Lewis v. Wilkinson
| Decision Date | 07 October 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-3523.,00-3523. |
| Citation | 307 F.3d 413 |
| Parties | Nathaniel M. LEWIS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Reginald A. WILKINSON, Director; Betty D. Montgomery, Attorney General of State of Ohio, Respondents-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Kirk A. Migdal (argued and briefed), Akron, OH, for Appellant.
Mark Joseph Zemba (argued and briefed), Office of the Attorney General, Corrections Litigation Section, Cleveland, OH, for Appellees.
Before BOGGS and BATCHELDER, Circuit Judges; STEEH, District Judge.*
In this habeas corpus petition, Petitioner Nathaniel M. Lewis argues that the trial court's exclusion of certain evidence in his rape trial prevented him from conducting appropriate cross-examination, thus violating his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation. Because we find that the excluded evidence reasonably goes to the issue of the victim's consent, as well as her motive in pursuing charges against Lewis, Petitioner's constitutional right of confrontation has been violated. Therefore, the district court's denial of habeas relief is REVERSED in accordance with this court's opinion.
Appellant Nathaniel M. Lewis was indicted on November 6, 1996 by a Summit County Grand Jury on the charge of Rape, a violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2907.02(A)(2). The case proceeded to jury trial before the Court of Common Pleas on June 2, 1997. The jury returned a guilty verdict on June 6, 1997. On July 16, 1997, Lewis was sentenced to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for a term of eight years and is presently serving his sentence. Lewis filed a motion for new trial, which was denied by the trial court on July 16, 1997.
The Court of Appeals, Ninth Judicial District affirmed Lewis conviction on August 12, 1998. The parties argued in their briefs, and the Court of Appeals discussed in its opinion, the trial court's decision to exclude certain evidence in terms of the rape shield law. While the Sixth Amendment was mentioned in the heading entitled "First Assignment of Error", it was not specifically discussed by the parties or the court. Lewis appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court; his brief before that court explicitly addressed the constitutional right to confrontation. The Ohio Supreme Court denied leave to appeal and dismissed Lewis' appeal as not involving any substantial constitutional question. Although the Ohio Supreme Court's brief journal entry did not elaborate on the Sixth Amendment argument, the Court was clearly presented with the constitutional issue and may be presumed to have considered the merits of that issue. For purposes of seeking habeas corpus relief, the exhaustion requirement is satisfied if the federal issue has been presented to the highest state court. "It is settled law in this circuit that a constitutional claim which is presented to the state courts, regardless of whether they address and dispose of it, will satisfy the exhaustion requirement." Rudolph v. Parke, 856 F.2d 738, 739 (6th Cir.1988) (citations omitted).
On July 14, 1999, Lewis filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Magistrate Judge George J. Limbert issued a Report and Recommendation on January 21, 2000, which recommended that the petition be denied. Lewis filed objections, and the district court adopted the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation denying the habeas petition. The district court issued the following Certificate of Appealability: "[W]hether failure to admit specific portions of the victim's diary at trial effectively denied Lewis his Sixth Amendment [right] to confront a witness." This appeal followed.
Nathaniel Lewis and Christina Heaslet were friends who met during their first year at the University of Akron. Heaslet testified that Lewis was a joker and a flirt who was interested in her sexually. She responded to Lewis's advances by explaining she "wasn't that kind of person that started having sex with anybody that she just met." She testified she was physically attracted to Lewis, but he "tried to hook up with everybody" and was not interested in the kind of relationship that she was.
On the evening of October 12, 1996, at 8:45 p.m., Heaslet called Lewis and invited him to her dormitory room. Lewis arrived at approximately 8:50 p.m. They made plans earlier in the day for him to come to her room to borrow some music compact discs. Heaslet and Lewis watched television, listened to music, and talked with Keryn Mayback, while Heaslet drank wine coolers. Ms. Mayback left at approximately 9:30 or 9:45, and Heaslet and Lewis were alone in Heaslet's room. Shortly after Mayback left, while Heaslet and Lewis were listening to music, Lewis got up and turned off the light. According to Heaslet's testimony, Lewis grabbed her, threw her on the bed, and took off all her clothes. Lewis then completely disrobed, stood up, pulled out a condom, and placed it on his penis. Heaslet testified she was repeatedly pushed down by Lewis, and her legs were forced apart, while she continued to cry "don't do this." Lewis then penetrated her.
