Sawyer v. Hofbauer

• Citation: 299 F.3d 605
• Decision Date: 09 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 99-2090.,No. 01-1167.,99-2090.,01-1167.
• Parties: Thomas W. SAWYER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Gerald HOFBAUER, Respondent-Appellee. Thomas W. Sawyer, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Clarice Stovall, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

299 F.3d 605

Thomas W. SAWYER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Gerald HOFBAUER, Respondent-Appellee.

Thomas W. Sawyer, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Clarice Stovall, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 99-2090.

No. 01-1167.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: January 25, 2002.

Decided and Filed: August 9, 2002.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied: September 27, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Thomas W. Sawyer, Mound Regional Correctional Facility, Detroit, MI, Timothy M. Holloway (argued and briefed), Taylor, MI, for Petitioner-Appellant.

Brad H. Beaver (argued and briefed), Office of the Attorney General, Habeas Corpus Division, Lansing, MI, for Respondents-Appellees.

Before: MERRITT, BOGGS, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner-Appellant Thomas W. Sawyer ("Sawyer"), a Michigan prisoner, was convicted in two separate trials of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnaping, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The district courts denied his petitions for a writ of habeas corpus and his requests for an evidentiary hearing. We now AFFIRM in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 12, 1991, fourteen-year-old Lucas James Lundberg was kidnaped at gunpoint near his home in Ingham County, Michigan, and forced to engage in oral sex by a stranger who subsequently released him. On May 10, 1991, eighteen-year-old Sandra Miller ("Miller") was kidnaped at gunpoint near her home in Hillsdale County, Michigan, and forced to engage in oral sex by a stranger who subsequently released her. During the second incident, the stranger made Miller take off her clothes and underwear, which he returned before releasing her. Police investigation resulted in Sawyer's arrest for both assaults.

On June 15, 1992, after a Hillsdale County jury had convicted Sawyer of first-and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnaping, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Sawyer was sentenced to two concurrent terms of twenty-to-thirty years' imprisonment for the first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnaping charges, a concurrent term of ten-to-fifteen years for the second-degree criminal sexual conduct charge, and a consecutive term of two years for the felony-firearm charges. The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed Sawyer's conviction and sentence on January 16, 1996, and the Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal.

On November 18, 1992, after an Ingham County jury had convicted Sawyer of kidnaping, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Sawyer was sentenced to concurrent terms of life imprisonment for the kidnaping charge and twenty-five-to-fifty years' imprisonment for the first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge, plus a consecutive term of two years for the felony-firearm charge. The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed Sawyer's conviction and sentence on February 25, 1997, and the Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal.

On August 28, 1997, Sawyer filed, pro se, a petition for a writ of habeas corpus for his conviction and sentence in the Hillsdale County case, raising six claims. The matter was referred to a magistrate judge, who recommended that the district court dismiss Sawyer's petition. On July 9, 1999, the district court adopted the magistrate judge's report and recommendation and summarily dismissed the case. On July 23, 1999, Sawyer filed a Rule 59 motion to alter or amend the judgment, which was denied on August 25, 1999. On September 21, 1999, Sawyer filed a notice of appeal. Sawyer then applied for a certificate of appealability ("COA"), which the district court granted with respect to the one issue of whether "[t]he lack of a `full and fair adjudication,' in relation to factual issues concerning the semen stain, in the state court precludes application of the standards of deference arising under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act." Joint Appendix I ("J.A.I") at 41. On April 12, 2000, we construed Sawyer's notice of appeal as an application for a COA, which we denied with respect to all of the issues that the district court had not certified. On August 4, 2000, we denied Sawyer's petition for rehearing of the April 12 order.

On February 20, 1998, Sawyer filed, pro se, a petition for a writ of habeas corpus for his conviction and sentence in the Ingham County case, raising nine claims. The matter was referred to a magistrate judge, who recommended that the district court deny Sawyer's petition. On January 8, 2001, the district court adopted the magistrate judge's report and recommendation and dismissed the case, granting a COA only with respect to Sawyer's claim under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). On January 25, 2001, Sawyer filed a timely notice of appeal.

II. ANALYSIS

In a habeas corpus proceeding, we review a district court's legal conclusions de novo and factual findings for clear error. Lott v. Coyle, 261 F.3d 594, 606 (6th Cir.2001), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 1106, 151 L.Ed.2d 1001 (2002). Because Sawyer filed his habeas petitions after the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA") became effective, these cases are governed by AEDPA. Under those provisions, we may not grant a writ of habeas corpus for any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in state court unless the adjudication:

(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). In addition, the findings of fact made by a state court are presumed to be correct and can be contravened only if the habeas petitioner can show by clear and convincing evidence that the state court's factual findings were erroneous. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

AEDPA provides the following standard for determining whether a petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing:

(e)(2) If the applicant has failed to develop the factual basis of a claim in State court proceedings, the court shall not hold an evidentiary hearing on the claim unless the applicant shows that —

(A) the claim relies on —

(i) a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously unavailable; or

(ii) a factual predicate that could not have been previously discovered through the exercise of due diligence; and

(B) the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that but for constitutional error, no reasonable factfinder would have found the applicant guilty of the underlying offense.

28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(2).

A. Sawyer v. Hofbauer

Sawyer's claims to habeas relief rest chiefly on the existence of a semen stain found on Miller's underwear that contained saliva. Sawyer maintains that this evidence is relevant because Miller "performed fellatio on the perpetrator after which he handled her panties while the victim was blindfolded." J.A. I at 130-31. The State of Michigan contends that the particular facts of the case render this evidence irrelevant, inasmuch as Miller "testified that she was forced to swallow Sawyer's discharge and that her underwear w[as] lying on the other side of the car from where the assault occurred." Respondent's Br. I at 28-29.

At trial, Kyle Ann Hoskins, a laboratory scientist for the Michigan State Police, stated during nontestimonial colloquy that she had discovered traces of semen on Miller's underwear, but that Detective Sergeant Clifton L. Edwards ("Edwards"), the lead investigator in the case, had instructed her that additional analysis of the stain would not be necessary. According to the prosecutor, Edwards indicated that the semen had been deposited by a boyfriend. The fact that the police had in fact tested the semen stain against Sawyer's blood type and obtained a negative result was discovered only after defense counsel made a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") request in 1994, two years after the trial. Sawyer then raised the Brady claim in his direct appeal, which the state courts rejected.

1. Evidentiary Hearing

Sawyer argues that the district court should have held an evidentiary hearing on the negative result of the semen stain because the state courts failed to accord him a full and fair hearing on the issue. We have previously recognized the discretion and "inherent authority that a district court always has in habeas cases to order evidentiary hearings to settle disputed issues of material fact." Abdur'Rahman v. Bell, 226 F.3d 696, 706 (2000), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 386, 151 L.Ed.2d 294 (2001). In enacting AEDPA, Congress placed restrictions on this discretion to hold an evidentiary hearing. A petitioner who "fail[s] to develop the factual basis of a claim in State court proceedings" is not entitled to a federal evidentiary hearing unless he meets certain stringent requirements. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(2). In Michael Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 420, 120 S.Ct. 1479, 146 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), the Supreme Court interpreted the opening clause of § 2254(e)(2) as follows: "a failure to develop the factual basis of a claim is not established unless there is lack of diligence, or some greater fault, attributable to the prisoner or the prisoner's counsel." Id. at 432. The Williams Court then explained that a finding of diligence would "depend[] upon whether the prisoner made a reasonable attempt, in light of the information available at the time, to investigate and pursue claims in state court." Id. at 435.

Sawyer alleges that he first learned about the...