Toney v. Miller, Civil Action No. 06-1111.
| Decision Date | 04 June 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 06-1111. |
| Citation | 564 F.Supp.2d 577 |
| Parties | Willie Lee Moore TONEY v. James MILLER, Warden. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
Ann Morgan Griggs, District Attorney's Office, Amite, LA, for Defendant.
Willie Lee Moore Toney, Angie, LA, pro se.
ORDER AND REASONS
This matter is before the Court on a petition for writ of habeas corpus by Willie Lee Moore Toney, seeking relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petitioner raises three claims for relief from his October, 1999 conviction of two counts of armed robbery. Upon a thorough review of the trial and appellate records, the habeas petition, response, memoranda, and applicable law, the Court has determined that petitioner's habeas corpus petition has merit. For the reasons set forth below, this petition is GRANTED.
The petitioner is a prisoner of the state confined to the Washington Correctional Institute in Angie, La. Fed. Rec. Doc. 1 at 1. He filed this federal application for writ of habeas corpus dated January 13, 2006. Id. at 23. Petitioner was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery in the 21st Judicial District Court for the Parish of Tangipahoa, State of Louisiana, on October 27, 1999. See State Rec. Vol. 3, pp. 8-9. He was sentenced, on December 1, 1999, to thirty five years imprisonment on each count, to be served concurrently with one another. State Rec. Vol. 3, p. 11; see also State Rec. Vol. 2, State v. Toney, 2000-KA-1017, at p. 2 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/16/01).
The following facts are taken from the Statement of Facts of the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit:
On March 1, 1999, Betsy Brantley and Randy Duhe were walking together outside the library on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University whey they were robbed at gunpoint by a black male with a stocking pulled partially over his face. The man had been standing near them for approximately fifteen minutes prior to the robbery. He did not pull the stocking over his face until he approached the couple and spoke to them. After the robbery he told the two to turn around and run. They immediately reported the incident to the police. Defendant was eventually identified as a suspect and was later positively identified by both victims as the man who robbed them. Defendant was then arrested for two counts of armed robbery.
State v. Toney, 2000 KA 1017 (La.App. 1 Cir., 2/16/2001) (unpublished).
Petitioner made a motion for appeal that was granted by the court on January 20, 2000. State Rec. Vol. 3, pp. 44-45. The Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit, affirmed petitioner's conviction on February 16, 2001. State Rec. Vol. 2. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied a subsequent application for writ of certiorari on February 1, 2002. State Rec. Vol. 1. Petitioner's conviction and sentence thus became final on May 3, 2002, when his time for seeking a writ of certiorari from the United States Supreme Court expired.
On January 28, 2004, petitioner filed an application for post conviction relief in the trial court. State Rec. Vol. 1. The trial court denied his application "on the face of the pleadings" on February 2, 2004. Id. His application for writ to the Louisiana First Circuit was initially denied on May 17, 2004 because "[r]elator did not include a copy of the application for postconviction relief, the court's ruling, and any documentation from the trial court record to support the claims raised in the application for postconviction relief." Id. A subsequent application to the Louisiana First Circuit was then denied on October 18, 2004. Id. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied petitioner's application for supervisory/and or remedial writs on December 16, 2005. Petitioner filed the instant petition in this Court, signed August January 13, 2006. Rec. Doc. 1 at 23.
A petitioner must be "in custody" for a federal court to entertain a petition for habeas relief. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c); 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). Physical incarceration satisfies the custody requirement. See e.g., Maleng v. Cook, 490 U.S. 488, 491, 109 S.Ct. 1923, 1925, 104 L.Ed.2d 540 (1989). Here, petitioner is incarcerated at the Washington Correctional Institute in Angie, La. Rec. Doc. 1. Accordingly, this condition of the Court's subject matter jurisdiction over petitioner's claim for relief is satisfied.
