Haynes v. Burke

• Decision Date: 31 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. 98-CV-73406-DT.,98-CV-73406-DT.
• Citation: 115 F.Supp.2d 813
• Parties: Kermit Eldridge HAYNES, Petitioner, v. Luella BURKE, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

Page 813

115 F.Supp.2d 813

Kermit Eldridge HAYNES, Petitioner, v. Luella BURKE, Respondent.

No. 98-CV-73406-DT.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

August 31, 2000.

Susan M. Meinberg, Marla R. McCowan, Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, Detroit, MI, for Petitioner.

Kermit Eldridge Haynes, Freeland, MI, pro se.

Thomas M. Chambers, Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Detroit, MI, for Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

HOOD, District Judge.

Kermit Eldridge Haynes, ("petitioner"), presently confined at the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland, Michigan, seeks the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. In his application, filed through Susan M. Meinberg and Marla R. McCowan of the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, petitioner challenges his conviction and sentence on one count of first degree felony murder, M.C.L.A. 750.316; M.S.A. 28.548, and one count of assault with intent to commit robbery while armed, M.C.L.A. 750.89; M.S.A. 28.284. For the reasons stated below, the petition for writ of habeas corpus is CONDITIONALLY GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

Petitioner was involved with several other defendants in the robbery and shooting death of Benjamin Gravel in Detroit, Michigan on February 8, 1990.¹ Although petitioner was sixteen years old at the time of the murder, he was charged as an adult under Michigan's automatic waiver statute. See M.C.L.A. 769.1; M.S.A. 28.1072.

On March 27, 1990, petitioner pleaded guilty as charged to first degree murder, assault with intent to commit robbery while armed, and to felony-firearm in front of Judge Dalton A. Roberson of the Detroit Recorder's Court.² At the time of the plea, petitioner's attorney, Wilfred C. Rice indicated on the record that he had spoken with petitioner and his family at length about the matter before the court. Rice also indicated that he had explained to petitioner all of the possible punishments that were involved with the charges, including the fact that petitioner could be sentenced as an adult to natural life [imprisonment] without parole. The trial court advised petitioner that the assistant prosecutor was requesting an evidentiary hearing to convince the court to sentence petitioner as an adult. Mr. Rice responded by indicating to the court that he had explained to petitioner that the trial court had the discretion to sentence petitioner as an adult or as a juvenile. The court then indicated on the record that if petitioner was sentenced as an adult, "he has no hope". Rice, however, indicated that petitioner wanted to take that chance.

The prosecuting attorney, Marc Hart, indicated his concern that if the court accepted a guilty plea to first degree murder, and then sentenced petitioner as an adult, the plea would be reversed by an appellate court for being ineffective. When asked by the court why he thought that, Hart replied: "I don't think you can responsibly plead somebody to first degree murder". The trial court, however, permitted petitioner to plead guilty to the charges.

On August 28, 1991, following a lengthy disposition hearing conducted pursuant to M.C.L.A. 769.1(3); M.S.A. 28.1072(3), petitioner was sentenced as a juvenile by the trial court and was committed to the Michigan Department of Social Services, to be confined until his twenty first birthday.

The prosecutor appealed the sentence to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court's sentence and ordered that petitioner be re-sentenced as an adult to life imprisonment without parole. People v. Haynes, 199 Mich.App. 593, 502 N.W.2d 758; 199 Mich.App. 593, 502 N.W.2d 758 (1993) (Murphy, J. dissenting); Lv. den. 445 Mich. 855, 519 N.W.2d 842 (1994).

Prior to the re-sentencing, petitioner filed a motion for relief from judgment pursuant to M.C.R. 6.500 et. seq., which he later withdrew and re-filed as a motion to withdraw the guilty plea. The trial court scheduled an evidentiary hearing on petitioner's motion, which was to be heard prior to the re-sentencing. The prosecutor appealed the decision to conduct an evidentiary hearing prior to the re-sentencing. On December 7, 1994, the Michigan Supreme Court issued an order that petitioner be sentenced forthwith as an adult without prejudice to a subsequent consideration of his motion to withdraw his plea of guilty. See People v. Haynes, 447 Mich. 1021, 527 N.W.2d 512; 447 Mich. 1021, 527 N.W.2d 512 (1994). On December 17, 1994, petitioner was sentenced as an adult to life imprisonment without parole.

