Hunter v. Ferrell
| Decision Date | 18 November 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-16597.,08-16597. |
| Citation | 587 F.3d 1304 |
| Parties | John Henry HUNTER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jerry FERRELL, Warden, Attorney General of the State of Alabama, Respondents-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Cecil G. Brendle, Jr., AL Atty. Gen., Montgomery, AL, for Respondents-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Before HULL, WILSON and FAY, Circuit Judges.
John Henry Hunter, an Alabama state prisoner, appeals the district court's denial of his pro se federal habeas corpus petition, brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, as barred by the one-year statute of limitations of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996). After review, we vacate the district court's order and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
In Alabama state court in 1995, Hunter was charged with, inter alia, murder, first degree armed robbery and burglary, and second degree robbery. Hunter initially pled not guilty.
In April 1997, Dr. Laurence R. Maier, a licensed psychologist and forensic examiner, conducted a court-ordered assessment to determine Hunter's competency to stand trial and his mental state at the time of the charged offenses. Dr. Maier's report concluded that Hunter, though mentally retarded, had "minimal capacity to meet competency requirements" to stand trial and understood the difference between right and wrong at the time of the offenses.
According to Dr. Maier's competency report, Hunter is unable to read or write anything other than his name and received special education services for the eight or nine years of his formal education. In 1995, Hunter was given the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-R that indicated he had a Verbal IQ of 57, a Performance IQ of 59 and a Full Scale IQ of 59. Dr. Maier described these scores as "appreciably low, all falling at the 1st Percentile." Dr. Maier's report states, "Thus, 99 out of a hundred other people Mr. Hunter's age would obtain higher IQ scores on the same instrument." Dr. Maier also noted that Hunter's full scale score of 59 "falls at the lower-end of the Mildly Mentally Retarded range."
Dr. Maier found the scores "consistent with [Hunter's] overall intellectual presentation" during the assessment and stated that Hunter's "intellectual slowness is obvious to anyone who talks to him for more than a few moments." Dr. Maier also admitted he had some difficulties during the assessment "due to defendant's Mental Retardation and to a severe expressive speech disorder, present since birth." The speech disorder, which Dr. Maier described as "expressive speech aphasia," caused Hunter to have "extensive slurring, sound omissions, incomplete sentence structure, and some stammering." Dr Maier noted that when Hunter was emotional, he became "completely nonunderstandable."
As for Hunter's mental retardation, Dr. Maier stated that Hunter's judgment and insight were "moderately to severely impaired" and that "his problem-solving skills overall are quite limited." Based on clinical impressions, Dr. Maier diagnosed Hunter with, inter alia, "Mental Retardation, Degree Mild, Chronic, Irreversible." Dr. Maier opined that this condition "has apparently been present lifelong and been accompanied by very poor overall performance personally, vocationally, educationally, and obviously in a social sense as well." Dr. Maier stated that Hunter was "not able to function independently in society" and needed to be in a structured environment where "his limited problem-solving skills will allow for needed maintenance and care from others."
Although Dr. Maier concluded that Hunter was competent to stand trial, he described Hunter's understanding of the nature and object of the court proceedings as "simplistic" and noted significant impairments in Hunter's understanding. For example, Dr. Maier rated Hunter's "appraisal of available legal defenses," "capacity to disclose to his attorney pertinent facts," "ability to meaningfully participate in the planning of legal strategies," and "capacity to testify relevantly overall" as "moderately impaired." Although Dr. Maier found these impairments to be "fairly significant," he also thought they could "be overcome and managed by court patience and attorney explanation and education." Dr. Maier stated that his "biggest area of concern" was Hunter's "ability to assist his attorney in his own defense" because of his poor communication skills. Dr. Maier concluded that Hunter was "borderline in his overall competency." Although normally someone with Hunter's degree of mental retardation "would probably not have sufficient understanding," Dr. Maier opined that, because Hunter had prior experience with the criminal justice system, "with adequate representation and education, [Hunter] can factually and rationally understand the charge and participate to an adequate degree with his attorney in his own defense." Dr. Maier concluded, however, that Hunter "will not be an easy man to legally represent."
