Sessoms v. Runnels

Decision Date03 June 2011
Docket NumberNo. 08–17790.,08–17790.
PartiesTio Dinero SESSOMS, Petitioner–Appellant,v.D.L. RUNNELS, Respondent–Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Eric Weaver (argued), Albany, CA, for petitioner-appellant Tio Dinero Sessoms.Edmund G. Brown, Attorney General of California, Michael P. Farrell, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Charles A. French, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Jeffrey D. Firestone (argued), Deputy Attorney General, Sacramento, CA, for respondent-appellee D.L. Runnels.Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, John A. Mendez, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 2:05–cv–01221–JAM–GGH.Before: BETTY B. FLETCHER, RICHARD C. TALLMAN, and JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

TALLMAN, Circuit Judge:

PetitionerAppellant Tio Dinero Sessoms, a California prisoner, appeals the district court's denial of his habeas corpus petition challenging his California felony murder conviction. He argues predominately that he unequivocally asserted his right to counsel when he asked Sacramento homicide detectives whether he had a right to an attorney and subsequently told those detectives that his father had asked him to inquire about an attorney. He also argues that even if his requests were ambiguous the detectives had an obligation to ask him clarifying questions prior to continuing with their interrogation. Finally, he argues that the detectives violated his right to remain silent when they interviewed him without objection five days after he invoked his right to remain silent to different officers from a different police department after he was arrested. He contends that he is entitled to federal habeas relief because any of these claimed violations required the California state courts to suppress the incriminating statement he made after he expressly waived his Miranda rights.

Mindful that we must review this petition through the deferential lens of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2254, we disagree. Though some of Sessoms's claims admittedly raise a close question as to how we may have ruled were we reviewing his conviction without AEDPA deference, we cannot conclude that the decisions of the California state courts 1 were “contrary to, or an unreasonable application of,” established United States Supreme Court precedent—the showing AEDPA requires to permit relief. § 2254(d)(1). Because Sessoms cannot “show that the state court's ruling on the claim being presented in federal court was so lacking in justification that there was an error well understood and comprehended in existing law beyond any possibility for fairminded disagreement,” Harrington v. Richter, ––– U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 770, 786–87, 178 L.Ed.2d 624 (2011), we affirm the district court's denial of habeas relief.

I

On October 20, 1999, Sessoms and two other men entered the Sacramento, California, residence of Edward Sherriff to commit a burglary. During the burglary, Sherriff was choked and stabbed to death by one of Sessoms's accomplices. The men then fled the scene, taking cash, jewelry, and Sherriff's two vehicles with them.

Shortly thereafter, Sessoms traveled to Langston, Oklahoma, where, at the urging of his father, he surrendered to local police on November 15, 1999. Upon arrest, Langston police officers read Sessoms his Miranda rights and asked whether he wanted to “make a statement.” He declined. The Langston police did not press Sessoms any further and transported him to a jail in Oklahoma City to await extradition to California.

Five days later, on November 20, 1999, two Sacramento city homicide detectives, Dick Woods and Pat Keller, arrived in Oklahoma City to question and extradite Sessoms. Sessoms was brought to an interview room where he waited to meet with the detectives for the first time. He was not aware that everything in the room was being video recorded. When the detectives entered the room, Sessoms was pleasant and polite. He told the detectives that he was glad they had arrived safely. The detectives were likewise pleasant and polite. Detective Woods joked that he hoped the return flight would be just as good.

