Jackson v. Ray

• Decision Date: 06 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-6053.,03-6053.
• Parties: Michael Shane JACKSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Charles RAY, Warden, Davis Correctional Facility, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

390 F.3d 1254

Michael Shane JACKSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Charles RAY, Warden, Davis Correctional Facility, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 03-6053.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

December 6, 2004.

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W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma, Preston Saul Draper, Assistant Attorney General, Oklahoma City, OK, for the Respondent-Appellee.

Thomas D. McCormick, Oklahoma City, OK, for the Petitioner-Appellant.

Before TACHA, Chief Circuit Judge, BRISCOE, Circuit Judge, and LUNGSTRUM, Chief District Judge.^†

TACHA, Chief Circuit Judge.

Petitioner-Appellant Michael Shane Jackson filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, alleging that a four and one-third-year delay between the filing of the information against him and his trial violated his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. The District Court denied Mr. Jackson's petition for failing to establish prejudice. We take jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND

The State of Oklahoma incarcerated Mr. Jackson on a robbery conviction on September 12, 1995. Two weeks later, on September 27, 1995, the State issued an information and arrest warrant against Mr. Jackson, charging him with selling LSD. In February 1998, he was released from his robbery conviction on probation. While on probation, Mr. Jackson was enrolled in community college and employed.

The State took no action to enforce the LSD information during Mr. Jackson's incarceration for the robbery conviction. Rather, on April 13, 1998, approximately two months after his release on probation, the State executed the 1995 LSD arrest warrant. Because Mr. Jackson could not pay bond, he was held in pretrial detention from April 1998 until January 24, 2000, the date of his trial.

During this time, Mr. Jackson's trial was continued numerous times. As the State now concedes, the record offers no explanation for these continuances, nor does it reveal who requested them. On May 18, 1999, Mr. Jackson filed a pro se motion in which he asserted, among other things, his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. The State trial court did not address this motion until the day of trial, more than eight months after its filing. At that time, the court denied the motion, stating, "while I understand that [Mr. Jackson] feels that there are some fairness issues, ... those are not legal issues, they do not have legal merit."

At trial, Mr. Jackson presented an entrapment defense, claiming that Jason Brown, a police informant, entrapped him. Mr. Brown, however, committed suicide in 1997, well before Mr. Jackson knew of the pending drug trafficking information. In lieu of Mr. Brown's testimony, Mr. Jackson himself testified that Mr. Brown entrapped him. During the course of this testimony, Mr. Jackson also stated that he was a drug addict at the time he sold the LSD. The state court properly instructed the jury that, if Mr. Jackson was ready and willing to sell LSD despite Mr. Brown's actions, then Mr. Jackson's entrapment defense should fail. The jury entered a verdict against Mr. Jackson, and the state trial court sentenced him to a prison term of twenty-one years.

Mr. Jackson appealed to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ("OCCA"), raising, inter alia, the speedy trial claim. Over the vigorous dissent of Judge Chapel, the OCCA summarily dismissed the speedy trial claim. Mr. Jackson then sought habeas relief from the federal courts. His petition was referred to a federal Magistrate Judge who found the OCCA majority opinion factually incorrect and legally erroneous. Nevertheless, the Magistrate Judge recommended denial of habeas relief after finding that Mr. Jackson's defense was not prejudiced by the delay. Similarly, the District Court, rehearing the habeas claim de novo, held that Mr. Jackson's defense was not prejudiced by the delay because the substance of Mr. Brown's potential testimony was speculative.

We granted Mr. Jackson a certificate of appealability on his speedy trial claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c). Mr. Jackson filed a pro se brief in this Court. We then appointed counsel for Mr. Jackson. After receiving the parties' briefs, we ordered the case to oral argument and requested additional briefing regarding the Supreme Court's opinion in Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 112 S.Ct. 2686, 120 L.Ed.2d 520 (1992). We acquiesced to the parties' joint request and unanimously determined to submit this case without oral argument. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G).

