Griffin v. Yates

• Decision Date: 15 October 2014
• Docket Number: Case No.: 1:11-cv-01296-JLT
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California
• Parties: ROBERT GRIFFIN, Petitioner, v. JAMES A. YATES, Respondent.

ROBERT GRIFFIN, Petitioner, v. JAMES A. YATES, Respondent.

Case No.: 1:11-cv-01296-JLT

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

October 15, 2014

ORDER DENYING FIRST AMENDED PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS (Doc. 13)

ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO ENTER JUDGMENT AND CLOSE FILE

ORDER DECLINING TO ISSUE CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY

In his petition for writ of habeas corpus, Petitioner claims a number of errors occurred that justify the Court granting his petition. In particular, he claims that the trial court erred in giving the jury instructions, that he was sentenced improperly and that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel in the trial court and on appeal. Because Petitioner has failed to demonstrate his entitlement to relief, the Court DENIES the petition.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Petitioner is in custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after his conviction in the Kern County Superior Court of seven counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14. (Cal. Pen. Code § 288(a). (Clerk's Transcript on Appeal ("CT"), page 294). Petitioner was sentenced to a determinate prison term of 16 years. (CT 294).

Petitioner filed a direct appeal to the California Court of Appeals, Fifth Appellate District andraised only whether the trial court erroneously instructed the jury. The 5^th DCA affirmed Petitioner's conviction. (Doc. 18, Ex. A). Petitioner's petition for review in the California Supreme Court, was also denied. (Lodged Document ("LD") 13). Also, Petitioner's state habeas petition filed in the California Supreme Court was summarily denied. (LD15)

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The Court adopts the Statement of Facts in the 5^th DCA's unpublished decision: L., who was 16 years old at the time of trial, began living with appellant when she was five years old. When L. was eight, she was adopted by appellant and his wife, Mrs. Griffin, and lived with them in a household that included L.'s brother and sister.

After appellant adopted L., his relationship with her changed, and he began touching her in a manner that made her uncomfortable. L. estimated that this type of uncomfortable touching occurred more than 30 times. The first time, when L. was eight, appellant called her into the back bedroom of the house and directed her to touch his penis. She complied, but did not tell Mrs. Griffin because she was "afraid."

The second incident, also when L. was eight, occurred while she was sitting on the couch with a pillow on her lap watching television. Appellant was sitting next to her and her sister was on the other side of her. Appellant used his hand to touch L.'s vagina over her clothing.

When L. was 12 years old, appellant called her into the back bedroom and told her to touch his penis. She complied. Appellant touched L.'s leg with one hand and placed his hand on his penis and moved it up and down. Mrs. Griffin walked in while this was going on and threatened to call child protective services. She "kicked" appellant and L. out of the house. The next day, appellant and L. moved into a motor home.

While appellant and L. lived in the motor home, appellant told L. to remove her clothing and lie on the bed. He then directed her to open her legs. Appellant lay on top of her naked for approximately one hour. Appellant repeated this behavior more than three times while L. was under the age of 14. On one occasion, appellant lay on top of her and rubbed his penis against her vagina. While they lived in the motor home, appellant put his mouth on her vagina, and on another occasion, he told her to orally copulate him. Appellant also touched L.'s breasts while they were in the motor home, and he began kissing her with his tongue. She estimated that he fondled her breasts five times and "tongue kissed" her three times a week.

After living in the motor home for approximately 10 months, appellant and L. moved back into the home with Mrs. Griffin. The abuse continued and, after a few months, Mrs. Griffin again "kicked [them] out." Appellant and L. moved to another town.

When L. was 14 years old, she ran away and contacted the police department about the abuse. On April 9, 2007, in a pretextual telephone call to appellant, L. told appellant she was tired of him touching her. Appellant said he was sorry and that he was "finished." When appellant asked if L. was somewhere where other people could hear her, she said she was in the bathroom at a friend's and no one else could hear her. Appellant then said he had only done things that she said he could, like touch her leg and behind. Appellant explained that he would have stopped if she had asked him to. L. asked appellant if he would stop touching her "thing." Appellant responded by saying "I will stop touching you at all," because she was his daughter, not some "mother f-er slut" and there would be "no more tongue."

