West v. Carpenter

• Decision Date: 25 June 2015
• Docket Number: No. 13–6358.,13–6358.
• Citation: 790 F.3d 693
• Parties: Stephen Michael WEST, Petitioner–Appellant, v. Wayne CARPENTER, Warden, Respondent–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

790 F.3d 693

Stephen Michael WEST, Petitioner–Appellant

v.Wayne CARPENTER, Warden, Respondent–Appellee.

No. 13–6358.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: Jan. 22, 2015.

Decided and Filed: June 25, 2015.

Rehearing En Banc Denied Aug. 10, 2015.

ARGUED:Stephen Ferrell, Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Andrew C. Coulam, Office of the Tennessee Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee. ON BRIEF:Stephen Ferrell, Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Andrew C. Coulam, Office of the Tennessee Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Before: BOGGS, MOORE, and COOK, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

Stephen West, a Tennessee prisoner sentenced to death, appeals the denial of his motion for relief from judgment filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6). In September 2004, the district court denied West's initial habeas corpus petition filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and we affirmed. West v. Bell, 550 F.3d 542 (6th Cir.2008). West's Rule 60(b)(6) motion sought to revisit a claim asserting the ineffectiveness of trial counsel due to a conflict of interest, arguing that, under the Supreme Court's decision in Martinez v. Ryan, ––– U.S. ––––, 132 S.Ct. 1309, 182 L.Ed.2d 272 (2012), the ineffectiveness of his state post-conviction counsel excused the procedural default of that claim.

The district court denied relief and certified two questions for appeal: (1) whether Martinez, as expanded by Trevino v. Thaler, ––– U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 1911, 185 L.Ed.2d 1044 (2013), applies to Tennessee cases; and (2) whether Martinez and Trevino may constitute “extraordinary circumstances” justifying Rule 60(b)(6) relief. While Martinez and Trevino apply in Tennessee cases generally, they do not apply to West's conflict-of-interest claim because that claim was defaulted at the state post-conviction appellate proceeding, rather than initial-review proceeding. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of West's Rule 60(b)(6) motion.

I

A. Factual Background and Trial

On March 17, 1986, twenty-three-year-old Stephen West and seventeen-year-old Ronnie Martin drove to the home of fifteen-year-old Sheila Romines, a schoolmate of Martin who had rebuffed Martin's advances and embarrassed him in front of other students. West, 550 F.3d at 546 ; State v. West, 767 S.W.2d 387, 389–90 (Tenn.1989). They waited until Sheila's father left for work at around 5:20 a.m. before entering the home and brutally murdering Sheila and her mother, Wanda Romines. Ibid. A forensic pathologist testified that Sheila had been raped and had suffered seventeen stab wounds

, including fourteen torture-type cuts that were inflicted while she was alive. Id. at 391.

Wanda also suffered torture-type wounds

. Ibid.

Police arrested West and Martin the next day, and Tennessee prosecuted them separately. West's parents hired Richard McConnell for $10,000 to act as lead defense counsel, and the court appointed Thomas McAlexander as co-counsel. West admitted at trial that he was present at the crime scene but denied inflicting bodily harm upon either victim. He testified that Martin threatened his life with a gun and knives and forced him to rape Sheila. Id. at 390. On March 24, 1987, a jury convicted West of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated rape, and one count of larceny. The jury sentenced him to death. West appealed his conviction and sentence to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which rejected all of his arguments on February 6, 1989. Id. at 403.

B. State Post–Conviction Proceedings

West filed for post-conviction relief in the Criminal Court of Union County, Tennessee in October 1990, arguing, inter alia, that he received ineffective assistance at the sentencing phase because his trial counsel failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence of his childhood abuse by his own parents. West's amended petition for post-conviction relief alleged ineffective assistance in numerous ways, including that trial counsel (1) “repeatedly informed [West] that any and all decisions pertaining to his case would be made by [West's] family members since they had retained [counsel's] professional services,” and (2) “assert[ed] that his effectiveness in the presentation and representation of [West] was contingent upon additional fees being paid to him in excess of the original contract.” The amended complaint did not frame these allegations as stating a separate conflict-of-interest ineffective-assistance claim.

The post-conviction trial court held evidentiary hearings on September 24 and October 22, 1996. We summarized the evidence presented at the evidentiary hearing in our opinion affirming the denial of West's § 2254 motion, and so we review it only briefly here. See West, 550 F.3d at 547–49.

