Sanford v. Yukins

• Decision Date: 04 April 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-2504.,00-2504.
• Citation: 288 F.3d 855
• Parties: Annette SANFORD, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Joan YUKINS, Warden, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

288 F.3d 855

Annette SANFORD, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Joan YUKINS, Warden, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 00-2504.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued June 14, 2001.

Decided and Filed April 4, 2002.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied June 5, 2002.

Paul L. Nelson (argued and briefed), Federal Public Defenders Office, Grand Rapids, MI, for Petitioner-Appellee.

Laura Graves Moody (argued and briefed), Office of the Attorney General, Habeas Corpus Division, Lansing, MI, for Respondent-Appellant.

Before BOGGS and SUHRHEINRICH, Circuit Judges; CLELAND, District Judge.^*

OPINION

CLELAND, District Judge.

In 1990, Petitioner Annette Sanford and a woman named Carolyn Wilson had been living together for several years, sharing a bedroom while jointly caring for a number of young children each had earlier borne. Among those children were Sanford's 9-year-old daughter Lori and Wilson's 11-year-old son Michael. These two, as well as the other children living in the home, had been beaten and psychologically terrorized for some time by one or the other of the women.

In the instant case, Michael and Lori were forced to engage in sexual intercourse in Sanford and Wilson's bedroom while their mothers watched. These squalid events unfolded over the course of perhaps twenty minutes, during which time Sanford left and returned with tea for her companion. After this and other disturbing incidents of sexual abuse of the children came to light, both Sanford and Wilson were charged, tried, and convicted on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Following unsuccessful direct appeals, Sanford sought habeas review in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Unable to locate any evidence in the record that Sanford had "assisted" or "encouraged" the principal offense, the district court determined that relief should be granted. We disagree, and the award of habeas relief will be reversed.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

One evening, Wilson called Michael and Lori into the women's bedroom, one after the other. She directed Lori to disrobe, and when Lori refused, Wilson ordered Michael to remove Lori's clothes as well as his own, to get on top of her, and to "hump" her. After his mother pushed him on top of the younger child and threatened to beat him if he did not listen, Michael complied in fear. Lori initially began crying and tried to fight Michael off, but stopped when Wilson told her to "shut up." Both children testified that each of them often had been beaten by Sanford and Wilson with a leather belt and a pole from a canopy bed.

Sanford was present in the bedroom at the beginning and throughout most of the ordeal. According to Michael's testimony, she did nothing to stop the act, but did not encourage it either. Sanford also did not assist her daughter during the time that Lori was yelling for Michael to stop and trying to kick him away. Thus, when asked, Michael agreed that Sanford did nothing "other than be present." Lori's testimony essentially confirmed that Sanford was present in the bedroom but that she said and did nothing to encourage or stop the sexual activity. Lori recalled, however, that her mother at one point left the room and returned with some tea for Wilson.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Before jury deliberations commenced, Sanford moved for a directed verdict, arguing that no evidence was adduced against her other than her "mere presence" in the room while the act in question took place. The trial court denied the motion, stating,

Here we have a mother who has a duty, and I say it's a legal duty, to protect her child and stands idly by, if I am to believe the testimony of the children.... She had a duty to interfere, she had a duty to protect her child, she had a duty to take that child outside of that environment; and while the Chapman case said normally mere presence isn't sufficient, but when you have a duty to act and you don't do so, then that may well be, because apparently you are telling the other person that they may go ahead in their criminal deed.

Further, in this case, inferentially, you can construe such conduct by a person as an act indicating agreement to the child that is involved in the activity, to convey to that child that the parent approves of the activity that is being forced upon the child. So I think you have a different situation when you have strangers as opposed to a parent-child, or husband and wife, and that being so in respect to her own child.

[T]he Court further finds that aid or encouragement transfers and is applicable... to Michael, in that if the parent of Lori had sought to interfere, that the act could not have been accomplished, at least it would have conveyed to Michael the objection of the parent of Lori, and that was not done.

Thus, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the trial court denied Sanford's motion for a directed verdict. Following deliberations, the jury convicted Sanford on both counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. She subsequently was sentenced to concurrent terms of 10-40 years and 18-40 years.

Sanford appealed all her convictions¹ to the Michigan Court of Appeals. In addressing her arguments, the court set forth the following elements under Michigan law for a conviction of aiding and abetting:

(1) the underlying crime was committed by either the defendant or some other person,

(2) the defendant performed acts or gave encouragement which aided and assisted the commission of the crime, and

(3) the defendant intended the commission of the crime or had knowledge that the principal intended its commission at the time of giving aid or encouragement.

People v. Wilson, 196 Mich.App. 604, 493 N.W.2d 471, 474 (Mich.Ct.App. 1993). The court further observed that

Mere presence, even with knowledge that an offense is about to be committed or is being committed, is insufficient to show that a person is an aider and abettor. The phrase "aiding and abetting" describes all forms of assistance rendered to the perpetrator of a crime. It includes all words or deeds that may support, encourage, or incite the commission of a crime.

Id. at 476.

Finally, the court noted that "whether a parent has a duty to prevent the commission of a criminal act upon the parent's child where that crime takes place in the parent's presence, has not been previously addressed by this Court." Id. at 477. Nevertheless, the court found it unnecessary to further address the issue, concluding that "the prosecution introduced sufficient evidence that Sanford intended the commission of the crime." Id. In a footnote, the court "strongly encourage[d] the Legislature to consider the theory of culpability relied on by the trial court in this case: An exception to the `mere presence' rule exists when a parent has a legal duty to prevent the commission of a crime." Id. at 477, n. 7. The Michigan Supreme Court denied Sanford leave to appeal without comment.

Sanford subsequently sought habeas review in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court determined that relief should be granted, finding no evidence in the record to prove the second element of aiding and abetting, i.e., that Sanford assisted or encouraged the principal offense. The district court opined that the lack of evidence in the record on that issue violated Sanford's Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law as established in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 324, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (holding that an applicant is "entitled to habeas corpus relief if it is found that upon the record evidence adduced at the trial no rational trier of fact could have found proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt").

Rather than grant relief outright, however, the district court determined, in the interest of comity, to certify to the Michigan Supreme Court the following question:

Whether Petitioner Sanford's silent presence during the offense, as described in the record ..., constitutes "encouragement" or "assistance" of the offense so as to support her aiding and abetting conviction under state law. The Court views this question as including, but not limited to, the question of whether Sanford, as mother of one of the victims, "encouraged" the offense by failing to protect her daughter from the criminal conduct.

The Michigan Supreme Court declined the district court's request, noting (1) that "the matter was already resolved by the Michigan Court of Appeals" and (2) that "the evidence supported the jury's finding that petitioner aided and abetted first-degree criminal sexual conduct."

Subsequently, the district court granted Sanford's application for writ of habeas corpus because "the evidence of Sanford's silent presence ... was insufficient under the doctrine of Jackson v. Virginia to support her convictions in that case for aiding and abetting as defined by state law." This appeal followed.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This court reviews a district court's grant of a writ of habeas corpus de novo. McQueen v. Scroggy, 99 F.3d 1302, 1310 (6th Cir.1996). Thus, the grant of habeas relief may stand only if we conclude that the state court's adjudication of Sanford's claim "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." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).

IV. DISCUSSION

Appellant sets forth three reasons why this court should reverse the district court's grant of habeas relief. First, Appellant argues that Sanford's claim is not cognizable because it would require this court to interpret Michigan law differently than did the Michigan courts. Second, Appellant contends that the district court erred in holding that the state trial court had incorrectly applied Michigan law. Finally, Appellant argues...