Flint v. Milburn
Decision Date | 25 April 2013 |
Docket Number | Case No. 4:11CV1977 JCH |
Parties | ANTHONY H. FLINT, Petitioner, v. PENNY MILBURN, Respondent. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri |
This matter is before the Court on Missouri State prisoner Anthony H. Flint's pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The matter is fully briefed and ready for disposition.
On September 23, 2008, Petitioner pled guilty in the 34th Judicial Circuit Court of New Madrid County, Missouri, to one count of robbery in the first degree, one count of armed criminal action, and one count of assault in the second degree. (Resp. Exh. B, PP. 31-32). Petitioner was sentenced to concurrent terms of thirty years imprisonment on the robbery and armed criminal action convictions, and an additional concurrent term of seven years on the assault conviction. (Id.). Petitioner did not appeal his convictions or sentence. Petitioner thereafter filed a motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Missouri Supreme Court Rule 24.035, which was denied following an evidentiary hearing. (Id., PP. 44-52). The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Petitioner's post-conviction motion. Flint v. State, 341 S.W.3d 688 (Mo. App. 2011).
Petitioner is currently incarcerated at the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Missouri. In the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus, Petitioner raises the following three claims for relief:
(§ 2254 Petition, PP. 6-11).
As stated above, in Grounds 1 and 3 of his petition, Petitioner asserts that he was coerced by counsel to accept a guilty plea (Ground 1), and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, in that trial counsel: (1) failed to investigate potential defense witnesses; (2) failed to contact mental health persons and obtain records and information as to Petitioner's mental status when he committed the crimes; and (3) failed to investigate Petitioner's claim of involuntary intoxication (Ground 3). (§ 2254 Petition, PP. 6-11). Although Petitioner raised the claims asserted in Grounds 1 and 3 in his post-conviction motion, a review of the record reveals he failed to pursue the claims on appeal of the denial of the motion.
A claim must be presented at each step of the judicial process in state court to avoid procedural default. Jolly v. Gammon, 28 F.3d 51, 53 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 983 (1994). "Failure to raise a claim on appeal from the denial of a post-conviction motion erects a procedural bar to federal habeas review." Id. (citation omitted). Because Petitioner failed to raise the claims stated in Grounds 1 and 3 of the instant petition on appeal of the denial of his post-conviction motion, the federal court cannot reach the merits of the claims absent a showing of cause and prejudice, or a demonstration "that failure to consider the claims will result in a fundamentalmiscarriage of justice." Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 750 (1991); Forest v. Delo, 52 F.3d 716, 719 (8th Cir. 1995); Keithley v. Hopkins, 43 F.3d 1216, 1217 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1163 (1995). Petitioner has not shown cause for his failure to raise the claims in state court.1 In addition, because Petitioner makes no claim of actual innocence, he cannot satisfy the narrow "fundamental miscarriage of justice" exception to the required showing of cause and prejudice. Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 314-15 (1995); Washington v. Delo, 51 F.3d 756, 760-61 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 876 (1995) ( ). The claims raised in Grounds 1 and 3 of the instant petition thus are procedurally barred and must be denied.
As stated above, in Ground 2 of his petition Petitioner asserts that the trial court erred in accepting his guilty pleas without a sufficient factual basis. (§ 2254 Petition, PP. 8-9). Petitioner raised this claim before the 24.035 post-conviction motion court, and the court denied the claim as follows:
(Resp. Exh. B, PP. 51-52). Petitioner advanced the claim on appeal of the denial of his Rule 24.035 motion, and the Missouri Court of Appeals denied his claim as follows:
With respect to federal court review of state court conclusions, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 states in pertinent part as follows:
28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).
Upon consideration, the Court finds that the decision of the Missouri Court of Appeals is entitled to deference. "There is no federal constitutional requirement that a state defendant's guilty plea have a factual basis, unless the defendant pleading guilty claims he is innocent of the relevant charge." Mosby v. Russell, 2011 WL 4501042, at *11 (E.D. Mo. Sept. 28, 2011) (citations omitted). The Missouri Court of Appeals found that Petitioner, at the plea hearing, "expressly and unequivocally admitted ... that he was pleading guilty because he actually was guilty." Flint, 341 S.W.3d at 690. The record of the plea proceeding supports that finding. For each of the three guilty pleas, the judge asked Petitioner whether by pleading to the charge, he was admitting that he actually committed each act. (Resp. Exh. B, PP. 21-23). The judge also asked Petitioner whether "bypleading guilty to this charge, [he was] telling the Court that [he was] in fact guilty of this crime." (Id., PP. 21-24)....
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