Hall v. Luebbers

• Decision Date: 02 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-3542.,No. 01-3543.,01-3542.,01-3543.
• Citation: 341 F.3d 706
• Parties: Stanley HALL, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. Al LUEBBERS, Superintendent, Missouri State Correctional Facility at Potosi; Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General of the State of Missouri, Appellants/Cross-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

341 F.3d 706

Stanley HALL, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. Al LUEBBERS, Superintendent, Missouri State Correctional Facility at Potosi; Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General of the State of Missouri, Appellants/Cross-Appellees.

No. 01-3542.

No. 01-3543.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: November 5, 2002.

Filed: September 2, 2003.

Order Denying Petition for Rehearing and for Rehearing En Banc November 13, 2003.

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Cassandra K. Dolgin, argued, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, MO, for appellant.

Nelson L. Mitten, argued, St. Louis, MO, for appellee.

Before HANSEN,¹ Chief Judge, BEAM and RILEY, Circuit Judges.

RILEY, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Stanley Hall (Hall) of first degree murder and assessed the death penalty as punishment. After the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Hall's conviction, sentence, and denial of post-conviction relief, Hall petitioned the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2000). The district court² held the State of Missouri (State or Missouri) had not opted-in for expedited habeas review and denied Hall's petition. Missouri appeals, and Hall cross-appeals. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

In January 1994, Hall and Rance Burton (Burton) drove to the South County Shopping Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Searching the parking lot for a vehicle to steal, Hall and Burton approached Barbara Jo Wood's (Wood) car as it entered the parking lot. At gunpoint, Hall and Burton forced Wood into the passenger side of her car. Hall and Burton then drove Wood's car to the McKinley Bridge. Stopping on the McKinley Bridge, Hall or Burton forced Wood out of her car. A struggle ensued, during which Wood suffered some injuries. Burton then returned to Wood's car and sped away, leaving Hall and Wood on the bridge. Hall lifted Wood over the bridge railing. Pleading for her life, Wood held onto Hall. Struggling, Hall hurled Wood off the bridge and into the frigid Mississippi River where she died. Two witnesses reported the incident. The police arrived and arrested Hall. After waiving his Miranda rights, Hall confessed to throwing Wood into the river.

B. Procedural Background

A jury convicted Hall of kidnaping, two counts of armed criminal action, robbery in the first degree, and murder in the first degree. After the presentation of penalty-phase evidence, the jury found six aggravating factors and recommended capital punishment. The trial court accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced Hall to death. Hall appealed his conviction and sentence to the Missouri Supreme Court, which affirmed. See State v. Hall, 955 S.W.2d 198, 211 (Mo.1997). Hall filed for post-conviction relief, raising numerous ineffective assistance of counsel claims. The Missouri post-conviction court denied Hall relief. Hall appealed three ineffective assistance of counsel claims to the Missouri Supreme Court. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed. See Hall v. State, 16 S.W.3d 582, 588 (Mo.2000).

Having exhausted his state court remedies, Hall filed an affidavit to proceed in forma pauperis and requested appointment of counsel to pursue section 2254 relief. After the district court appointed counsel, the district court promulgated a case management order establishing December 15, 2000, as the date by which Hall must file his section 2254 petition. Missouri moved to amend the case management order, claiming the State had optedin for expedited review under the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). Based upon AEDPA's expedited review standard, Missouri asserted Hall must file his habeas petition by August 31, 2000. The district court denied Missouri's motion, holding the court need not determine if the State had opted-in. Missouri urged the district court to reconsider its decision. The district court reconsidered its decision, holding the State had not opted-in under AEDPA, because Missouri Rule of Criminal Procedure 29.16 (Rule 29.16) did not satisfy AEDPA's requirements that counsel be offered to all individuals under a capital sentence, and counsel be provided compensation and payment of litigation expenses. Missouri appeals.

Hall filed a habeas petition, asserting fourteen grounds for granting section 2254 relief, including four ineffective assistance of counsel claims. The district court denied Hall relief, but granted a certificate of appealability on all grounds. Hall cross-appeals.