Dr. Eric Engum, a clinical psychologist, testified that, while West's intelligence and memory were within normal limits, he suffered from psychological problems that were “consistent with or reflect[ed] prior abuse.” Id. at 547 (quoting West v. Tennessee, No. 3:01–cv–91, slip op. at 18 (E.D.Tenn. Sept. 30, 2004)). The State's expert witness, Dr. Bursten, disagreed with Dr. Engum's conclusion. West, 550 F.3d at 549.

West's sisters, Debbie West and Patricia Depew, and his aunt, Ruby West, testified that West's parents physically abused him throughout his childhood. Id. at 547–48. Debbie West further testified that she told defense counsel McConnell about the abuse but that McConnell responded that “the information about the alleged abuse was not relevant, and that, furthermore, her parents were paying him and would not admit to the abuse.” Id. at 548. Debbie West also testified that McConnell complained about the fee he was being paid and threatened to provide inadequate representation unless the family paid him more money.

McConnell testified that he conducted a complete investigation into West's life and denied ever being told by Debbie about West's abuse. McConnell admitted that he thought $10,000 was unreasonably low and that he contacted the family to request an additional $5,500 in fees and expenses but denied complaining to or threatening the family. Id. at 548–49.

Despite West's failure to expressly raise a conflict-of-interest ineffective-assistance claim, the post-conviction trial court interpreted West's allegations and evidence as stating a claim that trial counsel was ineffective due to a conflict of interest. West v. Tennessee, No. 629, slip op. at 4–5 (Tenn.Crim.Ct. April 14, 1997). The court analyzed the conflict-of-interest claim separately from the rest of West's ineffective-assistance arguments and concluded that West “failed to meet his burden of proof with respect to this allegation.” Id. at 5. The Criminal Court also denied West's other claims. Id. at 15.

West appealed to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, but he did not raise the conflict-of-interest claim on appeal. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the denial of his post-conviction relief. West v. Tennessee, 04C01–9708–CR–00321 (Tenn.Ct.Crim.App. June 12, 1998).

West then filed a petition for rehearing and, when that was denied, an application for permission to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court. The Tennessee Supreme Court allowed West to appeal only the issue of whether there was sufficient evidence to establish the aggravating circumstance, but the court ultimately affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief. West then filed for a petition for rehearing, which was denied on June 7, 2000.

West, 550 F.3d at 549.

C. Federal Court Proceedings

In 2001, West filed his § 2254 petition in federal district court, alleging twenty-two grounds for habeas relief, including that lead counsel McConnell provided ineffective assistance because he was acting under an actual conflict of interest. West, 3:01–cv–91, slip op. at 181. The district court held that this claim was procedurally defaulted because West “did not raise the claim that his counsel was operating under an actual conflict of interest in the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals after the state trial court denied his petition for post-conviction relief.”Id. at 182. The district court also dismissed West's other claims, and we affirmed. West, 550 F.3d at 567.

In 2010, West filed a motion seeking relief from judgment under Rule 60(b). The district court transferred the case for our consideration as a second or successive habeas petition, and we dismissed the case because West had not set forth grounds warranting a successive petition. In re West, 402 Fed.Appx. 77, 79 (6th Cir.2010). In February 2013, West filed this Rule 60(b)(6) motion. The motion relied on the Supreme Court's decision in Martinez in an attempt to show cause and prejudice to excuse the procedural default of West's conflict-of-interest claim, arguing that Martinez constitutes an “exceptional or extraordinary circumstance” that justifies Rule 60(b)(6) relief. See E. Brooks Books, Inc. v. City of Memphis, 633 F.3d 459, 466 (6th Cir.2011). The Supreme Court decided Trevino, a case that expanded Martinez's holding, in May 2013. In September 2013, the district court denied West's motion but granted certificates of appealability on two issues: (1) whether Martinez and Trevino are applicable to Tennessee cases; and (2) whether Martinez and Trevino may constitute extraordinary circumstances justifying Rule 60(b)(6) relief. West. v. Carpenter, No. 3:01–cv–91, 2013 WL 5350627, at *1 (E.D.Tenn. Sept. 23, 2013). This appeal followed.

II

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) is a catchall provision that provides for relief from a final judgment for any reason justifying relief not captured in the other provisions of Rule 60(b). McGuire v. Warden, Chillicothe Corr. Inst., 738 F.3d 741, 750 (6th Cir.2013), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 998, 187 L.Ed.2d 847 (2014). Rule 60(b)(6) applie...