Later in the call when L. asked if she could stop touching his penis, appellant assured her that she did not have to do any of "that" anymore. He told her he loved her and missed her. L.

asked appellant if she could be pregnant because appellant rubbed his penis on her. Appellant responded that she could not be pregnant because "it has to go inside of your [sic ] and I have to squirt." He acknowledged that "mom caught us," but claimed they weren't doing anything. He also acknowledged that it was his fault, but also "a little bit" L.'s fault.

(Doc. 18, Exh. A).

DISCUSSION

I. Jurisdiction

Relief by way of a petition for writ of habeas corpus extends to a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court if the custody is in violation of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a); 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3); Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 375 n. 7 (2000). Petitioner asserts that he suffered violations of his rights as guaranteed by the United States Constitution. The challenged conviction arises out of the Kern County Superior Court, which is located within the jurisdiction of this court. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a); 28 U.S.C.§ 2241(d).

On April 24, 1996, Congress enacted the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), which applies to all petitions for writ of habeas corpus filed after its enactment. Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320 (1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1008, 118 S.Ct. 586 (1997); Jeffries v. Wood, 114 F.3d 1484, 1500 (9th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1107 (1997), overruled on other grounds by Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320 (holding the AEDPA only applicable to cases filed after statute's enactment). The instant petition was filed after the enactment of the AEDPA and is therefore governed by its provisions.

II. Legal Standard of Review

A petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) will not be granted unless he can show that the state court's adjudication of his 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); Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, 70-71 (2003); Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. at 412-413.

A state court decision is "contrary to" clearly established federal law "if it applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in [the Supreme Court's] cases, or "if it confronts a set of factsthat is materially indistinguishable from a [ Supreme Court] decision but reaches a different result." Brown v. Payton, 544 U.S. 133, 141 (2005), citing Williams, 529 U.S. at 405-406 (2000). Consequently, a federal court may not grant habeas relief simply because the state court's decision is incorrect or erroneous; the state court's decision must also be objectively unreasonable. Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 511 (2003) (citing Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. at 409).

In Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. ___ , 131 S.Ct. 770 (2011), the U.S. Supreme Court explained that an "unreasonable application" of federal law is an objective test that turns on "whether it is possible that fairminded jurists could disagree" that the state court decision meets the standards set forth in the AEDPA. If fairminded jurists could so disagree, habeas relief is precluded. Harrington, 131 S.Ct. at 786. The Supreme Court has "said time and again that 'an unreasonable application of federal law is different from an incorrect application of federal law.'" Cullen v. Pinholster, 131 S.Ct. 1388, 1410-1411 (2011). Thus, a state prisoner seeking a writ of habeas corpus from a federal court "must show that the state court's ruling on the claim being presented in federal court was so lacking in justification that there was an error well understood and comprehended in existing law beyond any possibility of fairminded disagreement." Harrington, 131 S.Ct. at 787-788.

The second prong of federal habeas review involves the "unreasonable determination" clause of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2). This prong pertains to state court decisions based on factual findings. Davis v. Woodford, 384 F.3d at 637, citing Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322 (2003). Under § 2254(d)(2), a federal court may grant habeas relief if a state court's adjudication of the petitioner's claims "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." Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. at 520; Jeffries v. Wood, 114 F.3d at 1500. A state court's factual finding is unreasonable when it is "so clearly incorrect that it would not be debatable among reasonable jurists." Id.; see Taylor v. Maddox, 366 F.3d 992, 999-1001 (9th Cir. 2004), cert.denied, Maddox v. Taylor, 543 U.S. 1038 (2004).

To determine whether habeas relief is available under § 2254(d), the federal court looks to the last reasoned state court decision as the...