Maples v. Stegall

• Decision Date: 19 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-2727.,01-2727.
• Citation: 340 F.3d 433
• Parties: David MAPLES, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jimmy STEGALL, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 433

340 F.3d 433

David MAPLES, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jimmy STEGALL, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 01-2727.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Submitted June 18, 2003.

Decided and Filed August 19, 2003. Pursuant to Sixth Circuit Rule 206

ON BRIEF: Brad H. Beaver, Office of the Attorney General, Corrections Division, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.

David A. Maples, New Haven, Michigan, pro se.

Before: BOGGS and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; MARBLEY, District Judge.^*

GILMAN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MARBLEY, D.J., joined. BOGGS, J. (p. 441), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

David Maples pled guilty in Michigan state court to one count of distributing cocaine. He did so only after receiving assurances from his attorney that he would subsequently be able to appeal an alleged violation of his speedy-trial rights. That advice turned out to be erroneous. The Michigan Court of Appeals held on direct appeal that Maples's plea agreement clearly precluded him from subsequently raising this issue.

After the Michigan court system denied him any relief, either on direct appeal or in post-conviction proceedings, Maples filed a petition for habeas corpus in the district court below. He raised, among other alleged errors, an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. The district court denied the petition, but granted Maples a certificate of appealability solely with respect to the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel. For the reasons set forth below, we VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND the case with directions that the court assess the merits of Maples's speedy-trial argument as part of his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.

I. BACKGROUND

Maples was charged in Michigan state court with delivery of more than 50 grams of cocaine and with being part of a conspiracy to so deliver, in violation of Michigan state law. He filed motions to dismiss the charges on the grounds that he was entrapped and that the state's 180-day speedy-trial rule was violated. The court denied both motions.

On the day scheduled for trial, Maples entered into a plea agreement, pursuant to which he pled guilty to the delivery charge and the state moved to dismiss the conspiracy charge. At the plea colloquy, the following exchange transpired between Daniel Feinberg, Maples's trial counsel, James Sullivan, the Assistant District Attorney, and the court:

Feinberg: Also, your honor, I believe since it is a jurisdictional matter, this wouldn't affect [Maples's] rights preserved on appeal, 180 days and all that....

The Court: I am not going to make any comments on the 180-day rule. I can't remember whether it does or not. Do you recall?

Sullivan: I am sure ... I think he waived it.

The Court: I can't comment on that.... I cannot tell you. You are going to have to advise your client in that regard on that; whether it is waived or not. I cannot make any comments on that. Frankly, I don't recall.

Maples subsequently accepted the plea agreement. He did so because his counsel advised him that the plea agreement would not preclude him from arguing on appeal that his speedy-trial rights were violated.

Maples appealed his conviction to the Michigan Court of Appeals, claiming that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss, which was based in part upon the alleged violation of his right to a speedy trial. In an unpublished per curiam opinion, the state appellate court affirmed the trial court's ruling. It held that "Defendant's unconditional guilty plea waives review of the claimed violation of the 180-day rule ... and his claimed violation of his constitutional and statutory right to a speedy trial...."

Proceeding pro se, Maples then filed an application for leave to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. He raised the same claims that he had raised before the Court of Appeals, as well as a claim that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to apprise Maples that he could not appeal the speedy-trial issue after accepting the guilty plea. The Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal in a summary order.

Maples subsequently filed a motion for relief from judgment with the state trial court. He again raised the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim, and again the trial court denied relief. Maples then sought leave to appeal the trial court's ruling to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which denied the application on October 21, 1999.

Fifty-one days later, on December 11, 1999, Maples completed his application for leave to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. The application included a claim that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective. That day, Maples called the prison mailroom, per prison policy, to ascertain the cost of mailing his application. He was told to call back two days later.

On December 13, 1999, Maples was quoted the price to send his application. Although the record is unclear on this issue, it appears that Maples delivered his application to the prison mailroom either that day or the very next day, 53 or 54 days after the Michigan Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal.

The Michigan Supreme Court received Maples's application on December 17, 1999, 57 days after the Court of Appeals issued its ruling. This was untimely under Michigan law, which requires that such an application "be filed [no] more than 56 days after the Court of Appeals decision." MCR 7.302(C)(3). The Michigan Supreme Court therefore returned the application without filing it due to the procedural default.

Maples then filed a petition for habeas corpus in the district court below. Among other claims raised in support of collateral relief, Maples contended that his counsel was constitutionally ineffective for misadvising him about his ability to raise the speedy-trial issue after pleading guilty. The district court denied the petition, holding in pertinent part as follows:

Petitioner was represented by counsel at his plea, and he indicated that his plea was voluntary and intelligent. Although his attorney asserted that the plea did not waive Petitioner's right to raise his speedy trial claim on appeal, the trial court stated that it could not comment on that issue. The plea was not conditioned on Petitioner's right to appeal the speedy trial issue. Therefore, Petitioner's guilty plea forecloses habeas review of his speedy trial claim.

The district court did not explicitly rule on the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. Maples filed a motion for a certificate of appealability on this issue. The district court granted a certificate as to "whether Maples received ineffective assistance of counsel when his attorney advised Maples that he could plead guilty and still raise a speedy trial claim on appeal."

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of review

"This court applies de novo review to the decision of the district court in a habeas corpus proceeding." Harris v. Stovall, 212 F.3d 940, 942 (6th Cir.2000). Maples filed his federal habeas corpus petition after the passage of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), codified principally at 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). It provides in part that a federal court may grant a writ of habeas corpus with respect to a state-court judgment only where

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).

This statute by its own terms is applicable only to habeas claims that were "adjudicated on the merits in State court...." Id. Where, as here, the state court did not assess the merits of a claim properly raised in a habeas petition, the deference due under AEDPA does not apply. Williams v. Coyle, 260 F.3d 684, 706 (6th Cir.2001) (applying pre-AEDPA standards to a habeas petition filed pursuant to § 2254 because "no state court reviewed the merits of [the] claim"). Instead, this court reviews questions of law and mixed questions of law and fact de novo. Id.

The case law in this circuit, however, has been less than consistent on this point, as indicated by the following statement:

Several other circuits ... found when a state court fails to address a petitioner's federal claim at all, the appellate court should apply the pre-AEDPA de novo standard of review.... Whether these courts' holdings are correct, however, is not for this panel to decide. In Doan [v. Brigano, 237 F.3d 722 (6th Cir.2001)], the state court failed to mention, let alone adjudicate, the petitioner's federal claim. However, the Doan court still applied the AEDPA standard in reviewing the petitioner's claim. Even if the Doan court did not explain its reasoning for adopting its position, this panel is still bound by its decision.

Clifford v. Chandler, 333 F.3d 724, 730 (6th Cir.2003) (internal citations omitted). Normally, this would end our inquiry, and we would proceed to apply AEDPA, because "[a] panel of this court cannot overrule the decision of another panel." Hinchman v. Moore, 312 F.3d 198, 203 (6th Cir.2002). Both Clifford and Doan, however, were abrogated by Wiggins v. Smith, ___ U.S. ___, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003), a Supreme Court opinion that was issued the day after Clifford.

The Wiggins Court held that the petitioner was entitled to a writ of habeas corpus on the basis of his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. Id. at 2544. It applied AEDPA's "unreasonable-application" test to the state court's ruling on the first prong of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Wiggins, 123 S.Ct. at 2538 ("The Court of Appeals' assumption that the investigation was adequate thus...