Sass v. California Bd. of Prison Terms, S 01-0835 MCE KJM P.

• Decision Date: 15 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. S 01-0835 MCE KJM P.,S 01-0835 MCE KJM P.
• Citation: 376 F.Supp.2d 975
• Parties: Brian SASS, Petitioner, v. CALIFORNIA BOARD OF PRISON TERMS, et al., Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California

Page 975

376 F.Supp.2d 975

Brian SASS, Petitioner, v. CALIFORNIA BOARD OF PRISON TERMS, et al., Respondents.

No. S 01-0835 MCE KJM P.

United States District Court, E.D. California.

June 15, 2005.

David M. Porter, Office of the Federal Defender, Sacramento, CA, Margaret Joan Littlefield, Law Office of Michael Satris, Bolinas, CA, for Petitioner.

Jessica Nicole Blonien, California Attorney General's Office, Virginia I. Papan, Department of Justice, San Francisco, CA, Mary Jo Graves, California Department of Justice — Attorney Generals Office, Robert R. Anderson, Attorney General's Office for the State of California, Sacramento, CA, for Respondents.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ENGLAND, District Judge.

Brian Sass (hereinafter "Petitioner"), a California prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks a writ of habeas corpus. This matter was referred to a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). On March 16, 2005, the Magistrate Judge filed her findings and recommendations, which were served on all parties and which contained notice that any objections to the findings and recommendations were to be filed within ten days. The California Board of Prison Terms (hereinafter "Respondent" or "BPT") filed timely objections to the Magistrate's findings and recommendations. Petitioner subsequently filed a timely reply to Respondent's objections. In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), this Court conducted a de novo review of the case. Having carefully reviewed the entire file, the Court rejects the Magistrate's findings and recommendations. For the reasons discussed below, Petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus is DENIED.

BACKGROUND

Petitioner, currently confined at Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, has applied for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241 and 2254. (Amended Petition at 4(b):(i)(2).) Petitioner was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after fifteen years, as a result of his 1988 convictions for second degree murder, hit and run death, gross vehicular manslaughter, and felony drunk driving. Petitioner's 1988 convictions were based on the following events: while operating his truck under the influence of drugs and alcohol, Petitioner drove into oncoming traffic and caused a head-on collision, which killed a 27-year-old woman who was five months pregnant. At the time of the collision, Petitioner had four DUI convictions on record, with three more DUI charges pending. (Answer at 2:4-11; Traverse at 2:18-23; F & R Objections at 7:13-26; Response to F & R Objections at 1:17-24.)

Petitioner does not challenge the validity of his 1988 convictions with the present petition. (Traverse at 3:3-5.) Rather, Petitioner seeks collateral relief from three decisions of the California Board of Prison Terms (hereinafter "Respondent" or "BPT"), which denied him parole in 1996, 1999, and 2000, respectively. (Traverse at 1:17-27.)

On September 12, 2002, this Court held that all challenges to Petitioner's 1996 parole proceeding were time-barred. Consequently, the Court will only address Petitioner's challenges to the 1999 and 2000 parole proceedings, both of which were affirmed by a state trial court, a state appellate court, and the Supreme Court of California. While Respondent contends that Petitioner failed to exhaust his state court remedies with regard to the 1999 proceedings, the Court finds this argument to be unsupported factually (Amended Petition at 4(a)-4(b); Ex. F; Ex. G; Ex. H) and without merit on a statutory basis. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(2) ("An application for a writ of habeas corpus may be denied on the merits, notwithstanding the failure of the applicant to exhaust the remedies available in the courts of the State."); see also Duncan v. Walker, 533 U.S. 167, 183, 121 S.Ct. 2120, 150 L.Ed.2d 251 (2001) (Stevens, J., concurring).

Petitioner contends, through various arguments, that in both 1999 and 2000, Respondent's decision to deny Petitioner parole resulted in a violation of Petitioner's due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. (Amended Petition at 4(a)-4(c); Traverse at 28:6-9; 28:16-18; 29:14-19; 39:6-10.)

