Medina, In re

• Decision Date: 24 March 1997
• Docket Number: No. 97-1089,97-1089
• Citation: 109 F.3d 1556
• Parties: 10 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 828 In re: Pedro MEDINA, Petitioner.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1556

109 F.3d 1556

10 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 828

In re: Pedro MEDINA, Petitioner.

No. 97-1089.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

March 24, 1997.

Martin J. McClain, Office of the Capital Collateral Representative, Tallahassee, Florida, for Petitioner.

Kenneth S. Nunnelley, Judy Taylor Rush, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, Florida, for Respondent.

Application for Leave to File a Second or Successive Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus.

Before DUBINA, BLACK and CARNES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Pedro Medina was sentenced to death after a Florida jury found him guilty of auto theft and the first-degree murder of Dorothy James. In Medina v. Singletary, 59 F.3d 1095 (11th Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 2505, 135 L.Ed.2d 195 (1996), we affirmed denial of habeas corpus relief as to Medina's convictions and death sentence. The procedural history, evidence, and facts in the case are presented more fully in our prior opinion and in the opinions of the Florida Supreme Court on direct appeal, Medina v. State, 466 So.2d 1046 (Fla.1985), denial of Medina's first Rule 3.850 motion, Medina v. State, 573 So.2d 293 (Fla.1990), and denial of Medina's state habeas corpus petition, Medina v. Dugger, 586 So.2d 317 (Fla.1991).

On June 10, 1996, the United States Supreme Court denied Medina's petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of our decision denying his first federal habeas corpus petition. On October 30, 1996, the Governor of Florida signed a warrant for Medina's execution, to be carried out between December 2 and 9, 1996. The Secretary for the Department of Corrections scheduled the execution for 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 5, 1996.

On December 2, 1996, counsel for Medina invoked Florida Statutes § 922.07, representing that Medina might be incompetent to be executed. In accordance with Florida law, the Governor stayed the execution and appointed a commission of three psychiatrists to determine Medina's competency. On December 10, 1996, the psychiatrists issued a report unanimously concluding that "Medina understands the nature and effect of the death penalty and why it has been imposed upon him." The psychiatrists further opined that Medina was feigning psychosis in an attempt to avoid his execution. On January 6, 1997, the stay of execution was lifted. A warrant for Medina's execution issued for the period from January 27 through February 3, 1997. The Governor then scheduled Medina's execution for January 29, 1997.

Meanwhile, on December 6, 1996, counsel for Medina filed a second Rule 3.850 motion in the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit ("the trial court"). The motion sought vacatur of Medina's conviction and sentence or, in the alternative, an evidentiary hearing on the issues raised and a stay of execution. At the same time, counsel filed a motion requesting a determination of Medina's competency to proceed with his 3.850 motion. On January 10, 1997, Medina's counsel filed a Rule 3.811 motion for stay of execution pending judicial determination of Medina's competency to be executed.

On January 14, 1997, the trial court held a hearing on Medina's motion for a determination of his competency to proceed with the 3.850 motion. By order issued on January 15, 1997, the trial court held that prevailing law provides no "right to competence" in post-conviction proceedings. Even if such a right existed, the trial court held that the evidence introduced by the parties demonstrated that Medina was competent to proceed. The trial court subsequently denied motions for rehearing and reconsideration of Medina's competency to proceed. On January 16, 1997, the trial court denied Medina's 3.811 motion, after concluding that no reasonable grounds existed to believe that Medina was not competent to be executed.

On January 21, 1997, the trial court held a hearing on Medina's 3.850 motion pursuant to Huff v. State, 622 So.2d 982 (Fla.1993). On January 23, 1997, the trial court issued an order denying Medina's 3.850 motion. The court determined that each claim advanced in the 3.850 motion was procedurally barred. After the trial court denied Medina's motions for rehearing and reconsideration, Medina appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Florida.

