citation | 375 F.Supp.2d 385 |
| Parties | L. Royal FISHER, Petitioner, v. Thomas L. CARROLL, Warden, and M. Jane Brady, Attorney General, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Delaware |
L. Royal Fisher, Pro Se.
Gregory E. Smith, Deputy Attorney General, Delaware Department of Justice, Wilmington, DE, for Respondents.
Petitioner L. Royal Fisher is a Delaware inmate in custody at the Delaware Correctional Center in Smyrna, Delaware. Presently before the Court is his Petition For A Writ of Habeas Corpus Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 ("Petition"). (D.I. 1; D.I. 9; D.I. 11.) For the reasons that follow, the Court will deny the Petition.
In February 1993, while Petitioner was serving a 40-45 New Jersey sentence, he was transferred from New Jersey to Delaware pursuant to the Interstate Corrections Compact and placed on work release. Petitioner committed a robbery while in Delaware, and he was arrested on March 22, 1993. On September 15, 1993, Petitioner pled guilty in the Delaware Superior Court to Robbery in the First Degree and Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony. The Delaware Superior Court sentenced him to a total of 10 years incarceration at Level V, to be followed by 6 months probation.
On September 30, 1993, Delaware authorities returned Petitioner to the custody of New Jersey for a determination of whether he had violated his New Jersey parole. New Jersey determined that Petitioner had violated his New Jersey parole, and he remained in New Jersey's custody until his New Jersey parole violation sentence expired on October 31, 2000. On that date, Petitioner was transferred to Delaware to begin serving the Delaware sentence imposed in 1993. See Fisher v. Carroll, 822 A.2d 396 (Table), 2003 WL 1747321 (Del.2003)
In December 2002, Petitioner applied for state habeas corpus relief in the Delaware Superior Court. He claimed that his return to New Jersey in 1993 violated the terms of his Delaware sentence and that his Delaware sentence should be credited for the time he was incarcerated in New Jersey. The Delaware Superior Court denied the petition, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court's decision. See Fisher, 2003 WL 1747321, at *1.
In April 2004, Petitioner filed a § 2254 Petition in this Court. (D.I.1.) In May and June 2004, Petitioner filed two identical Amended § 2254 Petitions.1 (D.I. 9; D.I. 11.) Reading the Petitions together, they assert four claims: (1) his 1993 Delaware sentence order required his Delaware sentence to be served prior to his New Jersey sentence, thus, the Delaware authorities violated the order by transferring him to New Jersey; (2) his 1993 Delaware order set September 15, 1993 as the starting date for his Delaware sentence, thus, by transferring him to New Jersey and suspending the service of his Delaware sentence, the Delaware authorities have illegally extended his Delaware sentence; (3) by holding him beyond his specified 10 years of Delaware incarceration, Delaware is violating his right to be protected against Due Process and violating his right to Due Process; and (4) the Superior Court based its denial of his state habeas corpus petition on misinformation because Delaware did not return him to New Jersey for a parole violation. (D.I.11.)
Respondents filed an Answer to the Amended Petition, and Petitioner filed a Reply to the Answer. (D.I. 19; D.I. 24.) The Petition is ready for review.
Congress enacted the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA") "to reduce delays in the execution of state and federal criminal sentences ... and to further the principles of comity, finality, and federalism." Woodford v. Garceau, 538 U.S. 202, 206, 123 S.Ct. 1398, 155 L.Ed.2d 363 (2003)(internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Pursuant to the AEDPA, a federal court may consider a habeas petition filed by a state prisoner only "on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). Generally, the AEDPA "modified a federal habeas court's role in reviewing state prisoner applications in order to prevent federal habeas `retrials' and to ensure that state-court convictions are given effect to the extent possible under law." Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 693, 122 S.Ct. 1843, 152 L.Ed.2d 914 (2002).
Absent exceptional circumstances, a federal court cannot grant federal habeas relief unless the petitioner has exhausted all means of available relief under state law. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b); O'Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 842-44, 119 S.Ct. 1728, 144 L.Ed.2d 1 (1999); Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 275, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971). The AEDPA states, in pertinent part:
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 unless it appears that —
(A) the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State; or
(B)(i) there is an absence of available State corrective process; or
(ii) circumstances exist that render such process ineffective to protect the rights of the applicant.
