Singleton v. Norris

• Decision Date: 10 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. 00-1492.,00-1492.
• Citation: 319 F.3d 1018
• Parties: Charles Laverne SINGLETON, Appellant, v. Larry NORRIS, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

319 F.3d 1018

Charles Laverne SINGLETON, Appellant, v. Larry NORRIS, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction, Appellee.

No. 00-1492.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: January 16, 2002.

Filed: February 10, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jeffrey M. Rosenzweig, argued, Little Rock, AR, for appellant.

Kelly K. Hill, argued, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, AR, for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN,¹ Chief Judge, HEANEY, BRIGHT, McMILLIAN, BOWMAN, LOKEN, HANSEN, MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, MURPHY, BYE, and RILEY, Circuit Judges, En Banc.

WOLLMAN, Chief Judge.

Charles Laverne Singleton appeals the district court's² order denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The district court rejected Singleton's contention that the administration of mandatory antipsychotic medication to a prisoner, initially constitutional under Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210, 110 S.Ct. 1028, 108 L.Ed.2d 178 (1990), becomes unconstitutional once an execution date is set because at that time it ceases to be in the prisoner's medical interest. After a divided panel of this court reversed, Singleton v. Norris, 267 F.3d 859 (8th Cir.2001), we granted the State's petition for rehearing en banc and vacated the panel opinion. We now affirm the district court's order.

I.

In 1979, the State of Arkansas convicted Singleton of capital felony murder and aggravated robbery. He received a sentence of death for the murder and a sentence of life imprisonment for the robbery. The facts giving rise to Singleton's conviction were set forth in the Arkansas Supreme Court's opinion on direct appeal:

The victim, Mary Lou York, was murdered in York's Grocery Store at Hamburg on June 1, 1979. She died from loss of blood as a result of two stab wounds in her neck.

The evidence of guilt in this case is overwhelming. Patti Franklin saw her relative Singleton enter York's Grocery at approximately 7:30 p.m. on the day of the crime. Shortly after he entered Patti heard Mrs. York scream, "Patti go get help, Charles Singleton is killing me." Patti then ran for help. Another witness, Lenora Howard, observed Singleton exit the store and shortly thereafter witnessed Mrs. York, who was "crying and had blood on her," come to the front door. Police Officer Strother was the first to arrive at the scene and found Mrs. York lying in a pool of blood in the rear of the store. The officer testified Mrs. York told him that Charles Singleton "came in the store, said this is a robbery, grabbed her around the neck and went to stabbing her." She then told Officer Strother that "there's no way I can be all right, you know I'm not going to make it. I've lost too much blood." Mrs. York was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and was attended by her personal physician, Dr. J.D. Rankin. While en route to the hospital, she told Dr. Rankin several times that she was dying and that Singleton did it. Mrs. York died before reaching the emergency room of the hospital.

Singleton v. State, 274 Ark. 126, 623 S.W.2d 180, 181 (1981). Singleton's conviction and sentence for capital felony murder were affirmed, but his conviction for the underlying felony of aggravated robbery was set aside. Id.

After Singleton was denied post-conviction relief in state court, his execution was scheduled for June 4, 1982. Singleton then petitioned the district court for a stay of execution and writ of habeas corpus, raising claims including ineffective assistance of counsel, use of invalid aggravating factors, and that he was incompetent and thus ineligible for execution under Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399, 106 S.Ct. 2595, 91 L.Ed.2d 335 (1986). Singleton v. Lockhart, 653 F.Supp. 1114, 1116 (E.D.Ark. 1986). The district court sustained the conviction but reversed the sentence of death, holding that the pecuniary gain aggravating factor was invalid since it duplicated a factor in the underlying robbery-murder charge. Id. at 1135-36. On appeal, a panel of this court affirmed the order upholding the conviction, but reversed the order vacating the death sentence. Singleton v. Lockhart, 871 F.2d 1395, 1396 (8th Cir.1989). Because the district court did not reach the Ford claim, it was not at issue on appeal. On remand for reinstatement of the death sentence, Singleton claimed ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase and challenged the constitutionality of the Arkansas death penalty statute. The district court denied the petition and we affirmed. Singleton v. Lockhart, 962 F.2d 1315, 1316 (8th Cir.1992).

