Shirley v. Tegels
| Decision Date | 08 March 2023 |
| Docket Number | 18-1713 |
| Parties | Richard W. Shirley, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. Lizzie Tegels, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Argued September 28, 2022
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. No. 2:14-cv-01346-NJ - Nancy Joseph Magistrate Judge.
Before Easterbrook, Hamilton, and Brennan, Circuit Judges.
After a jury trial Richard Shirley was convicted of first-degree reckless homicide. On appeal from the denial of his habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, Shirley argues the state trial court erred when it permitted him to be shackled during his testimony, which he says violated his constitutional right to present a complete defense. Because no Supreme Court case clearly establishes that the decision to shackle a criminal defendant while testifying violates that right, federal postconviction relief here is precluded. We therefore affirm.
What began as a friendly encounter between Shirley and Frederick Perry at a Milwaukee gas station turned into a struggle between them to possess a gun. Perry died from multiple gunshot wounds sustained during that fight. In 2008, a Milwaukee jury found Shirley guilty of the first-degree reckless homicide of Perry under Wisconsin Statute § 940.02(1).
Shirley lost part of his left leg from an unrelated injury and uses a prosthetic device below his left knee. Although he can walk, during trial Shirley was placed in a wheelchair with his legs shackled. The record does not give the reason for this physical restraint. At one point Shirley's defense counsel said the decision stemmed from "some really bad policy in the sheriff's department." To prevent the jury from observing the shackles, cloth was draped over both counsel tables.
During voir dire Shirley's restraints caught the attention of one juror. When defense counsel asked the jurors if they believed "Shirley must have done something wrong" merely "because he's sitting here," Juror 34 responded in the affirmative, saying "if he's sitting there in cuffs, he did something." Voir dire continued without further mention of the restraints. After the trial court excused the panel, the prosecutor flagged Juror 34's comment. Defense counsel, after consulting with Shirley and his family, stated he was "comfortable .. going forward" with the jury panel if the parties could question Juror 34 individually about his observations.
During that questioning Juror 34 confirmed he had "noticed ... cuffs" around Shirley's feet but had not mentioned the restraints to any other jurors. The juror also said his observations did not bias him against Shirley or in favor of the State. The trial court then instructed Juror 34 not to discuss the matter with the other jurors. Shirley and his counsel said they were satisfied with Juror 34's responses. Both parties declined to question other jurors about the shackles or to strike Juror 34 for cause or otherwise. Nothing in the record suggests any other juror saw the restraints during the trial.
The restraints came up again when Shirley took the witness stand. The trial court informed the parties that there remained "an issue with regards to security" on which the court "defer[red] to the sheriff's department." The court said Shirley would "be moved up here prior to the jury coming in" and "secured while in this location." After a discussion off the record, the court noted that Shirley's counsel had "appealed ... to a higher authority in the sheriff's department ... the sheriff's department policy" of having "defendants restrained." Defense counsel confirmed his desire to preserve Shirley's Fifth and Sixth Amendment objections "with respect to being chained to the floor during the course of this trial." But he did not request accommodations to muffle the noise of the shackles if Shirley moved while on the witness stand.
The jury found Shirley guilty, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by 10 years of extended supervision. He filed a postconviction motion for a new trial and resentencing in which he raised the issue of the shackling. The trial court denied the motion.
Shirley appealed, arguing that his presumption of innocence was violated because Juror 34 noticed his restraints. He also contended that being shackled during his testimony inhibited his right to present a complete defense. Shirley asserted that the shackles limited his ability "to approach exhibits, make demonstrations during his testimony and show the jury which leg his prosthesis was on."
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected Shirley's claims. It could not locate an explanation in the record for the restraint decision. But Shirley forfeited his objection by not striking Juror 34, and there was no prejudice from that juror's observations. The state appeals court also could not conclude that the shackles "inhibited [Shirley's] ability to participate in his defense." The record showed Shirley had been able to "direct his counsel's hand to point out specific items on the exhibits" and even "point to certain exhibits himself." He also "had little difficulty communicating" in an "intelligent and articulate" manner from the witness stand. Further, Shirley had not requested accommodations or informed the trial court that his ability to approach the exhibits posed a problem. For these reasons, his ability-to-defend claim was rejected, as was his motion for reconsideration. The Wisconsin Supreme Court denied his petition for review.
Shirley petitioned for habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, which the federal district court denied. Like the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the district court could not discern any reason for restraining Shirley other than references to the sheriff's department policy. After reviewing the record, the district court held that any challenge to Juror 34's observations was procedurally defaulted and that the Wisconsin Court of Appeals did not unreasonably apply clearly established federal law in denying the ability-to-defend claim. Shirley appeals that decision.
Shirley argues that the state trial court's decision to permit him to be shackled during his testimony violated his constitutional right to present a complete defense. He asserts that the Wisconsin Court of Appeals unreasonably applied clearly established federal law in concluding otherwise. We review the district court's denial of habeas relief de novo. Hinkle v. Neal, 51 F.4th 234, 239 (7th Cir. 2022).
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) bars federal habeas relief for claims "adjudicated on the merits" in state court unless the state court decision "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)(1). This deferential standard "reflects the view that habeas corpus is a 'guard against extreme malfunctions in the state criminal justice systems,' not a substitute for ordinary error correction through appeal." Minnick v. Winkleski, 15 F.4th 460, 468 (7th Cir. 2021) (quoting Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 102-03 (2011)). Thus, habeas relief is precluded unless a petitioner demonstrates that the state court's ruling "was so lacking in justification that there was an error well understood and comprehended in existing law beyond any possibility for fair-minded disagreement." Harrington, 562 U.S. at 103.
We first address whether Shirley "seeks to apply a rule of law that was clearly established at the time his state-court conviction became final." Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 390 (2000); Yarborough v. Alvarado, 541 U.S. 652, 660 (2004) (). Under AEDPA, clearly established federal law "refers to the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of Court's decisions." Carey v. Musladin, 549 U.S. 70, 74 (2006) (quoting Williams, 529 U.S. at 412). In other words, clearly established federal law means "the governing legal principle or principles set forth by the Supreme Court at the time the state court renders its decision." Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, 71-72 (2003).
In deciding what law is clearly established, federal courts must not frame Supreme Court holdings at "a high level of generality." Nevada v. Jackson, 569 U.S. 505, 512 (2013). Doing so "could transform even the most imaginative extension of existing case law into 'clearly established Federal law.'" Id. (citing § 2254(d)(1)). Instead, "courts must reasonably apply the rules 'squarely established' by Court's holdings to the facts of each case." White v. Woodall, 572 U.S. 415, 427 (2014) (quoting Knowles v. Mirzayance, 556 U.S. 111, 122 (2009)). Section 2254(d)(1) "does not require state and federal courts to wait for some nearly identical factual pattern before a legal rule must be applied." Panetti v. Quarterman, 551 U.S. 930, 953 (2007) (internal quotation marks omitted). But "'if a habeas court must extend a rationale before it can apply to the facts at hand,' then by definition the rationale was not 'clearly established at the time of the state-court decision.'" Woodall, 572 U.S. at 426 (2014) (quoting Yarborough, 541 U.S. at 666).
Shirley argues that the Wisconsin Court of Appeals unreasonably applied clearly established federal law when it held that his shackling did not inhibit his right to participate in his defense. He contends the restraints kept him from leaving the witness stand, unlike other witnesses, to point out exhibits or provide demonstrations. In support of his petition Shirley points to various Supreme Court cases recognizing a criminal defendant's constitutional right to participate in...
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