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

In habeas cases, we review the federal district court's legal conclusions de novo, applying the same review of the state court decision as the district court. Morris v. Burnett, 319 F.3d 1254, 1268 (10th Cir.2003). We conduct an independent review of the state record as well. Id. If, however, the district court made any independent factual findings outside the state record, we review those findings for clear error. Id.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), Pub.L. 104-32, 110 Stat. 1214, governs this case. Pursuant to AEDPA, we must defer to a state court decision adjudicated on the merits unless that decision: (1) "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) ... was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented at the State court proceeding." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1)-(2).

Because the OCCA identified the appropriate legal principles in determining whether Mr. Jackson was denied his right to a speedy trial, our review is limited to whether the OCCA unreasonably applied those principles. "[T]he `unreasonable application' prong of § 2254(d)(1) permits a federal habeas court to grant the writ if the state court identifies the correct governing legal principle from [the Supreme] Court's decisions but unreasonably applies that principle to the facts of petitioner's case." Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 520, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003) (internal quotations omitted).¹ A state court decision does not satisfy this standard if it is merely "incorrect or erroneous. The state court's application must have been objectively unreasonable." Id. at 520-21, 123 S.Ct. 2527 (internal citation omitted). In conducting an AEDPA analysis, we focus on the state court's decision, not its rationale. Aycox v. Lytle, 196 F.3d 1174, 1177 (10th Cir.1999). Our review, then, consists of whether the OCCA's denial of Mr. Jackson's speedy trial claim is objectively unreasonable in light of clearly established Supreme Court precedent.

While we focus on the OCCA's decision, we may nonetheless look to the OCCA's rationale to inform our review of the decision itself. In Wiggins, the Court considered whether Maryland's highest court unreasonably applied Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), to defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim. 539 U.S. at 521, 123 S.Ct. 2527. The Court, in conducting its unreasonable-application analysis, reviewed both prongs of the ineffective assistance test to determine whether the state court's finding on each was contrary to clearly established Supreme Court law, id. at 526-27, 535-36, 123 S.Ct. 2527, or based upon facts that were clearly and convincingly erroneous in light of the state court record, id. at 528, 123 S.Ct. 2527.

Following Wiggins, we conduct a similar review here. The Court, in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), provides a four-part balancing test for speedy trial claims, which we discuss in more detail below. Because the OCCA's decision ultimately results from the balancing of these four factors, we cannot decide whether the OCCA's decision was objectively unreasonable without considering the relevant factors and the balancing of these factors. Therefore, we review the OCCA's finding on each of these four factors for the limited purpose of determining whether any finding is contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent or based upon facts that are clearly and convincingly erroneous in light of the state court record. Because speedy trial claims are subject to a balancing test, the fact that the OCCA may have made a finding on one or more of the factors contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent is insufficient to grant habeas relief. Habeas relief is only available if there is no possible balancing of the factors that both supports the OCCA's decision and is not contrary to clearly established Supreme Court precedent.

III. DISCUSSION

Mr. Jackson argues that the four and one-third-year delay between the filing of the information against him and his date of conviction constitutes a violation of his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy ... trial...." The Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the right to a speedy trial against the states. Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213, 223-24, 87 S.Ct. 988, 18 L.Ed.2d 1 (1967).

The OCCA, in dismissing Mr. Jackson's speedy trial claim, reasoned in full:

[W]e find that Appellant has not shown how he was prejudiced by the delays, nor did the record reflect that any prejudice resulted. Stohler v. State, 751 P.2d 1087, 1089 (Okla.Ct.Crim.App.1988). Furthermore, Appellant has not shown that he timely and sufficiently raised the issue at trial nor has he shown that the reasons for the delay were solely attributable to the State. Jackson, F-2000-387, at 2.

The OCCA cited Stohler, which refers to the Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), test; hence it identified the appropriate legal principles for adjudicating this claim.

The Supreme Court, in Barker,...