Ruiz v. Thaler

• Decision Date: 06 April 2011
• Docket Number: Civil No. SA–03–CA–303–OG.
• Citation: 783 F.Supp.2d 905
• Parties: Rolando RUIZ, TDCJ No. 999145, Petitioner,v.Rick THALER, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas

783 F.Supp.2d 905

Rolando RUIZ, TDCJ No. 999145, Petitioner,

v.Rick THALER, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent.

Civil No. SA–03–CA–303–OG.

United States District Court,W.D. Texas,San Antonio Division.

April 6, 2011.

Chris K. Gober, Chris K. Gober, Attorney at Law, P.C., San Antonio, TX, Kathryn M. Kase, Texas Defender Service, Houston, TX, for Petitioner.Jeremy C. Greenwell, Leslie K. Kuykendall, Office of the Attorney General, Austin, TX, for Respondent.

POST–REMAND MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING RELIEF

ORLANDO L. GARCIA, District Judge.

This Court denied petitioner's federal habeas corpus petition collaterally attacking his 1995 Bexar County capital murder conviction and sentence of death. Ruiz v. Dretke, 2005 WL 2146119 (W.D.Tex. August 29, 2005), affirmed, 460 F.3d 638 (5th Cir.2006), cert. denied, 549 U.S. 1283, 127 S.Ct. 1815, 167 L.Ed.2d 326 (2007). On the eve of his execution, petitioner filed a motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Rule 60(b), Fed.R.Civ.P., which this Court denied on both substantive and procedural grounds. Ruiz v. Quarterman, 2007 WL 2437401 (W.D.Tex. July 10, 2007). The Fifth Circuit immediately stayed petitioner's execution. In October, 2007, the Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded this cause to this Court with directions that this Court consider “on the merits” petitioner's assertions of ineffective assistance by petitioner's trial counsel during the punishment phase of petitioner's trial. Ruiz v. Quarterman, 504 F.3d 523, 532 (5th Cir.2007). For the reasons set forth hereinafter, this Court finds petitioner is entitled to neither federal habeas relief nor a Certificate of Appealability from this Court.

I. Defining the Claims Before this Court on Remand

In his amended petition, filed January 20, 2009, docket entry no. 70, petitioner argued his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by (1) failing during the punishment phase of petitioner's capital murder trial to present mitigating evidence readily available through Dr. Henry Munsinger (the state-court-appointed mental health expert who had examined petitioner) and (2) failing to conduct an adequate investigation into petitioner's background for additional mitigating evidence (which petitioner claimed would have produced additional mitigating evidence establishing the very difficult circumstances of petitioner's childhood, as well as petitioner's long history of substance abuse). In subsequent pleadings, as well as during the evidentiary hearing held November 2–3, 2010, petitioner also argued his trial counsel should have retained the services of a mental health professional who could have opined regarding the impact of petitioner's alleged cocaine addiction on petitioner's conduct at the time of petitioner's offense.

After more than three years of extensive investigation by petitioner's federal habeas counsel, the expenditure of thousands of dollars of investigative and expert expenses, this Court held an evidentiary hearing in this cause on November 2–3, 2010.¹

II. The Constitutional Standard Governing Ineffective Assistance Claims

The constitutional standard for reviewing petitioner's complaints about the performance of his trial counsel is well-settled. The Sixth Amendment entitles criminal defendants to “the effective assistance of counsel,” i.e., legal representation that does not (1) fall below an objective standard of reasonableness in light of prevailing professional norms and the circumstances of the defendant's case ( Wong v. Belmontes, ––– U.S. ––––, ––––, 130 S.Ct. 383, 384, 175 L.Ed.2d 328 (2009); Bobby v. Van Hook, ––– U.S. ––––, ––––, 130 S.Ct. 13, 16, 175 L.Ed.2d 255 (2009)); and (2) give rise to a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different ( Porter v. McCollum, –––U.S. ––––, ––––, 130 S.Ct. 447, 452–53, 175 L.Ed.2d 398 (2009); Wong v. Belmontes, ––– U.S. at ––––, 130 S.Ct. at 386).

The constitutional standard for determining whether a criminal defendant has been denied the effective assistance of trial counsel, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, was announced by the Supreme Court in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984):

A convicted defendant's claim that counsel's assistance was so defective as to require reversal of a conviction or death sentence has two components. First, the defendant must show that counsel's performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable.

