Machin v. Wainwright

• Citation: 758 F.2d 1431
• Decision Date: 25 April 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-5341,84-5341
• Parties: Mario MACHIN, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Secretary, Department of Corrections, State of Florida, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

Page 1431

758 F.2d 1431

Mario MACHIN, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Secretary, Department of Corrections State of Florida, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 84-5341.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

April 25, 1985.

Michael J. Neimand, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, Fla., for respondent-appellant.

Donald I. Bierman, Bierman, Sonnett, Beiley, Shohat & Sale, Benedict P. Kuehne, Miami, Fla., for petitioner-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before VANCE and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and HENLEY ^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

HENLEY, Senior Circuit Judge:

Mario Machin was convicted in state court of one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and one count of trafficking in cannabis. He was sentenced to consecutive five and thirty year terms of imprisonment along with a $25,000.00 fine. After exhausting his state remedies, he filed the present petition for habeas corpus alleging that a state law discovery violation rendered his trial fundamentally unfair and that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. The district court agreed with Machin on both contentions and granted the writ. The state now appeals. We reverse.

On March 27, 1981 Officer Allen Davis stopped a van driven by Lazaro Mazorra for a routine traffic violation, lane straddling. Machin was a passenger in the van. Mazorra got out of the van and began talking to Officer Davis. Meanwhile, Officer Cloyd Hewes arrived to back up Officer Davis. Officer Hewes shined a light inside the van, saw what he thought to be a large quantity of marijuana, and told Officer Davis that the van was "loaded."

While Officer Davis frisked Mazorra, Hewes removed and searched Machin. Davis then looked inside the van and saw and smelled a large quantity of baled marijuana in the storage area of the van. Approximately six hundred pounds of marijuana was found stacked against the back of the seats.

Following the presentation of this evidence at trial, Machin moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that the evidence showed that he was a mere passenger in the van. The trial judge denied the motion and the defense called Mazorra as a witness.

Mazorra testified that he knowingly drove the marijuana laden van. He stated that he first met Machin at a gas station in Key Largo, Florida and that Machin was looking for a ride to Miami. Mazorra agreed to give Machin a ride, thinking that he, as a black man, would look less suspicious if he was accompanied by a passenger.

The two had been driving about forty-five minutes before they were stopped by the police. Mazorra testified that the two did not speak to each other during this entire time and that Mazorra listened to the radio while Machin slept. Mazorra further testified that he did not tell Machin about the illegal cargo. He stated that the van was equipped with tinted windows and had a curtain separating the cargo area from the driving compartment.

The state then recalled Officer Davis for rebuttal. He stated that he did not notice any curtains in the van and that Mazorra did not mention Machin at any time. However, Officer Davis also testified that, while questioning Mazorra, Davis heard Machin tell Mazorra, "silencio," or "silence."

Machin's counsel immediately moved for a mistrial arguing that the state had never previously disclosed the existence of any statement by Machin. The trial court overruled the motion for a mistrial and also denied Machin's request for a Richardson hearing. See Richardson v. State, 246 So.2d 771 (Fla.1971) (where state violates discovery rules, trial court should hold hearing to determine fairness and prejudice to accused of allowing use of the nondisclosed evidence). The trial court ruled that "silencio" was not a statement of the accused within the meaning of the state discovery rules. As such, the nondisclosure of the word did not constitute a discovery violation. The Florida Third District Court of Appeals affirmed Machin's convictions without opinion.

The district court, relying upon a magistrate's recommendation, held that (1) under Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.220(a) the state is required to disclose any oral statements of the accused; (2) the state failed to disclose the word "silencio" and this was a statement of the accused subject to the discovery rule; (3) the failure to disclose the statement prior to trial along with the trial court's failure to hold a Richardson hearing rendered Machin's trial fundamentally unfair in violation of his due process rights; and (4) absent the statement, the state's evidence was insufficient to show that Machin was anything other than a mere passenger in the van.

The first issue to address is whether the alleged discovery violation violated Machin's due process rights. It is established that "[a] state's interpretation of its own laws or rules provides no basis for federal habeas corpus relief, since no question of a constitutional nature is involved." Carrizales v. Wainwright, 699 F.2d 1053, 1055 (11th Cir.1983) (per curiam); see also Smith v. Wainwright, 741 F.2d 1248, 1258 (11th Cir.1984); Bronstein v. Wainwright, 646 F.2d 1048, 1050 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981) (per curiam). The federal courts must defer to a state court's interpretation of its own rules of evidence and procedure. Panzavecchia v. Wainwright, 658 F.2d 337, 340 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981); see Spencer v. Texas, 385 U.S. 554, 87 S.Ct. 648, 17 L.Ed.2d 606 (1967).

Based upon cited precedent, the state makes the argument that since the state appellate court affirmed Machin's convictions, we must presume that there was no state law discovery violation. It contends that since we must proceed under the assumption that there was no evidentiary error in Machin's trial, we need not reach the question whether such error rendered Machin's trial fundamentally unfair.

While we may disagree with the state court's assessment that the word "silencio" is not a "statement" within the meaning of Florida's discovery rules, the fact remains that, as a federal court sitting in habeas review, we are bound by such an interpretation. Bronstein, 646 F.2d at 1050.

Nevertheless, "when faced with a claim of fundamental unfairness as a federal constitutional issue ... it is necessary ... to consider and determine the issue presented as a federal constitutional issue and not a state evidentiary issue." Osborne v. Wainwright, 720 F.2d 1237, 1238-39 (11th Cir.1983) (per curiam); see Boykins v. Wainwright, 737 F.2d 1539, 1544 (11th Cir.1984). Such a review is narrow. It is limited to determining whether Machin's trial was so unfair as to involve a violation of due process. E.g., Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974); Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973); Osborne, supra. In instances the admission of prejudicial evidence may support habeas relief if the evidence "is material in the sense of a crucial, critical, highly significant factor." Osborne, 720 F.2d at 1238-39 (quoting Nettles v. Wainwright, 677 F.2d 410, 414-15 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982); Dickson v. Wainwright, 683 F.2d 348, 350 (11th Cir.1982). Reduced to its essence, the issue in this case is whether the admission of the word "silencio" was fundamentally unfair in view of its late or "surprise" disclosure.

The district court, in ruling that Machin's trial was unfair, stated that Machin had relied on the prosecutor's response to his discovery request that there were no written statements made by Machin. In addition, the court noted that Officer Davis, in a deposition taken prior to trial, testified that Machin had not made any statements. Because defense counsel relied on these responses and assumed there were no such statements, the district court stated...