STANDARD

At first glance, it appears that a prisoner may challenge the constitutionality of his or her confinement under both § 2241 and § 2254. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241(c)(3), 2254(a) (1994). A proper understanding of the interaction between § 2241 and § 2254, however, leads to the conclusion that they apply in different situations. White v. Lambert, 370 F.3d 1002, 1006 (9th Cir.2004). When a prisoner meets the threshold requirement of being in custody pursuant to state court judgment, § 2254 is properly seen as a limitation on the more general grant of habeas authority in § 2241. Id. at 1008; see also Felker v. Turpin, 518 U.S. 651, 662, 116 S.Ct. 2333, 135 L.Ed.2d 827 (1996) ("authority to grant habeas relief to state prisoners is limited by § 2254, which specifies the conditions under which such relief may be granted to `a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court.'").

Adopting the view of the Ninth Circuit, this Court finds that § 2254 is the exclusive vehicle for a habeas petition by a state prisoner in custody pursuant to a state court judgment, even when the petitioner is not challenging his underlying state court conviction. White, 370 F.3d at 1007, 1008, 1009-10 (citing approvingly Cook v. New York State Div. Of Parole, 321 F.3d 274, 278 (2d Cir.2003) (rejecting petitioner's contention that § 2241 was applicable because "his custody is `pursuant to' an order of the parole board rather than a state court")). Consequently, all of the statutory requirements of § 2254 apply to the present case, no matter what statutory label the prisoner has assigned to his petition. Id. at 1007 (citing Walker v. O'Brien, 216 F.3d 626, 633 (7th Cir.2000).

Under § 2254, a district court shall entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court only on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). Further, a petition for a writ of habeas corpus shall not be granted with respect to any claim unless the adjudication of the 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).

Clearly established federal law is defined by the holdings of the United States Supreme Court in effect at the time California adjudicated Petitioner's claim. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 412, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000). Notably, circuit law is only persuasive authority for purposes of determining whether a state decision is an unreasonable application of Supreme Court jurisprudence. Clark v. Murphy, 331 F.3d 1062, 1069 (9th Cir.2003); Duhaime v. Ducharme, 200 F.3d 597, 600-01 (9th Cir.1999).

Finally, where the state summarily denies a petition without comment, the district court will look to the last reasoned decision on the issue. Ylst v. Nunnemaker, 501 U.S. 797, 111 S.Ct. 2590, 115 L.Ed.2d 706 (1991). If no such decision exists, the district court must independently review the record to determine whether the state ruling was contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. Delgado v. Lewis, 223 F.3d 976, 981-82 (9th Cir.2000).

ANALYSIS

On the basis of the parties' claims, the Court is presented with three questions. First, may this Court consider Petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus? Second, does Petitioner have a federal liberty interest in parole? Finally, if Petitioner does have a liberty interest in parole (thereby entitling him to due process protections as a matter of right), what process must California afford Petitioner before it can deprive him of that interest?

1. Justiciability

Contrary to Respondent's claims, the Court finds that Petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus is not moot. First, Petitioner has alleged concrete injuries at the hands of Respondent, which this Court can remedy. See Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7, 118 S.Ct. 978, 140 L.Ed.2d 43 (1998). Specifically, Petitioner alleges continued imprisonment and the deprivation of federal due process rights as the result of unfair parole hearings that lacked the appropriate process (Amended Petition at 4(a)-4(c); Traverse at 28:6-9; 28:16-18; 29:14-19; 39:6-10). See id. As Petitioner contends, a fair hearing in either 1999 or 2000 could have resulted in his release from prison. Thus assuming that Petitioner's constitutional rights were violated by the parole boards in either 1999 or 2000, ordering a new hearing, one conducted in accordance with both state and federal law, regardless of its outcome, would remedy any constitutional violations by offering Petitioner a fair parole opportunity. Respondent asserts that ordering a new hearing would be of no consequence since Petitioner has had three hearings since 2000 (2001, 2002, and 2004) in which he was denied parole. This assertion is without merit. It necessarily assumes that all of the subsequent hearings were conducted in accordance with federal law. (Answer at 6:28-7:8.)

Second, Respondent's argument that subsequent parole hearings moot any previous hearings (Opposition to F & R at 3:10-4:3), if true, places Petitioner's claim squarely within a narrow exception to the general mootness doctrine: the injuries alleged here would then be capable of repetition, yet evading judicial review. Spencer, 523 U.S. at 17-18, 118 S.Ct. 978. Petitioner would be unable to complete a full judicial review (state and federal) of a habeas application before a subsequent hearing mooted that application. Consequently, a string of unconstitutional hearings would continually preclude effective judicial review of alleged...