II. DISCUSSION

A. AEDPA Opt-In

Missouri asserts Hall untimely filed his habeas petition because the State opted-in for expedited habeas corpus review. Whether a state has adopted a post-conviction appointment of counsel mechanism satisfying AEDPA's opt-in requirements is a question of law, which we review de novo. Spears v. Stewart, 283 F.3d 992, 1008 (9th Cir.2002). Under AEDPA's expedited review provisions, an individual under a capital sentence must file a section 2254 petition within 180 days "after final State court affirmance of the conviction and sentence on direct review." 28 U.S.C. § 2263(a). To permit this expedited review, Missouri must adopt an appointment mechanism that complies with AEDPA's opt-in requirements. See 28 U.S.C. § 2261(a)-(c). Missouri bears the burden of establishing Rule 29.16 complies with AEDPA's opt-in requirements. See Spears, 283 F.3d at 1012.

Subsection (b) and subsection (c) of section 2261 establish the requirements a state must meet to opt-in for expedited habeas review.³ Subsection (b) establishes the general requirement that a state must create by statute, rule of the state's highest court, or by an agency authorized by law a "mechanism for the appointment, compensation, and payment of reasonable litigation expenses of competent counsel in... post-conviction proceedings brought by indigent prisoners." 28 U.S.C. § 2261(b).

Subsection (c) further defines the mechanics of the post-conviction mechanism. In subsection (c), Congress, for the first time, uses two phrases "offer" and "all State prisoners." 28 U.S.C. § 2261(c). Subsection (c) specifies the mechanism must contain two components, an offer component and an appointment component. To satisfy the offer component, the mechanism must offer counsel to all prisoners under a capital sentence. Although subsection (c) requires an offer of counsel to all prisoners under a capital sentence, subsection (c)'s appointment component requires counsel be appointed only to indigent prisoners.

Missouri's post-conviction appointment mechanism for prisoners under a capital sentence fails to satisfy AEDPA's offer component, i.e., counsel must be offered to all prisoners under a capital sentence. Rule 29.16 provides

When a motion is filed as provided in Rule 29.15 to set aside a sentence of death, the court shall find on the record whether the movant is indigent. If the movant is indigent, the court shall cause to be appointed two counsel [sic] to represent the movant.

Mo. R.Crim. P. 29.16(a). According to its plain text, Rule 29.16 only offers the appointment of counsel to indigent prisoners under a capital sentence who file a petition for post-conviction relief, not all prisoners under a capital sentence, as required by AEDPA. Section 2261(c) demands an affirmative and automatic "offer" of counsel to all persons under a capital sentence. Missouri's procedure waits until a Rule 29.15 post-conviction relief motion is filed and indigency is determined. Professional legal advice may be critical in the early post-conviction relief decision-making process and the preparation of a Rule 29.15 motion.

During oral argument, Missouri asserted the State satisfies AEDPA's opt-in requirements because, pursuant to Missouri Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 29.07 (Rule 29.07), the sentencing court informs each person convicted of a capital sentence he is entitled to pursue post-conviction relief under Rule 29.15, and the text of Rule 29.15, in subsection (e), informs the prisoner of the right to appointed post-conviction counsel for indigents. Rule 29.07(b)(4) does require the sentencing court to inform the defendant of the right to pursue post-conviction relief under Rule 29.15. But, Rule 29.15(e) only offers counsel to defendants who file for post-conviction relief. Rule 29.07(b)(4) with Rule 29.15(e) still suffer from the same infirmity as does Rule 29.16, i.e., no affirmative offer of counsel is made to all prisoners under capital sentence.

Because we conclude Rule 29.16 does not satisfy AEDPA's second opt-in requirement, we decline to address Rule 29.16's compliance with the remaining opt-in requirements.

B. Merits of Hall's Section 2254 Petition

In an appeal of a habeas petition, "[w]e review the district court's findings of fact for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo." Taylor v. Bowersox, 329 F.3d 963, 968 (8th Cir.2003). We will grant section 2254 relief only if the state court's adjudication results "in a decision that [is] contrary to, or involv[es] an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law" or "in a decision that [is] based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1)-(2); see also Poole v. Goodno, 335 F.3d 705, 708 (8th Cir.2003). The state court's factual findings carry a presumption of correctness that will be rebutted only by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1); see also Lomholt v. Iowa, 327 F.3d 748, 752 (8th Cir.2003). Hall asserts fourteen claims on which he seeks habeas relief.

1. Batson Claims

Hall, a black male, asserts Missouri struck two prospective black jurors, Vergia Dunbar (Dunbar) and Vandaris Simpson (Simpson), which violated his equal protection rights. The Supreme Court has adopted a three-part test "to determine whether a peremptory strike violates the Equal Protection Clause." U.S. Xpress Enter., Inc. v. J.B. Hunt Transp.,...