Perez-Gonzalez v. Lashbrook, 18-1480

• Decision Date: 17 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. 18-1480,18-1480
• Citation: 904 F.3d 557
• Parties: Raul PEREZ-GONZALEZ, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jacqueline LASHBROOK, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

904 F.3d 557

Raul PEREZ-GONZALEZ, Petitioner-Appellant,

v.Jacqueline LASHBROOK, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 18-1480

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued June 1, 2018

Decided September 17, 2018

Erin Shanahan Johnson, Attorney, OFFICE OF THE STATE APPELLATE DEFENDER, Second Judicial District, Elgin, IL, for Petitioner-Appellant.

Jason Foster Krigel, Attorney, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, Criminal Appeals Division, Michael M. Glick, Attorney, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, Chicago, IL, for Respondent-Appellee.

Before Ripple, Kanne, and Brennan, Circuit Judges.

Brennan, Circuit Judge.

Raul Perez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to first degree murder for his role in a gang-related killing. His plea agreement called for a thirty-five year prison sentence and required him to testify truthfully in any prosecution against his co-defendants. More than one year after agreeing to these terms and pleading guilty, as the trial of a co-defendant approached, Perez-Gonzalez had second thoughts and declined to testify. For this refusal, he was convicted of contempt of court, resulting in an additional ten-year sentence.

After exhausting his state court remedies, Perez-Gonzalez petitioned for habeas corpus asserting the State breached the plea agreement by requesting the contempt sanction, and that the Illinois Appellate Court unreasonably concluded to the contrary. The district court denied his habeas petition, but granted his request for a certificate of appealability. Perez-Gonzalez contends the plea agreement immunized him from contempt proceedings. Although he presents a reasonable interpretation of the plea agreement, he has not proved that the state appellate court's alternative interpretation was unreasonable, so we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. Background

Raul Perez-Gonzalez made three critical decisions. The first was on a January 2009 evening in Elgin, Illinois. What began as posturing among rival street gangs in a fast food parking lot intensified into a car chase and the senseless murder of Paola Rodriguez, who was shot as she drove the girlfriend of a gang member away from the confrontation. The next day Perez-Gonzalez confessed to driving the car from which the fatal shots were fired. He also informed police that his passengers included Manith Vilayhong, who ordered the shooting, and Tony Rosalez, who shot the gun. All three men were charged with first-degree murder.

A. The Plea Agreement

Perez-Gonzalez's second pivotal decision was agreeing to cooperate in the prosecution of his co-defendants. On August 27, 2010, the State presented Perez-Gonzalez with a letter containing a plea offer. In exchange for pleading guilty to first-degree murder while in possession of a firearm, he would receive a thirty-five year sentence: twenty years for first degree murder, plus a fifteen year add-on for possession of a firearm. The plea offer also included a conditional reduction of his sentence by fifteen years if he cooperated "in all aspects" with the prosecution of his co-defendants, including testifying truthfully at their trials. Once Perez-Gonzalez's cooperation was "successfully completed," the State promised to amend his charge to omit reference to a firearm and to vacate the fifteen year add-on, reducing his sentence to twenty years. The letter emphasized that:

Any deviation from that truthful [testimony] will be grounds for the [State]–at [its] sole discretion–to withdraw its agreement to delete reference to a firearm as well as to withdraw its agreement to vacate the 15-year add-on. In such event, the defendant would then be required to serve the terms of the initial agreement, which would be 35 years [in the Illinois Department of Corrections], plus [mandatory supervised release] as well as fees.

At the plea hearing, the parties relayed the agreement's terms to the trial court. After describing the State's offer letter to the trial court, the State's attorney remarked, "I think that's all the terms." In response, counsel for Perez-Gonzalez acknowledged the State presented an accurate description of the agreed upon terms. The trial court accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Perez-Gonzalez to thirty-five years.

B. Contempt of Court Proceedings

More than one year after Perez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty, pretrial proceedings began against his co-defendant Rosalez. When called to testify against Rosalez, Perez-Gonzalez made his third pivotal decision: he refused to answer any questions regarding the case, even spurning the trial court's order to answer. Perez-Gonzalez never testified untruthfully; he refused to testify at all. Rosalez was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to thirty-five years, but the allegation that Rosalez discharged the firearm was not proved, which would have added twenty-five years to Rosalez's sentence.

