Robertson v. Cain

• Decision Date: 05 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-31223.,01-31223.
• Citation: 324 F.3d 297
• Parties: Donald Ray ROBERTSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Burl CAIN, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

324 F.3d 297

Donald Ray ROBERTSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Burl CAIN, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 01-31223.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

March 5, 2003.

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Christopher Albert Aberle (argued), Mandeville, LA, for Petitioner-Appellant.

Valentin Michael Solino, Scott Douglas Peebles (argued), Appeals Div., New Orleans, LA, for Respondent-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Before KING, Chief Judge, and JOLLY and HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judges.

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, Petitioner Donald Ray Robertson, a prisoner of the State of Louisiana, seeks review of a district court order denying his petition for federal habeas relief. Specifically, Robertson contends that an erroneous jury instruction deprived him of his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights. The State of Louisiana admits that the jury instruction was contrary to clearly established federal law, but it argues that Robertson is not entitled to federal habeas relief because the error was harmless.

In order to resolve this appeal, we must decide whether the standard for harmless error analysis articulated in Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993), remains viable precedent after the enactment of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ("AEDPA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We hold that AEDPA's restrictions on federal review of state habeas decisions do not alter Brecht's mandate for harmless error analysis by federal courts when state courts have failed to address the question of harmless error. We further hold that the specific jury instruction on the law of principals given in this case violated clearly established federal law by improperly relieving the prosecution of the burden of proving an essential element of the crime (namely, the defendant's specific intent to kill). See Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979); Flowers v. Blackburn, 779 F.2d 1115 (5th Cir.1986); State v. West, 568 So.2d 1019 (La.1990). Finally, applying the Brecht standard to the record in this case, we conclude that the state trial court's erroneous jury instruction did have a "substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict." Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. at 637, 113 S.Ct. 1710. Accordingly, we reverse the district court's judgment denying federal habeas relief and remand.

I

Petitioner Donald Ray Robertson is currently serving a life sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. In January 1987, Robertson was convicted in state court on two counts of murder in the first degree for his role in the murders of Clayton Jones and Curtis Hardy.¹ On direct appeal, Robertson challenged his conviction on account of several evidentiary errors at trial and the insufficiency of the evidence against him, and Robertson's conviction was affirmed by the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit. See State v. Robertson, 516 So.2d 180 (La.App.1987).

Robertson did not seek direct review of his conviction by the Louisiana Supreme Court, but he did file three applications for post-conviction relief in Louisiana state court. Robertson filed his first application for post-conviction relief with the state trial court in August 1991. In that first application, Robertson raised three claims, including ineffective assistance of counsel, erroneous introduction of hearsay evidence, and denial of constitutional due process based on an improper jury instruction on the law of principals. The trial court denied Robertson's application without written comment, and the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit affirmed this decision, finding each of Robertson's claims to be without merit. See State v. Robertson, No. 92-KW-0081, slip op. at 1-2 (La.App. Feb. 6, 1992). With respect to Robertson's due process claim, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit specifically held that "the jury instruction on the law of principals was sufficient for the jury to conclude that the relator had the requisite specific intent." Id., slip op. at 1. Robertson sought review of this decision in the Louisiana Supreme Court, but it declined Robertson's writ application. See State v. Robertson, 626 So.2d 1184 (La.1993).

In June 1994, Robertson filed a second application for post-conviction relief, arguing that his conviction was unconstitutional and that his sentence was, therefore, illegal. This second request was also denied by the state trial court, by the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, and ultimately by the Louisiana Supreme Court. See State ex rel. Robertson v. Whitley, 683 So.2d 243 (La.1996).

In October 1996, in his third and final post-conviction application in state court, Robertson reiterated his due process objection to the jury instruction on the law of principals that was given in his murder trial. This time, the state trial court agreed with Robertson's claim and granted Robertson a new trial based on Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979); Flowers v. Blackburn, 779 F.2d 1115 (5th Cir.1986); and State v. West, 568 So.2d 1019 (La.1990). However the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal granted the state's application for a supervisory writ and reversed the trial court's determination, holding Robertson's post-conviction application time-barred by Article 930.8 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure. See State v. Robertson, No. 97-K-11523, slip op. at 1-2 (La.App. Dec. 29, 1997). The Louisiana Supreme Court also denied Robertson's writ application, citing Article 930.8. See State ex rel. Robertson v. State, 719 So.2d 1050 (La.1998) (citing La.Code Crim. Proc. art. 930.8).

Robertson then filed his instant pro se petition for post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Once again, Robertson argued that the state trial court's jury instruction on the law of principals violated the due process holdings of Sandstrom v. Montana, Flowers v. Blackburn, and State v. West by relieving the prosecution of its burden of proving that Robertson had a specific intent to kill. The district court initially dismissed Robertson's petition with prejudice on the grounds that the petition was untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A), but a panel of this Court reversed that ruling and remanded Robertson's case with instructions to the district court to consider the merits of Robertson's § 2254 petition. See Robertson v. Cain, No. 00-30315, 240 F.3d 1073 (5th Cir. Nov. 20, 2000) (unpublished) (granting Robertson's request for a certificate of appealability and reversing the district court's dismissal with prejudice based on Smith v. Ward, 209 F.3d 383, 385 (5th Cir.2000)).

On remand, a magistrate judge recommended that the district court grant habeas relief on account of the erroneous jury instruction. In response, the Respondent filed a formal objection to the magistrate's report and recommendation, arguing first that the jury instruction was not as prejudicial as the constitutionally defective instructions in Flowers and West and second that any error in the jury instruction was harmless. The district court sustained the Respondent's objections and denied Robertson's § 2254 petition. The district court recognized that the state court's jury instruction was contrary to clearly established federal law; nevertheless, the district court concluded that it should deny Robertson's petition for federal habeas relief because Robertson failed to show that the state court's constitutionally erroneous jury instruction was also an "unreasonable application of" clearly established federal law. In addition, the district court held that the erroneous jury instruction was "harmless beyond a reasonable doubt," applying the harmless error standard in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967).

We granted Robertson a certificate of appealability on March 15, 2002.

II

On appeal from the denial of a § 2254 petition, this court reviews a district court's findings of fact for clear error, and it reviews a district court's conclusions of law de novo, applying the same standard of review to the state court's decision as the district court. Donahue v. Cain, 231 F.3d 1000 (5th Cir.2000). Mixed questions of law and fact, such as the district court's assessment of harmless error, are also reviewed de novo. Jones v. Cain, 227 F.3d 228, 230 (5th Cir.2000).

Because Robertson filed his petition for federal habeas relief in April 1999, our review is under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, as amended by AEDPA. See Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 336, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). Under AEDPA, a federal court may not grant a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a state prisoner unless the adjudication of the petitioner's claim in state court "(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)(1)-(2). "A state court's decision will be contrary to clearly established federal law when it reaches a legal conclusion in direct opposition to a prior decision of the United States Supreme Court or when it reaches a different conclusion than the United States Supreme Court on a set of materially indistinguishable facts." Kutzner v. Johnson, 242 F.3d 605, 608 (5th Cir.2001). Moreover, a state court's decision will be an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law whenever the state court identifies the correct governing legal principle from the Supreme Court's decisions but applies that principle to the facts of the prisoner's case in an "objectively unreasonable" manner. Id. (citing ...