In December 1992, Singleton filed an action in state court claiming that he was incompetent and could not be executed. He requested that his treatment with antipsychotic drugs be terminated and that a competency examination be held after the effect of the drugs had subsided. In addition, he asked for a declaratory judgment that he was not competent to be executed. The trial court denied his motion, and the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed. Singleton v. Endell, 316 Ark. 133, 870 S.W.2d 742 (1994). In his second federal habeas petition, filed in 1993 but held in abeyance until the state proceedings concluded, Singleton raised the Ford claim, along with claims of double counting and actual innocence. The district court held two hearings and dismissed his petition. On appeal, Singleton conceded that he was competent because of the antipsychotic medication he was taking voluntarily. We affirmed the dismissal of his petition, noting that a future Ford claim based upon changed circumstances was not foreclosed by the decision. Singleton v. Norris, 108 F.3d 872, 874 (8th Cir. 1997).

In 1997, the State placed Singleton on an involuntary medication regime after a medication review panel unanimously agreed that he posed a danger to himself and others. After the medication took effect, Singleton's psychotic symptoms abated. In January 2000, the State scheduled his execution for March 1, 2000. In February 2000, Singleton filed a petition for habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, arguing that the State could not constitutionally restore his Ford competency through use of forced medication and then execute him. The district court denied the petition, finding "no evidence in this record that the actions and decisions of the medical personnel involved were in any degree motivated by the desire, purpose or intent to make Mr. Singleton competent so that he could be executed." Singleton appealed, and we granted a stay of execution.

We ordered a limited remand in March 2000 to answer two remaining questions of fact. First, whether Singleton was Ford-competent prior to the implementation of the Harper mandatory medication order in 1997. Second, whether Singleton would regress into psychosis and become Ford-incompetent if he stopped taking the medication. In answer to the first question, the district court found that Singleton was not Ford-competent at the time the involuntary medication regime began in 1997. The answer to the second question was less clear. The district court found that Singleton would regress into psychosis without medication, but could not say with certainty when psychotic symptoms would resume and whether he would become Ford-incompetent. Although the district court did not make a specific finding as to Singleton's present competence, Singleton does not argue that under medication he is unaware of his punishment and why he is to be punished.

II.

The posture of this case has changed during the course of this appeal. Singleton was placed under a Harper involuntary medication order in 1997. That order was subject to annual review and was not renewed by Singleton's doctors in January 2000 while this appeal was pending. Since that time Singleton has taken his medication voluntarily. A case is not moot if there is a "reasonable expectation or a demonstrated probability that the same controversy will recur involving the same complaining party." Murphy v. Hunt, 455 U.S. 478, 482, 102 S.Ct. 1181, 71 L.Ed.2d 353 (1982) (per curiam) (citation omitted). In Washington v. Harper, the Court held that a live controversy remained even though Harper's involuntary medication order had lapsed. 494 U.S. at 218-19, 110 S.Ct. 1028. Although Singleton now takes his medication voluntarily, should he refuse to take his medication, the State would be obligated to medicate him to control his psychotic symptoms, thereby reviving his claim. Because the combination of a Harper order and a scheduled date of execution will likely recur in the future, we reach the merits of Singleton's claims under this exception to the mootness doctrine.

A.

The State urges us to affirm the district court on the ground that 28 U.S.C. § 2244 bars Singleton's assertion of a Ford or Ford-derivative claim. Conceding that his claim would be barred if brought under § 2254, Singleton argues that his claim is properly before the court under authority of § 2241. We recently considered the application of § 2244's restrictions on successive habeas applications to a state prisoner's application brought under § 2241. Crouch v. Norris, 251 F.3d 720 (8th Cir. 2001). Crouch applied to this court for permission to file a second habeas petition, claiming that the state had violated his due process rights by refusing to grant him parole. Id. at 722. Crouch argued that because he was not challenging the validity of his conviction or sentence but only the manner in which it was carried out, his claim was properly brought under § 2241 and was not subject to the restrictions in § 2244. Id. at 722-23. We considered several cases which held that a federal prisoner may challenge the manner of execution of his sentence by bringing his petition under § 2241 rather than § 2255. Id. at 722-23. Section 2255, governing federal prisoners, contains narrower language than that in § 2254, which governs state prisoners. The focus of § 2254 is on the petitioner's custody, not, as in § 2255, on flaws in the underlying judgment or sentence. Id. at 723...