Under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2241(d), venue lies in the district in which the petitioner is incarcerated or the district from which his conviction or sentence was obtained. Petitioner is incarcerated at the Washington Correctional Institute in Angie, Louisiana, which is in Washington Parish, a parish that falls within the Eastern District of Louisiana under 28 U.S.C. § 98(a). In addition, petitioner was convicted and sentenced in Tangipahoa Parish, which under 28 U.S.C. § 98(a) falls within the Eastern District of Louisiana. Therefore, venue lies for this petition under 28 U.S.C.A § 2241(d).
Petitioner's claims appear to be exhausted as required by AEDPA Generally, exhaustion of adequate state remedies is a "condition precedent to the invocation of federal judicial relief under [28 U.S.C. § 2254]." Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 489, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973). To satisfy the exhaustion requirement, the entirety of the factual allegations and legal theories presented to the federal court must have been presented in a procedurally proper manner to the highest state court, here the Louisiana Supreme Court. See e.g., Anderson v. Harless, 459 U.S. 4, 6, 103 S.Ct. 276, 74 L.Ed.2d 3 (1982) () (quoting Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 275, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971); Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 226 (5th Cir.1993)); Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982). It is important to note that the issues in a habeas petition could have been presented to the highest state court on direct appeal, or in a state post-conviction proceeding; either is sufficient and both are not required. Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443, 447, 73 S.Ct. 437, 97 L.Ed. 469 (1953); Myers v. Collins, 919 F.2d 1074, 1075-77 (5th Cir.1990). The requirement of exhaustion is now codified by 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1), which provides, inter alia, that habeas relief "shall not be granted unless it appears that (A) the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State....." The other statutory provisions providing exceptions to the exhaustion rule are inapplicable here.
Petitioner presents three claims for review in his federal habeas petition. These claims appear to have been raised in his application for post-conviction relief to the Louisiana Supreme Court.1 Accordingly, petitioner has satisfied AEDPA's exhaustion requirement.
The state makes no argument in its response regarding the timeliness of the petition, and the Court, in its discretion, finds that the interests of justice would best be served by addressing the merits of the petition, because petitioner's substantial constitutional rights are implicated. See Day v. McDonough, 547 U.S. 198, 210, 126 S.Ct. 1675, 164 L.Ed.2d 376 (2006).
AEDPA revised 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) and (2), furnishing new standards of review for questions of fact, questions of law, and mixed questions of law and fact for habeas petitions. The statute now provides that if a state court has adjudicated a claim on the merits, pure questions of law and mixed questions of law and fact are reviewed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). Hill v. Johnson, 210 F.3d 481, 485 (5th Cir.2000). Questions of fact are reviewed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2). Id.
Regarding questions of law and mixed questions of law and fact, a federal court must defer to the state court's decision unless it 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). The United States Supreme Court has noted § 2254(d)(1)'s "contrary to" and "unreasonable application" clauses have independent meaning. A federal habeas court may issue the writ under the "contrary to" clause if the state court applies a rule different from the governing law set forth in our cases, or if it decides a case differently than we have done on a set of materially indistinguishable facts. The court may grant relief under the "unreasonable application" clause if the state court correctly identifies the governing legal principle from our decisions but unreasonably applies it to the facts of the particular case. The focus of the latter inquiry is on whether the state court's application of clearly established federal law is objectively unreasonable, and ... an unreasonable application is different from an incorrect one.
Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 694, 122 S.Ct. 1843, 152 L.Ed.2d 914 (2002) (internal citations omitted). As to questions of fact, a state court's factual findings are presumed to be correct and a federal court "will give deference to the state court's decision unless it was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceeding." Hill, 210 F.3d at 485; 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).
Petitioner raises the following claims in his petition:
1. The state trial court erroneously denied petitioner's actual innocence claim;
2. The state trial court erroneously denied petitioner's claim for alibi witness testimony;
3. The trial court erroneously denied petitioner's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
The petitioner raised his second claim on direct review and each of his claims in his post-conviction relief proceedings. The state argues that the state courts...
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