Osborne v. MacAuley, Case No. 1:19-cv-600
Decision Date | 12 August 2019 |
Docket Number | Case No. 1:19-cv-600 |
Parties | LOYD DONALD OSBORNE, Petitioner, v. MATT MACAULEY, Respondent. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
Honorable Janet T. Neff
This is a habeas corpus action brought by a state prisoner under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Promptly after the filing of a petition for habeas corpus, the Court must undertake a preliminary review of the petition to determine whether "it plainly appears from the face of the petition and any exhibits annexed to it that the petitioner is not entitled to relief in the district court." Rule 4, Rules Governing § 2254 Cases; see 28 U.S.C. § 2243. If so, the petition must be summarily dismissed. Rule 4; see Allen v. Perini, 424 F.2d 134, 141 (6th Cir. 1970) ( ). A dismissal under Rule 4 includes those petitions which raise legally frivolous claims, as well as those containing factual allegations that are palpably incredible or false. Carson v. Burke, 178 F.3d 434, 436-37 (6th Cir. 1999). After undertaking the review required by Rule 4, the Court concludes that the petition must be dismissed because it fails to raise a meritorious federal claim.
Petitioner Loyd Donald Osborne is incarcerated with the Michigan Department of Corrections at the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility (IBC) in Ionia, Michigan. Following a one-day jury trial in the Eaton County Circuit Court, Petitioner was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated-third offense in violation of Mich. Comp. Laws § 257.625 and resisting or obstructing a police officer in violation of Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.81(d). On January 5, 2017, the court sentenced Petitioner, as a habitual offender-fourth offense, Mich. Comp. Laws § 769.12, to concurrent prison terms of 11 to 25 years for operating while intoxicated and 5 to 15 years for resisting and obstructing a police officer.
On July 22, 2019, Petitioner filed his habeas corpus petition raising seven grounds for relief, as follows:
(Pet., ECF No. 1, PageID.5, 7-8, 10, 17-20.)
The Michigan Court of Appeals summarized the facts underlying Petitioner's prosecution as follows:
People v. Osborne, No. 336716, 2018 WL 2422336, at *1 . On the strength of this evidence, the jury convicted Petitioner and the trial court sentenced him as described above.
Petitioner appealed his convictions and sentences. In the brief Petitioner filed with the assistance of counsel, Petitioner raised four issues—the same issues identified as habeas issues I-IV above. Petitioner also filed a pro per brief raising three additional issues—the same issuesidentified as habeas issues V-VII above. By opinion issued May 29, 2018, the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected Petitioner's challenges and affirmed his convictions and sentences.
Petitioner then filed a pro per application for leave to appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court raising the same issues he raised in the court of appeals. (Pet., ECF No. 1, PageID.3.) By order entered February 4, 2019, the supreme court denied leave to appeal because the justices were "not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by [the] Court." People v. Osborne, 922 N.W.2d 128 (Mich. 2019).
Petitioner then filed a motion for relief from judgment in the trial court raising several new issues. The trial court denied relief by order entered May 29, 2019. (Eaton Cty. Cir. Ct. Order, ECF No. 1-1, PageID.25-27.) Petitioner has not appealed the trial court's order because he "has voluntarily and knowingly abandoned those issues . . . ." (Pet., ECF No. 1, PageID.12.) Instead, Petitioner filed his petition raising the same seven issues he raised on his direct appeal.
This action is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (AEDPA). The AEDPA "prevents federal habeas 'retrials'" and ensures that state court convictions are given effect to the extent possible under the law. Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 693-94 (2002). An application for writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person who is incarcerated pursuant to a state conviction cannot be granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in state court unless the adjudication: "(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 upon an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceeding." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). This standard is "intentionally difficult to meet." Woods v. Donald, 575 U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 1372, 1376 (2015) (internal quotation omitted).
The AEDPA limits the source of law to cases decided by the United States Supreme Court. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). This Court may consider only the holdings, and not the dicta, of the Supreme Court. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 412 (2000); Bailey v. Mitchell, 271 F.3d 652, 655 (6th Cir. 2001). In determining whether federal law is clearly established, the Court may not consider the decisions of lower federal courts. Lopez v. Smith, 574 U.S. 1, 4 (2014); Marshall v Rodgers, 569 U.S. 58, 64 (2013); Parker v Matthews, 567 U.S. 37, 48-49 (2012); Williams, 529 U.S. at 381-82; Miller v. Straub, 299 F.3d 570, 578-79 (6th Cir. 2002). Moreover, "clearly established Federal law" does not include decisions of the Supreme Court announced after the last adjudication of the merits in state court. Greene v. Fisher, 565 U.S. 34, 37-38 (2011). Thus, the inquiry is limited to an examination of the legal landscape as it would have appeared to the Michigan state courts in light of Supreme Court precedent at the time of the state-court adjudication on the merits. Miller v. Stovall, 742 F.3d 642, 644 (6th Cir. 2014) (citing Greene, 565 U.S. at 38).
A federal habeas court may issue the writ under the "contrary to" clause if the state court applies a rule different from the governing law set forth in the Supreme Court's cases, or if it decides a case differently than the Supreme Court has done on a set of materially indistinguishable facts. Bell, 535 U.S. at 694 (citing Williams, 529 U.S. at 405-06). "To satisfy this high bar, a habeas petitioner is required to 'show that the state court's ruling on the claim being presented in federal court was so lacking in justification that there was an error well understood and comprehended in existing law beyond any possibility for fairminded disagreement.'" Woods, 135 S. Ct. at 1376 (quoting Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 103 (2011)). In other words, "[w]here the precise contours of the right remain unclear, state courts enjoy broad discretion intheir adjudication of a prisoner's claims." White v. Woodall, 572 U.S. 415, 424 (2014) (internal quotations omitted).
The AEDPA...
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