At some point, Hunter changed his plea to guilty. On January 28, 1999, without conducting a competency hearing, the state court accepted Hunter's guilty plea. The state court imposed a 40-year sentence on the murder conviction and concurrent 20- and 10-year sentences, respectively, on the first degree armed robbery and burglary and second degree robbery convictions. Hunter did not appeal his convictions, which became final on March 11, 1999, when the time for filing a direct appeal expired.
During 2004 to 2008, Hunter filed pro se three state post-conviction petitions. Hunter filed these petitions through the assistance of prison law clerks, he says, because he "could not manage his affairs or understand his legal rights and act upon them." On November 9, 2004, Hunter filed his first state post-conviction petition pursuant to Alabama Rule of Criminal Procedure 32. The state court granted the petition as to one claim and denied the petition as to two other claims.1 On June 10, 2005, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.
On November 21, 2005, Hunter filed a second Rule 32 petition in state court. The second petition was dismissed as procedurally defaulted and time-barred. On June 16, 2006, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the dismissal.
On September 6, 2006, Hunter filed a third Rule 32 petition in state court, challenging for the first time his mental competency at the time he entered his guilty plea. The state court denied Hunter's third Rule 32 petition. On August 20, 2008, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.
On May 9, 2008, Hunter filed pro se the instant § 2254 petition, asserting that Hunter was "currently incompetent" and the state trial court violated his due process rights by failing to hold a competency hearing before accepting his guilty plea. Hunter's § 2254 petition was verified and signed by both Hunter and Brian Heath Harrison, who was identified on the pleading as "legal assistant/paralegal."
The state filed an answer, arguing, inter alia, that the § 2254 petition was untimely because it was filed more than one year after Hunter's state convictions became final. The district court treated the state's answer as a motion for summary judgment and notified Hunter of his right to respond. Hunter filed a response that was signed by Hunter and Harrison, the legal assistant/paralegal.
A magistrate judge entered a report ("R&R") recommending denial of Hunter's § 2254 petition as time-barred under the AEDPA's one-year statute of limitations and concluding that Hunter had not shown that the limitations period should be equitably tolled. Hunter filed an objection to the R&R and argued that the AEDPA's limitation period should be equitably tolled due to his mental deficiencies. Hunter's objection stated that it was filed "by and through Law Clerk, assigned at J.O. Davis Correctional Facility ...." The objection was also signed by Henry Byrd, who was identified as "Law Clerk." Hunter's objection stated that he had challenged his convictions in state court "only after having the assistance of inmate law clerks because he could not manage his affairs or understand his legal rights and act upon them." Hunter also "assert[ed] and aver[red], through legal assistance of a law clerk, that his mental retardation prevented him from timely filing his federal habeas petition as to warrant the application of equitable tolling."
The district court adopted the R&R and dismissed Hunter's § 2254 petition as time-barred. As to Hunter's equitable tolling argument, the district court found that Hunter's "allegations [fell] short of establishing mental incompetence that prevented him from submitting his habeas petition in a timely fashion." The district court also found that Hunter had made only "a conclusory allegation that his mental retardation prevented him from timely filing his habeas petition," and had not proffered "factual support showing that he is or ever was actually mentally incompetent or completely unable to understand the nature and object of post-conviction proceedings and to present his case for post-conviction relief in a rational manner." The district court concluded that because the facts did not suggest that Hunter's delay in filing his § 2254 petition was due to "his actual mental incompetence," Hunter had not shown extraordinary circumstances warranting equitable tolling.
Hunter filed this appeal. We granted a certificate of appealability on the issue of "[w]hether the district court erred [in] concluding that Hunter's claim of mental incompetence did not equitably toll the...
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