28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1).
The exhaustion requirement is based on principles of comity, requiring a petitioner to give "state courts one full opportunity to resolve any constitutional issues by invoking one complete round of the State's established appellate review process." O'Sullivan, 526 U.S. at 844-45, 119 S.Ct. 1728; Werts v. Vaughn, 228 F.3d 178, 192 (3d Cir.2000); 28 U.S.C. § 2254(c)(A petitioner "shall not be deemed to have exhausted remedies available ... if he has the right under the law of the state to raise, by any available procedure, the question presented"). To satisfy the exhaustion requirement, a petitioner must demonstrate that he "fairly presented" the habeas claim to the state's highest court, either on direct appeal or in a post-conviction proceeding. See Lambert v. Blackwell, 134 F.3d 506, 513 (3d Cir.1997) (citations omitted); Coverdale v. Snyder, 2000 WL 1897290, at *2 (D.Del. Dec.22, 2000)." `Fair presentation' of a claim means that the petitioner `must present a federal claim's factual and legal substance to the state courts in a manner that puts them on notice that a federal claim is being asserted.'" Holloway v. Horn, 355 F.3d 707, 714 (3d Cir.2004)(citing McCandless v. Vaughn, 172 F.3d 255, 261 (3d Cir.1999)).
When a petitioner has not exhausted state remedies and state procedural rules prevent him from seeking further state court review of his unexhausted claims, a federal court will generally dismiss the unexhausted claims without prejudice in order to allow the petitioner to pursue his claims in state court. Lines v. Larkins, 208 F.3d 153, 159-60 (3d Cir.2000); Lewis v. Pinchak, 348 F.3d 355, 357 (3d Cir.2003). However, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254(b)(2), a district court may reach the merits of an unexhausted claim, but only to deny federal habeas relief, not to grant it. Lines, 208 F.3d at 159-60; Lewis, 348 F.3d at 357; Jones v. Morton, 195 F.3d 153, 156 n. 3 (3d Cir.1999).
If state remedies are still available, but procedural rules prevent the petitioner from seeking further relief in state courts, then the federal court will excuse the petitioner's failure to exhaust state remedies and treat the claims as exhausted. Lines, 208 F.3d at 160; Wenger v. Frank, 266 F.3d 218, 223 (3d Cir.2001); see Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 297-98, 109 S.Ct. 1060, 103 L.Ed.2d 334 (1989). Although deemed exhausted, such claims are still procedurally defaulted. Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 749, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991); Lines, 208 F.3d at 160. A federal habeas court cannot review the merits of procedurally defaulted claims unless the petitioner demonstrates either cause for the procedural default and actual prejudice resulting therefrom, or that a fundamental miscarriage of justice will result if the court does not review the claims. McCandless v. Vaughn, 172 F.3d 255, 260 (3d Cir.1999); Coleman, 501 U.S. at 750-51, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991); Caswell v. Ryan, 953 F.2d 853, 861-62 (3d Cir.1992).
Petitioner's first two claims are premised on the following language contained in his 1993 sentencing order:2
Effective September 15, 1993, the Defendant is placed in the custody of the Department of Correction at supervision Level 5 for a period of 6 years. If the Defendant is presently serving another sentence, that sentence shall be suspended until completion of this sentence.
(D.I. 22, State v. Fisher, Cr. A. No. IN93040452, Sentencing Order (Del.Super.Ct. Sept. 15, 1993).) Petitioner argues that:3 (1) his 1993 Delaware sentence order required his Delaware sentence to be served prior to his New Jersey sentence, thus, the Delaware authorities violated the order by transferring him to New Jersey;4 and (2) his 1993 Delaware sentence order set September 15, 1993 as the starting date for his Delaware sentence, thus, by transferring him to New Jersey and suspending the service of his Delaware sentence, the Delaware authorities have illegally extended his Delaware sentence by seven years. Petitioner requests that his sentence should either be deemed to have run concurrently with his New Jersey sentence or it should be credited with the time served in New Jersey. Claims One and Two present variations of the same substantive issue, therefore, the Court will review them together.
Petitioner presented this issue to the Delaware Superior Court when he requested state habeas corpus relief. The Superior Court denied the request, and Respondents correctly acknowledge that Petitioner exhausted state remedies by...
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