Brown v. Morgan

968 F. Supp. 2d 649, 2013 WL 5340373, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136162
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedSeptember 23, 2013
DocketCiv. No. 10-1150-SLR
StatusPublished

This text of 968 F. Supp. 2d 649 (Brown v. Morgan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Morgan, 968 F. Supp. 2d 649, 2013 WL 5340373, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136162 (D. Del. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROBINSON, District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Petitioner Albert James Brown (“petitioner”) is a Delaware inmate in custody at the Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown, Delaware. Presently before the court is petitioner’s application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (D.I. 2; D.I. 7) For the reasons that follow, the court will dismiss his application.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

As set forth by the Delaware Supreme Court in petitioner’s post-conviction appeal;

[O]n the afternoon of March 20, 2007, Wilmington police officer Todd Riley was conducting surveillance using binoculars from an elevated position on Jefferson Street. In a half-hour period, Riley twice observed [petitioner], who carried a cane, cross the street, retrieve a small package from a plastic bag lying on the ground and return to the other side of the street, where he handed the small package to an unknown individual in exchange for another object. A short while later, Riley saw [petitioner] cross the street a third time, remove an object from the plastic bag and continue walking down the block. Riley called for other officers to apprehend Brown. Riley retrieved the larger plastic bag that [petitioner] had left on the street. Inside were smaller zip lock bags, which were described in the police report (written by a different officer) as “pink-tinted” bags. The contents of the bags field tested positive for crack cocaine. The responding officers arrested [petitioner] and found $159 in his pockets.

Brown v. State, 3 A.3d 1096 (Table), 2010 WL 3222418 (Del. Aug. 16, 2010).

In April 2007, petitioner was charged by indictment with one count each of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, distributing cocaine within 300 feet of a park, and possession of drug paraphernalia. A Superior Court jury convicted petitioner of possession with intent to deliver cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia, and acquitted him of distribution within 300 feet of a park. See Brown v. State, 963 A.2d 138 (Table), 2008 WL 5308097 (Del. Dec. 22, 2008). Petitioner was sentenced to a total period of eleven years at Level. V incarceration, to be suspended after serving five years in prison for decreasing levels of supervision. Id. The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed petitioner’s convictions and sentences on direct appeal. See Brown v. State, 963 A.2d 138 (Table), 2008 WL 5308097 (Del. Dec. 22, 2008).

In February 2009, petitioner filed a motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Delaware Superior Court Criminal Rule 61 (“Rule 61 motion”), asserting, among other issues, ineffective assistance of counsel. Petitioner’s trial counsel filed an affidavit in response to petitioner’s allegations, and the State filed its response to petitioner’s motion. The Superior Court denied petitioner’s Rule 61 motion after determining that twelve claims were procedurally barred and the ineffective assistance of counsel claims lacked merit. (D.I. 19, State v. Brown, Grim. A. ID No. 0703022100, Mem. Op., Herlihy, J. (Del.SuperJan. 13, 2010)). The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed that judgment. Brown, 2010 WL 3222418.

Petitioner timely filed a § 2254 application in this court, and then filed an amended application. (D.I. 2; D.I. 7) The State [654]*654filed an answer (D.I. 17), arguing that the claims either fail to warrant relief under § 2254(d) or that they should be denied as procedurally barred.

III. GOVERNING LEGAL PRINCIPLES

A. Exhaustion and Procedural Default

A federal court may consider a habeas petition filed by a state prisoner only “on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). One prerequisite to federal habeas review is that a petitioner must exhaust all remedies available in the state courts. See 28 U.S.C, § 2254(b)(1). The exhaustion requirement is grounded on principles of comity to ensure that state courts have the initial opportunity to review federal constitutional challenges to state convictions. Werts v. Vaughn, 228 F.3d 178, 192 (3d Cir.2000). A petitioner satisfies the exhaustion requirement by “fairly presenting” the substance of the federal habeas claim to the state’s highest court, either on direct appeal or in a post-conviction proceeding, and in a procedural manner permitting the state courts to consider it on the merits. See Duncan v. Henry, 513 U.S. 364, 365, 115 S.Ct. 887, 130 L.Ed.2d 865 (1995); Castille v. Peoples, 489 U.S. 346, 351, 109 S.Ct. 1056, 103 L.Ed.2d 380 (1989); Lambert v. Blackwell, 134 F.3d 506, 513 (3d Cir.1997).

A petitioner’s failure to exhaust state remedies will be excused if state procedural rules preclude him from seeking further relief in state courts. Lines v. Larkins, 208 F.3d 153, 160 (3d Cir.2000); see Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 297-98, 109 S.Ct. 1060, 103 L.Ed.2d 334 (1989). Although treated as technically exhausted, such claims are nonetheless procedurally defaulted. Lines, 208 F.3d at 160; Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 750-51, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991). Similarly, if a petitioner presents a habeas claim to the state’s highest court, but that court “clearly and expressly” refuses to review the merits of the claim due to an independent and adequate state procedural rule, the claim is exhausted but procedurally defaulted. See Coleman, 501 U.S. at 750, 111 S.Ct. 2546; Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 260-64, 109 S.Ct. 1038, 103 L.Ed.2d 308 (1989).

A federal court cannot review the merits of procedurally defaulted claims unless the petitioner demonstrates either cause for the procedural default and actual prejudice resulting therefrom, or that a fundamental miscarriage of justice will result if the court does not review the claims. McCandless v. Vaughn, 172 F.3d 255, 260 (3d Cir.1999); Coleman, 501 U.S. at 750-51, 111 S.Ct. 2546. To demonstrate cause for a procedural default, a petitioner must show that “some objective factor external to the defense impeded counsel’s efforts to comply with the State’s procedural rule.” Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 488, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986). To demonstrate actual prejudice, a petitioner must show that the errors during his trial created more than a possibility of prejudice; he must show that the errors “worked to his actual and substantial disadvantage, infecting his entire trial with error of constitutional dimensions.” Id. at 494,106 S.Ct. 2639.

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Bluebook (online)
968 F. Supp. 2d 649, 2013 WL 5340373, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-morgan-ded-2013.