An evidentiary hearing was conducted on petitioner's motion to vacate his guilty plea on April 13, 1995. Because petitioner's counsel Wilfred C. Rice was deceased by the time of the evidentiary hearing, petitioner was the only witness. At the hearing, petitioner testified that he was sixteen years old and in ninth grade at the time of the proceedings. Petitioner said the decision to plead guilty was made after only two short visits with his attorney. Petitioner claimed that he did not understand the nature of the charges or the consequences of the guilty plea and testified that Rice never discussed the elements of the charges or any lesser offenses with him. Petitioner claimed that there were no discussions of possible defenses to the crime nor did counsel ever consider moving to suppress petitioner's confession to the Detroit police. Petitioner indicated that he only admitted to shooting at the victim's car because his attorney told him to say that in order to get the trial court to accept his plea. Petitioner further claimed that he did not understand that life imprisonment was a very real possibility, testifying that from his discussions with counsel, he was under the impression that he would only receive five to twenty years in prison. Petitioner lastly testified that Rice never informed him that the prosecutor could appeal any juvenile sentence. Petitioner indicated that if he had known that the prosecutor could appeal any juvenile sentence, he would never have pleaded guilty to first degree murder.

On October 24, 1995, the trial court issued an opinion and order permitting petitioner to withdraw his plea of guilty. In so ruling, the trial court noted that trial counsel advised petitioner to plead guilty without giving consideration to the prosecutor's appeal rights. The trial court also noted that petitioner was sixteen years old and in ninth grade at the time of the proceedings and claimed his innocence to the offense. The trial court further found that defense counsel's performance, which suggested promises of leniency or incorrect statements of law, was ineffective because petitioner was never informed that the prosecutor could appeal his sentencing as a juvenile. Finding the plea to have been involuntarily made as the result of counsel's defective performance, the trial court permitted the plea to be withdrawn. People v. Haynes, Detroit Recorder's Court # 90-2571, Opinion and Order dated October 24, 1995.

The prosecuting attorney appealed the trial court's decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals. In a consolidated appeal involving several automatically waived juveniles, including petitioner's co-defendant Cortez Miller, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's decision and re-instated the conviction. In so doing, the Michigan Court of Appeals concluded that trial counsel's failure to inform petitioner that the prosecution could appeal the trial court's decision to sentence petitioner as a juvenile did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. People v. Haynes, 221 Mich.App. 551, 562 N.W.2d 241; 221 Mich.App. 551, 562 N.W.2d 241 (1997); Lv. den. 456 Mich. 945, 575 N.W.2d 561 (1998).

Petitioner now seeks the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus on the following ground:

I. PETITIONER PLED GUILTY TO FIRST DEGREE MURDER UNKNOWINGLY, INVOLUNTARILY, AND UNINTELLIGENTLY AS A RESULT OF THE INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AT TRIAL.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The provisions of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act "A.E.D.P.A.", Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (Apr. 26, 1996) govern this case because Petitioner filed his habeas application after the effective date of the AEDPA. Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 336, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). The Act altered the standard of review that a federal court must use when reviewing applications for writs of habeas corpus. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) provides:

(d) 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 with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings 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); Harpster v. State of Ohio, 128 F.3d 322, 326 (6th Cir.1997).

A federal court must apply the presumption of correctness to state court findings of fact for habeas corpus purposes unless convincing evidence is offered to rebut this presumption. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

With respect to the "contrary to" clause, there are two situations in which a state court decision will be contrary to clearly established federal law. First, a state court decision will clearly be contrary to the Supreme Court's clearly established precedent if the state court applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in the Supreme Court's cases. Second, a state-court decision would also be contrary to the Supreme Court's clearly established precedent if the state court confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a decision of the...