By order dated January 27, 1997, the Supreme Court of Florida stayed Medina's execution pending further order. In a decision dated February 10, 1997, 620 So.2d 1241, the Florida Supreme Court then affirmed in part and reversed in part the trial court's denial of Medina's motions for post-conviction relief. The supreme court reversed only with respect to the trial court's denial of an evidentiary hearing on Medina's competency to be executed. The supreme court concluded that an evidentiary hearing was required because three of the six experts who had examined Medina determined that he was not competent. Accordingly, the Florida Supreme Court remanded for an evidentiary hearing. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. Medina v. Florida, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 1330, 137 L.Ed.2d 490 (1997).

Prior to the evidentiary hearing, the trial court appointed two independent experts to assess whether Medina was competent to be executed. The court authorized counsel to submit to the experts any supporting documentation. On February 19, 1997, the experts conducted their evaluation of Medina in Florida State Prison. Two days later, the experts submitted their written reports to the court. Each expert concluded that Medina possessed the mental capacity to understand the fact of his pending execution and the reason for it.

On February 24, 1997, the trial court commenced an evidentiary hearing on Medina's competency to be executed claim that lasted three and one-half days. The trial court allowed the parties to present the testimony of thirty-five witnesses, including twenty-two who testified on behalf of Medina. In addition, the court viewed several hours of video-taped examinations of Medina and considered the voluminous documentary evidence submitted by the parties. After reviewing this evidence, including the experts' reports, the trial court ruled that Medina was competent to be executed because he understood the fact of his pending execution and the reason for it. The trial court denied Medina's motion for rehearing. A warrant for Medina's execution then issued for the period from March 25, 1997, to April 3, 1997. Medina's execution is currently scheduled for 7:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 1997.

On March 12, 1997, Medina appealed the trial court's competency determination to the Supreme Court of Florida. As a testimony to the thoroughness of the trial court's inquiry, the record on appeal required more than 4,000 pages. The supreme court held oral argument on March 17, 1997. By order issued two days later, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision, 620 So.2d 1241. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. Medina v. Florida, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 1330, 137 L.Ed.2d 490 (1997).

On March 17, 1997, Medina filed his third 3.850 motion in the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit. The motion claimed that newly discovered evidence required the trial court to vacate Medina's conviction and sentence or, in the alternative, stay the execution pending an evidentiary hearing. On March 18, 1997, the State of Florida submitted a response to Medina's third 3.850 motion. The response maintained that Medina's latest post-conviction motion constituted a gross abuse of process because it was based almost entirely upon information which either was known, or could have been known with the exercise of due diligence, prior to the filing of the first 3.850 motion. On March 21, 1997, the trial court issued an order denying Medina's third 3.850 motion. Later the same day, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's denial.

Later on March 21, 1997, counsel for Medina filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida a habeas corpus petition or, in the alternative, a motion pursuant to Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Rule 60(b) motion sought relief from the February 12, 1993, district court judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. Medina also filed a motion for a stay of execution.

In an order issued on March 24, 1997, the district court denied Medina's habeas petition and Rule 60(b) motion for failure to comply with the successive habeas provisions of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). In particular, the district court noted that Medina had not complied with 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A) because he neglected to move this court for an order authorizing the district court to consider a successive petition. The district court further held that, even if the AEDPA was not applicable to this case, the habeas petition and Rule 60(b) motion would be subject to dismissal as an abuse of the writ. By an order issued contemporaneously, the district court also denied Medina's request for a Certificate of Probable Cause.

DISCUSSION

A. The Applicability of Section 2244(b)

to Medina's Claims

28 U.S.C. § 2244(b), as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), substantially curtails second or successive applications for a writ of habeas corpus attacking the judgment of a state court. While acknowledging that the pleading he filed in the district court "is undeniably a second attempt by Mr. Medina to obtain habeas relief," Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Motion for Stay of Execution (hereinafter "Petition") at 4, Medina seeks to circumvent those restrictions in two ways.

1. The Rule 60(b)

Stratagem

First, Medina has characterized his petition, in the alternative, as a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) motion. The prisoner in Felker v. Turpin, 101 F.3d 657 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 451, 136 L.Ed.2d 346 (1996), who was...