To satisfy the first prong of Strickland, i.e., establish that his counsel's performance was constitutionally deficient, a convicted defendant must show that counsel's representation “fell below an objective standard of reasonableness.” Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 521, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 2535, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003); Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 390–91, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 1511, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000). In so doing, a convicted defendant must carry the burden of proof and overcome a strong presumption that the conduct of his trial counsel falls within a wide range of reasonable professional assistance. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 687–91, 104 S.Ct. at 2064–66. Courts are extremely deferential in scrutinizing the performance of counsel and make every effort to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight. See Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. at 523, 123 S.Ct. at 2536 (holding the proper analysis under the first prong of Strickland is an objective review of the reasonableness of counsel's performance under prevailing professional norms which includes a context-dependent consideration of the challenged conduct as seen from the perspective of said counsel at the time). “No particular set of detailed rules for counsel's conduct can satisfactorily take account of the variety of circumstances faced by defense counsel or the range of legitimate decisions regarding how best to represent a criminal defendant.” Bobby v. Van Hook, ––– U.S. at ––––, 130 S.Ct. at 16; Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 688–89, 104 S.Ct. at 2065. It is strongly presumed counsel rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. at 2066.

To satisfy the “prejudice” prong, a convicted defendant must establish a reasonable probability that, but for the objectively unreasonable misconduct of his counsel, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. at 534, 123 S.Ct. at 2542; Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of the proceeding. Id.

In evaluating prejudice in the context of the punishment phase of a capital trial, a federal habeas court must re-weigh all the evidence in aggravation against the totality of available mitigating evidence (had the petitioner's trial counsel chosen a different course). Wong v. Belmontes, ––– U.S. at ––––, 130 S.Ct. at 386; Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. at 534, 123 S.Ct. at 2542. Strickland does not require the State to “rule out” or negate a sentence of life in prison to prevail; rather, it places the burden on the defendant to show a “reasonable probability” that the result of the punishment phase of a capital murder trial would have been different. Wong v. Belmontes, ––– U.S. at ––––, 130 S.Ct. at 390–91.

In those instances in which the state courts failed to adjudicate either prong of the Strickland test, this Court's review of the un-adjudicated prong is de novo. See Porter v. McCollum, ––– U.S. at ––––, 130 S.Ct. at 452 (holding de novo review of the allegedly deficient performance of petitioner's trial counsel was necessary because the state courts had failed to address this prong of Strickland analysis); Rompilla v. Beard, 545 U.S. 374, 390, 125 S.Ct. 2456, 2467, 162 L.Ed.2d 360 (2005)(holding de novo review of the prejudice prong of Strickland was required where the state courts rested their rejection of an ineffective assistance claim on the deficient performance prong and never addressed the issue of prejudice); Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. at 534, 123 S.Ct. at 2542 (holding the same).

A habeas petitioner has the burden to prove both prongs of the Strickland ineffective assistance standard by a preponderance of the evidence. Rogers v. Quarterman, 555 F.3d 483, 489 (5th Cir.2009), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 130 S.Ct. 365, 175 L.Ed.2d 62 (2009); Blanton v. Quarterman, 543 F.3d 230, 235 (5th Cir.2008), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 129 S.Ct. 2383, 173 L.Ed.2d 1301 (2009); Montoya v. Johnson, 226 F.3d 399, 408 (5th Cir.2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 1067, 121 S.Ct. 2220, 150 L.Ed.2d 212 (2001).

Under the well-settled Strickland standard, the Supreme Court recognizes a strong presumption that counsel rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment. Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 698, 122 S.Ct. 1843, 1852, 152 L.Ed.2d 914 (2002); Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. at 2066; Scheanette v. Quarterman, 482 F.3d 815, 820 (5th Cir.2007); Sonnier v. Quarterman, 476 F.3d 349, 356 (5th Cir.2007), cert. denied, 552 U.S. 948, 128 S.Ct. 374, 169 L.Ed.2d 259 (2007); Amador v. Quarterman, 458 F.3d 397, 410 (5th Cir.2006), cert. denied, 550 U.S. 920, 127 S.Ct. 2129, 167 L.Ed.2d 866 (2007); Gonzales v. Quarterman, 458 F.3d 384, 390 (5th Cir.2006), cert. denied, 549 U.S. 1323, 127 S.Ct. 1909, 167 L.Ed.2d 568 (2007).

III. The Applicable...