Davison v. Whitten

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedAugust 23, 2022
Docket4:21-cv-00515
StatusUnknown

This text of Davison v. Whitten (Davison v. Whitten) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davison v. Whitten, (N.D. Okla. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA ALONZO G. DAVISON, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Case No. 21-CV-0515-CVE-CDL ) RICK WHITTEN, ) ) Respondent. ) OPINION AND ORDER Petitioner Alonzo Davison, an Oklahoma prisoner appearing pro se,1 petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, primarily raising claims that challenge the execution of the sentences he is serving under the judgment entered against him in the District Court of Tulsa County, Case No. CF-2002-1687. Respondent Rick Whitten urges the Court to dismiss the petition as barred by 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)’s one-year statute of limitations; for failure to exhaust available state remedies as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A); and because two claims challenge the validity of Davison’s sentences, making the petition, in part, an unauthorized second or successive petition barred by 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b). Having considered the petition (Dkt. # 3), Whitten’s motion to dismiss (Dkt. # 6) and brief in support of the motion to dismiss (Dkt. # 7), Davison’s response in opposition to the motion to dismiss (Dkt. # 11), the record of state court proceedings, and applicable law, the Court grants the motion to dismiss and dismisses the petition. I. Background Davison presently is incarcerated at the North Fork Correctional Center, in Sayre, Oklahoma under the state-court judgment entered against him in the District Court of Tulsa County, Case No. 1 Because Davison appears without counsel, the Court liberally construes his filings but does not act as his advocate. James v. Wadas, 724 F.3d 1312, 1315 (10th Cir. 2013). CF-2002-1687. Dkt. # 3, at 1.2 In that case, a jury convicted Davison of lewd molestation (count one), in violation of OKLA. STAT. tit. 21, § 1123 (Supp. 2000), and sexual abuse of a minor child (count two), in violation of OKLA. STAT. tit. 10, § 7115 (2001). Dkt. # 7-2, at 1 & n.1. The jury recommended sentences of 50 years’ imprisonment (count one) and 75 years’ imprisonment (count

two), and the trial court sentenced Davison accordingly. Dkt. # 7-2, at 1. As further discussed in the analysis section, the claims Davison asserts in the petition primarily allege that the trial court and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) have misapplied, or currently are misapplying, Oklahoma’s sentencing laws that require a person convicted of certain crimes to serve 85 percent of the imposed sentence before he or she will be eligible for parole and eligible to earn credits that can be applied to reduce the length of his or her sentence (the “85 percent rule”). The 85 percent rule, effective July 1, 1999, provides that:

A person committing a felony offense listed in [OKLA. STAT. tit. 21, § 13.1] on or after March 1, 2000, and convicted of the offense shall serve not less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence of imprisonment imposed within the Department of Corrections. Such person shall not be eligible for parole consideration prior to serving eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence imposed and such person shall not be eligible for earned credits or any other type of credits which have the effect of reducing the length of the sentence to less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence imposed. OKLA. STAT. tit. 21, § 12.1 (Supp. 1999). The statute that lists the felony offenses covered by this rule, OKLA. STAT. tit. 21, § 13.1, as enacted in 1999, included both crimes that Davison committed: “child abuse as defined in Section 7115 of Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes” and “lewd molestation of a child as defined in Section 1123 of the Oklahoma Statutes.” OKLA. STAT. tit. 21, § 13.1 (Supp. 1999). 2 For consistency, the Court’s citations refer to the CM/ECF header pagination. 2 The trial court entered judgments and sentences in Davison’s case on November 18, 2002, reflecting that Davison was convicted of lewd molestation and sentenced to 50 years’ imprisonment (count one); was convicted of sexually abusing a child and sentenced to 75 years’ imprisonment (count two); and was ordered to serve these sentences consecutively. Dkt. # 3, at 38-39. The

original judgments and sentences did not reference the criminal statutes violated, the dates the crimes were committed, or the 85 percent rule. Id. Represented by counsel, Davison filed a direct appeal in the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA), raising six claims. Dkt. # 7-2, at 1. As relevant to this proceeding, Davison’s fifth claim alleged that the trial court’s “[f]ailure to properly answer the jury’s question about pardon and parole prevented the jury from giving an informed assessment of the appropriate punishment.” Id. at 2. The OCCA rejected that claim, stating, “we find no error occurred when the trial judge refused

to answer the jury’s questions regarding pardon and parole or inform them of the ‘eighty-five percent rule’ set forth in 21 O.S. 2001, §§ 12.1 and 13.1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the requested instruction.” Id. at 8. In a footnote, the OCCA explained that, under several of its prior decisions, the OCCA “has not required an instruction on the 85% rule be given.” Id. at 8 n.10. The OCCA affirmed Davison’s convictions on direct appeal but modified his sentences to 45 years’ imprisonment as to each conviction and ordered that the sentences be served concurrently, rather than consecutively. Dkt. # 7-2, at 8.3

3 The OCCA modified Davison’s sentences because it found that an error occurred regarding the admission of a videotaped interview of one of the minor victims who also testified at trial and that the error could not be held harmless as to the jury’s sentencing verdicts. Dkt. # 7-2, at 6-8. 3 On September 13, 2004, after receiving the OCCA’s mandate, the trial court amended the judgments and sentences (1) to reflect the OCCA’s modifications and (2) to make additional changes. Dkt. #3, at 42-43. The amended judgments and sentences show that Davison was convicted of sexually abusing a minor, after former conviction of a felony, in violation of OKLA.

STAT. tit. 10, § 7115, for an offense he committed on August 1, 2001, and sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment (count one); was convicted of sexually abusing a minor child, in violation of OKLA. STAT. tit. 10, § 7115, for an offense he committed on January 1, 2000, and sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment (count two); and was ordered to serve these sentences concurrently. Dkt. # 3, at 42- 43; Dkt. # 7-1, at 13.4 Davison filed his first application for postconviction relief in state district court in April 2013, claiming that trial counsel was ineffective for several reasons and that appellate counsel was

ineffective for failing to argue that trial counsel was ineffective for those same reasons. Dkt. # 7-1, at 14; Dkt. # 7-3, at 1-3. The state district court denied relief, after an evidentiary hearing, and the OCCA affirmed the denial of postconviction relief in April 2015. Dkt. # 7-3, at 1, 13. One year later, in April 2016, Davison filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, seeking relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 on claims not relevant to this proceeding. Dkt. # 7-4, at 1; see also Docket

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Prendergast v. Clements
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James v. Wadas
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Bluebook (online)
Davison v. Whitten, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davison-v-whitten-oknd-2022.