State v. Huebler

• Decision Date: 26 April 2012
• Docket Number: No. 50953.,50953.
• Parties: The STATE of Nevada, Appellant, v. Charles Edward HUEBLER, Respondent.
• Court: Nevada Supreme Court

128 Nev. Adv. Op. 19

275 P.3d 91

The STATE of Nevada, Appellant,

v.Charles Edward HUEBLER, Respondent.

No. 50953.

Supreme Court of Nevada.

April 26, 2012.

Catherine Cortez Masto, Attorney General, Carson City; Richard Gammick, District Attorney, and Gary H. Hatlestad, Chief Appellate Deputy District Attorney, Washoe County, for Appellant.

Franny A. Forsman, Federal Public Defender, and John C. Lambrose and Lori C. Teicher, Assistant Federal Public Defenders, Las Vegas, for Respondent.

Before the Court En Banc.¹

OPINION

By the Court, DOUGLAS, J.:

This case arises from an untimely post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus stemming from a conviction, pursuant to a guilty plea, of lewdness with a child under 14 years of age. In his petition, respondent Charles Huebler alleged that he had good cause for his delay in filing the petition because the State improperly withheld surveillance videotapes that were exculpatory, which rendered his guilty plea involuntary. The district court granted relief to Huebler, and the State appeals.

In this appeal, we consider whether the State is required under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), to disclose material exculpatory evidence within its possession to the defense before the entry of a guilty plea. We conclude that the State is required to disclose such evidence before entry of a guilty plea. When the State fails to make the required disclosure, the defendant may challenge the validity of the guilty plea on that basis. To succeed, the defendant must demonstrate the three components of a Brady violation in the context of a guilty plea: that the evidence at issue is exculpatory, that the State withheld the evidence, and that the evidence was material. As to the materiality component in particular, we hold that the test is whether there is a reasonable probability or possibility (depending on whether there was a specific discovery request) that but for the State's failure to disclose the evidence the defendant would have refused to plead guilty and would have gone to trial. Because Huebler failed to demonstrate that he would have refused to plead guilty and would have gone to trial had the evidence been disclosed before the plea, we reverse the district court's order.

FACTS

A fellow resident of Huebler's apartment complex viewed Huebler swimming with children in the complex's pool, believed Huebler was acting inappropriately with the children, and called the police. A seven-year-old girl who resided at the complex told the police that Huebler touched her buttocks and vagina while they were swimming. The child victim also stated that Huebler touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions while in the swimming pool and that the touching occurred underwater. The police collected surveillance videotapes that showed Huebler and the girl together in the pool on three days.

Huebler was arrested and charged with lewdness with a child under the age of 14. Counsel was appointed to represent Huebler, and counsel filed a motion for discovery. Counsel also asked the district attorney's office if it would provide access to the surveillance videotapes; the prosecutor had not yet received a copy from the police but told defense counsel that the videotapes would be sent to the public defender's office when the district attorney's office received them. Soon after the request for the surveillance videotapes, and only one month after his arrest, Huebler entered a guilty plea to lewdness with a child under the age of 14. Huebler did not file a direct appeal.

More than two years after entry of the judgment of conviction, Huebler, with the aid of counsel, filed a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court. In his petition, Huebler alleged that, among other things, he had good cause for the delay in filing his petition because the State had violated Brady by withholding the surveillance videotapes. He alleged that, but for the State's failure to disclose the evidence, he would have refused to plead guilty and proceeded to trial. The State opposed the petition, arguing that Huebler failed to demonstrate cause and prejudice. The district court conducted an evidentiary hearing and granted Huebler relief, determining that the evidence was exculpatory, had been withheld by the State, and was material to Huebler's defense because the lack of access diminished his counsel's “ability to provide a sound defense.”

On appeal, the State argues that the district court did not use the appropriate materiality standard in deciding that Huebler's Brady claim was sufficient to demonstrate good cause for his delay and to warrant the relief granted. We agree and reverse.

