Carmichael v. Chappius

340 F. Supp. 3d 340
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 13, 2018
Docket14 Civ. 10012 (KPF)(AJP)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 340 F. Supp. 3d 340 (Carmichael v. Chappius) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carmichael v. Chappius, 340 F. Supp. 3d 340 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

KATHERINE POLK FAILLA, United States District Judge *343On December 10, 2007, Petitioner Brian Carmichael was convicted in the Supreme Court of New York, New York County, of three counts of second-degree sale of a controlled substance, for which he is now serving a seventeen-year sentence. On December 19, 2014, Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, in this Court (the "2014 Petition"). This Court granted the 2014 Petition. Respondent appealed this Court's Order, and on February 17, 2017, the Second Circuit vacated the Order and remanded the matter back to this Court.

On remand, Petitioner sought to advance a habeas claim consistent with the Second Circuit's decision. To that end, on April 14, 2017, Petitioner filed a supplemental memorandum in support of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus (the "2017 Petition"), which memorandum amplified his earlier claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. For the reasons set forth in the remainder of this Opinion, this Court denies the 2017 Petition.

BACKGROUND1

This Court's April 21, 2016 Order provides a thorough review of the relevant facts of the case. See Carmichael v. Chappius , 182 F.Supp.3d 74, 78-80 (S.D.N.Y. 2016) (" Carmichael II "), vacated , 848 F.3d 536 (2d Cir. 2017) (" Carmichael III "). As a result, this Court assumes the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts and will only discuss the procedural posture and supplemental briefing as relevant to its resolution of the pending petition.

A. The 2014 Petition

On December 19, 2014, Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, in this Court. The 2014 Petition argued that: (i) Petitioner's conviction had been obtained in violation of Batson v. Kentucky , 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986) ; and (ii) as a result of the underlying Batson claim, Petitioner had received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of Strickland v. Washington , 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). On July 17, 2015, Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck issued a Report and Recommendation, in which he recommended that this Court deny Petitioner's request for relief under both theories. Carmichael v. Chappius , No. 14 Civ. 10012 (KPF) (AJP), 2015 WL 4385765 (S.D.N.Y. July 17, 2015) (" Carmichael I "); see id. at *18-22 (addressing ineffectiveness arguments). Petitioner timely objected to Magistrate Judge Peck's conclusions.

On April 21, 2016, this Court respectfully declined to adopt the Report, and granted the § 2254 Petition on the basis of Petitioner's substantive Batson claim. See Carmichael II , 182 F.Supp.3d at 93. Given the resolution of Petitioner's first argument, *344this Court declined to address Petitioner's ineffective assistance of counsel claim as moot. See id. at 93 n.7.

B. The Second Circuit Opinion

Respondent subsequently appealed this Court's Order granting Petitioner's 2014 Petition. On February 17, 2017, after briefing and argument, the Second Circuit vacated this Court's Order and remanded the case for such further proceedings as may be appropriate and consistent with its decision. See Carmichael III , 848 F.3d 536. In sum, the Second Circuit held that this Court did not exercise proper deference when evaluating the state court's ruling under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), codified in relevant part at 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). See id. at 548-49.

AEDPA, the Second Circuit emphasized, establishes a highly deferential standard of review, a standard that prohibits a federal court from granting a writ of habeas corpus simply because the state court applied federal law incorrectly or erroneously. See Carmichael III , 848 F.3d at 548-49. Instead, the federal court must find that the state court applied federal law unreasonably. See id. Because the state court's ruling on Petitioner's Batson claim was not, in its estimation, "beyond any possibility for fairminded disagreement," and therefore was not objectively unreasonable, the Second Circuit reversed this Court's grant of habeas corpus. Id. (quoting Harrington v. Richter , 562 U.S. 86, 103, 131 S.Ct. 770

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Bluebook (online)
340 F. Supp. 3d 340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carmichael-v-chappius-ilsd-2018.