In response to Perez-Gonzalez's decision, the State petitioned for criminal contempt. Perez-Gonzalez agreed to a bench trial for that proceeding, at which the parties stipulated in writing that Perez-Gonzalez's plea agreement "required" him to testify "in any case against any co-defendant." The trial court found him in contempt for failing to testify in the Rosalez case.

At Perez-Gonzalez's sentencing hearing for contempt, he again stipulated in writing that his plea agreement "required" him to testify against co-defendants Vilayhong and Rosalez. This second stipulation also provided that Rosalez was tried without Perez-Gonzalez's testimony. The sentencing judge determined that Perez-Gonzalez's refusal to testify hindered the State's prosecution of Rosalez, and sentenced Perez-Gonzalez to ten years' imprisonment for contempt, served consecutive to his thirty-five year murder sentence, for a total sentence of forty-five years.

C. Direct Appeal and Collateral Attacks in State Court

Perez-Gonzalez appealed his contempt conviction and sentence to the Illinois Appellate Court arguing, among other issues, that the contempt prosecution breached the plea agreement. He contended the initial thirty-five year sentence should be the exclusive repercussion for refusing to testify. To him, the plea agreement contained a "built-in sanction" so the only consequence for his failure to testify would be that the State could decline to vacate the fifteen year add-on.

The Illinois Appellate Court rejected this reasoning. After reviewing the plea offer letter, the transcript of the plea hearing, and the written stipulations at the contempt proceedings, that court held that the plea agreement did not bar the State from pursuing a contempt conviction. The court acknowledged Perez-Gonzalez may have a due process right to enforce the plea agreement if it induced his guilty plea. However, the court determined that the State never promised to refrain from filing a contempt of court petition if he refused to testify against Rosalez. Instead, the court held that "the plea agreement clearly required [Perez-Gonzalez] to testify against Rosalez and his failure to do so violated that agreement." Because Perez-Gonzalez—not the State—had breached the agreement, his due process claim failed.

The Illinois Appellate Court also concluded that the stipulations did not expressly or impliedly (via the "built-in sanction") support the outcome that Perez-Gonzalez insists upon: that the only consequence for refusing to testify would be the State not moving to vacate the fifteen year add-on. Even if the State had breached the agreement, the Illinois Appellate Court reasoned that would not be a defense to the contempt charge because the breach would not authorize Perez-Gonzalez to refuse the trial court's order to testify. The Illinois Supreme Court rejected Perez-Gonzalez's petition for leave to appeal that decision.

D. Federal Proceedings

Perez-Gonzalez petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that when the State sought the contempt sanction it breached the plea agreement. He requested relief from his contempt conviction and its consecutive ten year sentence. The district court denied the petition, but issued a certificate of appealability. We review the district court's denial of a habeas petition de novo and its findings of fact for clear error, Hicks v. Hepp , 871 F.3d 513, 525 (7th Cir. 2017), and have appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II. Discussion

A. Legal Standards

Perez-Gonzalez seeks habeas relief under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, 28 U.S.C. § 2254, according to which we may grant relief if a state court's decision was (1) contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law as determined by Supreme Court precedent; or (2) rested on an unreasonable factual determination. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1)–(2). These standards are "difficult to meet" and "highly deferential." Makiel v. Butler , 782 F.3d 882, 896 (7th Cir. 2015) (quoting Cullen v. Pinholster , 563 U.S. 170, 181, 131 S.Ct. 1388, 179 L.Ed.2d 557 (2011) ).

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1), a state-court decision involves an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent if the state court identifies the correct governing legal rule from Supreme Court cases but unreasonably applies it to the facts of the particular state prisoner's case, unreasonably extends a legal principle from Supreme Court precedent to a new context where it should not apply, or unreasonably refuses to extend that principle to a new context where it should apply. Williams v. Taylor , 529 U.S. 362, 407–08, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000).

An "unreasonable application of" federal law means "objectively unreasonable," not merely wrong; even clear error will not suffice. Campbell v. Smith , 770 F.3d 540, 546 (7th Cir. 2014) (citing White v. Woodall , 572 U.S. 415, 134 S.Ct. 1697, 1702, 188 L.Ed.2d 698 (2014) ).

As for 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2), a decision is based upon an "unreasonable determination of the facts" if it "rests upon fact-finding that ignores the clear and convincing weight of the evidence." Newman v....