Woods then introduced himself and Detective Keller. When Woods paused to read his notes, Sessoms made the first of the two statements at issue, asking Woods whether he had the right to have an attorney present during the interview. Specifically, he asked, “There wouldn't be any possible way that I could have a—a lawyer present while we do this?” He then explained to the detectives that his father was concerned that some officers might attempt to switch his words around after the fact and that his father had therefore “asked me to ask you guys—uh, get me a lawyer.” The detectives responded by telling Sessoms that they could record the interview to allay those concerns. Sessoms agreed. More importantly, though, after setting up a recording device on the table, Woods directly addressed Sessoms's question regarding whether he had a right to counsel. He told Sessoms that he did have the right to have counsel present during the interview, but—demonstrating his understanding as to what Sessoms was asking—emphasized that Sessoms would need to decide whether he wanted to claim that right.2

Uh, I want to back up to your question you asked about an attorney. Um, first, before you ask questions, uh, I'm going to tell you why we're here, just lay it out and be up-front. And then—then I'm going to advise you of your rights. And then it's up—for you to decide if you want the attorney or not.

Thereafter, the detectives explained to Sessoms what information they had and what the other two suspects had told them. Notably, Woods told Sessoms that he was surprised by the fact that neither of the other suspects had chosen to invoke their rights. He told Sessoms that they would not take his statement without an attorney if Sessoms wanted an attorney and added that “all attorneys ... will sometimes or usually advise you not to make a statement.” 3 He also reiterated to Sessoms that it was Sessoms's choice whether he wanted counsel or not:

I'm not trying to take any rights away from you or anything else. What I want to do, Tio, is advise you of your rights, make sure you understand them. Then you make the decision if you want to talk to us or not.—It's not for me to make, not for [Detective Keller] to make; it's—it's for you to make. Um, have you ever been advised of your rights before?

Detective Woods then read Sessoms his Miranda rights verbatim from a form, while Sessoms read along silently from an additional copy of the text. 4 Woods asked Sessoms if he understood each distinct right. Sessoms stated that he did. Woods then asked, “Okay. Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?” Sessoms shrugged. “That's solely up to you,” Woods added. After pausing to think, Sessoms replied simply, “Let's talk.” He then fully confessed to his involvement in the crime.

Prior to his trial, Sessoms sought to have his confession suppressed, claiming he had “clearly and unequivocally requested the assistance of an attorney.” The Sacramento County Superior Court conducted an evidentiary hearing, heard argument, and watched the videotape of the interview. It concluded that Sessoms's initial statement was not an assertion of his rights but a question as to whether he even had such a right. The court noted that following Sessoms's question, the officers did not ask about the incident until after Sessoms had received his complete Miranda warnings and had waived his constitutional rights.

Eventually, a Sacramento County Superior Court jury found Sessoms guilty of first degree murder,5 robbery, and burglary. Prior to sentencing, Sessoms moved for a new trial, alleging the trial court had erred in failing to suppress his statement. The court again heard arguments and spent hours reviewing the videotape and transcript before concluding that Sessoms's initial statement was a question, not a “direct unequivocal request to be provided with an attorney on the spot.” After denying the motion, the Superior Court sentenced Sessoms to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Sessoms appealed his conviction to the California Court of Appeal, claiming that the trial court erred by failing to suppress his confession in light of his request for counsel. The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court, finding that neither of Sessoms's statements were sufficiently clear that a reasonable police officer in the circumstances would have understood the statement to be a request for counsel. People v. Sessoms, No. C041139, 2004 WL 49720, at *3 (Cal.Ct.App. Jan. 12, 2004) (citing Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 459, 114 S.Ct. 2350, 129 L.Ed.2d 362 (1994), Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484–85, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981), and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 474, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)). Sessoms then filed multiple state habeas petitions, claiming he had been deprived of the effective assistance of counsel. Each was denied. He then filed the instant federal habeas petition, which the district court denied. Following the district court's issuance of a certificate of appealability for his claims, Sessoms timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we now affirm.

II

We review de novo a district court's denial of a state prisoner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Murdoch v. Castro, 609 F.3d 983, 989 (9th Cir.2010) (en banc). Like the district court, however, we recognize that because Sessoms's petition for habeas corpus was filed after the enactment of AEDPA, our review is limited by 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), which applies to each of Sessoms's claims. See Anderson v. Terhune, 516 F.3d 781, 786–87 (9th Cir.2008) (en banc) (analyzing pursuant to § 2254(d) the ...

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