Lewis's testimony was that after he turned the lights off he told Heaslet to come and find him. Heaslet found him on the bed, and he put his hand up her shirt. Heaslet removed her bra, and they started kissing. Together they removed Heaslet's sweatshirt, and then Lewis disrobed and put on a condom. Meanwhile, Heaslet took off the rest of her clothes. According to Lewis, Heaslet did not say anything during the time they had intercourse.
Lewis then turned on the lights, wrapped the condom in a tissue and threw it in the trash. Heaslet picked up the condom wrapper, threw it in the trash, and told Lewis he had to leave. Heaslet left the room with Lewis. Lewis stopped a couple of doors down the hall to write a note on another girl's door. Heaslet rode down the elevator with Lewis and signed him out at the front desk.
Heaslet then went to see Alison Legitt, the Resident Coordinator for the dormitory, who called the police. Heaslet did not want to speak to the police initially. She was taken to the hospital, but did not want to see a rape counselor, and for the first several hours did not wish to file any charges. Heaslet eventually agreed to see a counselor on October 14, and was encouraged by her counselor to keep a diary. Lewis was arrested in his dormitory room in the early hours of October 13. He waived his Miranda rights and gave a statement explaining that he and Heaslet had consensual sex.
Several weeks prior to the scheduled trial date, Lewis received in the mail an envelope that had been sent anonymously to his home address. The envelope contained xeroxed excerpts of Heaslet's diary. Lewis gave the envelope to his trial counsel, who disclosed the contents to the assistant prosecutor and the trial judge. Lewis's counsel requested the production of the entire diary. The State acquired Heaslet's complete diary and provided it to the court for in camera review. The State moved the court in limine to exclude reference to the diary except for certain limited portions. The court marked the entire diary as Exhibit "E". The portions anonymously sent to Lewis were marked Exhibits "A", "B", "C" and "D". Defense counsel argued for permission to cross-examine Heaslet on excerpts "A", "B", "C" and "D", arguing they were relevant to Heaslet's veracity and motive to lie and spoke directly to the issue of consent. Defense counsel was particularly interested in excerpt "B" contained in the entry dated April 20, 1997:
I can't believe the trial's only a week away. I feel guilty (sort of) for trying to get Nate locked up, but his lack of respect for women is terrible. I remember how disrespectful he always was to all of us girls in the courtyard ... he thinks females are a bunch of sex objects! And he's such a player! He was trying to get with Holly and me, and all the while he had a girlfriend. I think I pounced on Nate because he was the last straw. That, and because I've always seemed to need some drama in my life. Otherwise I get bored. That definitely needs to change. I'm sick of men taking advantage of me ... and I'm sick of myself for giving in to them. I'm not a nympho like all those guys think. I'm just not strong enough to say no to them. I'm tired of being a whore. This is where it ends.
Citing the rape shield law, Ohio Revised Code § 2907.02(D), the trial court prohibited the defense from introducing the following language from Exhibit "B":
... and I'm sick of myself for giving in to them. I'm not a nympho like all those guys think. I'm just not strong enough to say no to them. I'm tired of being a whore. This is where it ends.
The defense had argued that this provision, when read in context, was vital because it stated, or at least implied, that Heaslet had not said "no" to Lewis, and it could be construed as an admission that she had consented to intercourse with Lewis. It also provided an apparent motive as to why she would falsely claim she was raped — she was upset with herself for giving in to men. The State had argued that the language at issue constituted opinion and reputation evidence of the victim's past sexual activity and was therefore protected under the rape shield law. The trial court agreed with the State, holding that any probative value of the evidence was outweighed by its prejudicial effect.
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA") set forth new standards for reviewing a federal habeas corpus petition. The Supreme Court described the new standards, which strengthen the presumption of correctness given to state court determinations:
Under § 2254(d)(1), the writ may issue only if one of the following two conditions is satisfied — the state-court adjudication resulted in a decision that (1) "was contrary...
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