DISCUSSION

The relationship between good cause for delay in filing a petition and the test for a Brady violation

NRS 34.726 limits the time in which a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus that challenges a judgment of conviction or sentence may be filed. Such a petition must be filed within one year after entry of the judgment of conviction or, if a timely appeal is taken from the judgment, within one year after this court issues its remittitur, absent a showing of good cause for the delay. NRS 34.726(1); Dickerson v. State, 114 Nev. 1084, 967 P.2d 1132 (1998) (holding that NRS 34.726(1) refers to timely direct appeal). Huebler did not pursue a direct appeal, and he filed his petition on May 26, 2006, more than two years after the judgment of conviction was entered on October 24, 2003. Thus, Huebler's petition was untimely filed and procedurally barred absent a demonstration of good cause for the delay.

To show good cause for delay under NRS 34.726(1), a petitioner must demonstrate two things: “[t]hat the delay is not the fault of the petitioner” and that the petitioner will be “unduly prejudice[d]” if the petition is dismissed as untimely. Under the first requirement, “a petitioner must show that an impediment external to the defense prevented him or her from complying with the state procedural default rules.” Hathaway v. State, 119 Nev. 248, 252, 71 P.3d 503, 506 (2003) (citing Lozada v. State, 110 Nev. 349, 353, 871 P.2d 944, 946 (1994)). “An impediment external to the defense may be demonstrated by a showing ‘that the factual or legal basis for a claim was not reasonably available to counsel, or that some interference by officials, made compliance impracticable.’ ” Id. (quoting Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 488, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986) (citations and quotations omitted)). Under the second requirement, a petitioner must show that errors in the proceedings underlying the judgment worked to the petitioner's actual and substantial disadvantage. Hogan v. Warden, 109 Nev. 952, 959–60, 860 P.2d 710, 716 (1993). We give deference to the district court's factual findings regarding good cause, but we will review the court's application of the law to those facts de novo. See Lott v. Mueller, 304 F.3d 918, 922 (9th Cir.2002) (stating that district court's findings of facts are reviewed for clear error, but questions of law are reviewed de novo); see also Lader v. Warden, 121 Nev. 682, 686, 120 P.3d 1164, 1166 (2005) (using similar reasoning for review of claims of ineffective assistance of counsel). ²

To demonstrate good cause for his delay, Huebler claimed below that the State violated Brady by withholding exculpatory evidence, that the State's withholding of the exculpatory evidence caused the delay, and that the withholding of the exculpatory evidence prejudiced him by making his guilty plea involuntary. Huebler's good-cause showing therefore is intertwined with the merits of his Brady claim.

“ ‘ Brady and its progeny require a prosecutor to disclose evidence favorable to the defense when that evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.’ ” State v. Bennett, 119 Nev. 589, 599, 81 P.3d 1, 8 (2003) (quoting Mazzan v. Warden, 116 Nev. 48, 66, 993 P.2d 25, 36 (2000)). To prove a Brady violation, the accused must make three showings: (1) the evidence is favorable to the accused, either because it is exculpatory or impeaching; (2) the State withheld the evidence, either intentionally or inadvertently; and (3) “ ‘prejudice ensued, i.e., the evidence was material.’ ” Id. (quoting Mazzan, 116 Nev. at 67, 993 P.2d at 37). When a Brady claim is raised in an untimely post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the petitioner has the burden of pleading and proving specific facts that demonstrate both components of the good-cause showing required by NRS 34.726(1). Id. Those components parallel the second and third prongs of a Brady violation: establishing that the State withheld the evidence demonstrates that the delay was caused by an impediment external to the defense,³ and establishing that the evidence was material generally demonstrates that the petitioner would be unduly prejudiced if the petition is dismissed as untimely. Id. Therefore, Huebler must establish both the second and third prongs of a Brady violation in order to overcome the procedural time bar. Because a claim that the State committed a Brady violation requires consideration of both factual circumstances and legal issues, we conduct a de novo review of the district court's decision resolving a Brady claim. Id. (citing Mazzan, 116 Nev. at 66, 993 P.2d at 36).

Guilty pleas and Brady violations

Before addressing the substance of Huebler's Brady claim, we must address a threshold issue: may a defendant challenging the validity of a guilty plea assert a Brady claim? This issue arises because Brady evolved from the due-process guarantee of a fair trial, Brady, 373 U.S. at 86–87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, and therefore has been described as a trial right, U.S. v. Moussaoui, 591 F.3d 263, 285 (4th Cir.2010), but when a defendant pleads guilty, he waives several constitutional guarantees, including the due-process right to a fair trial, and any errors that occurred before...