Dean A. Schwartzmiller v. Darrol Gardner, Warden, Idaho State Correctional Institution, and the State of Idaho, Dean A. Schwartzmiller v. Darrol Gardner, Warden, Idaho State Correctional Institution, and the State of Idaho

752 F.2d 1341, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 15762
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedDecember 20, 1984
Docket83-4014
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 752 F.2d 1341 (Dean A. Schwartzmiller v. Darrol Gardner, Warden, Idaho State Correctional Institution, and the State of Idaho, Dean A. Schwartzmiller v. Darrol Gardner, Warden, Idaho State Correctional Institution, and the State of Idaho) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dean A. Schwartzmiller v. Darrol Gardner, Warden, Idaho State Correctional Institution, and the State of Idaho, Dean A. Schwartzmiller v. Darrol Gardner, Warden, Idaho State Correctional Institution, and the State of Idaho, 752 F.2d 1341, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 15762 (9th Cir. 1984).

Opinion

752 F.2d 1341

Dean A. SCHWARTZMILLER, Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
Darrol GARDNER, Warden, Idaho State Correctional
Institution, and the State of Idaho,
Respondents-Appellees.
Dean A. SCHWARTZMILLER, Petitioner-Appellee,
v.
Darrol GARDNER, Warden, Idaho State Correctional
Institution, and the State of Idaho, Respondents-Appellants.

Nos. 83-4014, 83-4056.

United States Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Sept. 10, 1984.
Decided Dec. 20, 1984.

John P. Ward, San Francisco, Cal., for petitioner-appellant.

Myrna Stahman, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, Idaho, for respondents-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho.

Before WALLACE, ALARCON, and NELSON, Circuit Judges.

WALLACE, Circuit Judge:

Schwartzmiller filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, challenging his conviction and confinement on three counts under Idaho Code Sec. 18-6607 (1979) (now amended by Idaho Code Sec. 18-1508 (Supp.1984)), for performing lewd and lascivious acts on a child, on the ground that the statute is unconstitutionally vague. The district court declared the statute to be unconstitutionally vague on its face, but not as applied to some but not all of Schwartzmiller's conduct. Schwartzmiller v. Gardner, 567 F.Supp. 1371, 1376-79 (D.Idaho 1983). Schwartzmiller appeals the district court's denial of his petition, and the state cross-appeals the court's ruling that the statute is void for vagueness on its face and void as applied to part of Schwartzmiller's conduct. The district court exercised jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2241(a), and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2253. The issues in this case are all questions of law, reviewable de novo. United States v. McConney, 728 F.2d 1195, 1201 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 101, 83 L.Ed.2d 46 (1984). We affirm in part and reverse in part.

* Schwartzmiller, an Idaho state prisoner, was convicted in 1977 pursuant to Idaho Code Sec. 18-6607 for performing lewd and lascivious acts on a child. The Idaho Supreme Court reversed his conviction on the basis of procedural error and ordered a new trial, without deciding his claim that the statute was unconstitutionally vague. Schwartzmiller v. Winters, 99 Idaho 18, 576 P.2d 1052 (1978). He was never retried on this charge. Schwartzmiller v. Gardner, 567 F.Supp. at 1375.

In 1981, Schwartzmiller again was convicted under section 18-6607, based on incidents distinct from those forming the basis of his 1977 conviction. While his state appeal on this second conviction was pending, he filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, challenging section 18-6607 as unconstitutionally vague and therefore void. The district court dismissed his petition for failure to exhaust state remedies. In an unpublished disposition, we reversed, ordering the district court to consider the merits of the habeas corpus petition. Schwartzmiller v. Gardner, 692 F.2d 765 (9th Cir.1982) (mem.).

On remand, the district court held that, notwithstanding various Idaho decisions applying and attempting to explain and narrow section 18-6607, Schwartzmiller v. Gardner, 567 F.Supp. at 1374-76, the statute "is unconstitutionally vague on its face." Id. at 1382. Paradoxically, the court also held that because the Idaho Supreme Court had previously indicated that the "commission of an infamous crime against nature on a minor child will render the perpetrator subject to the provisions of Sec. 18-6607," id. at 1377, citing State v. Wall, 73 Idaho 142, 144, 248 P.2d 222, 223 (1952), and because the United States Supreme Court had upheld "a statute proscribing 'crimes against nature' " against a vagueness attack, id. at 1378, citing Rose v. Locke, 423 U.S. 48, 53, 96 S.Ct. 243, 246, 46 L.Ed.2d 185 (1975) (Brennan, J., dissenting) (arguing that at common law crime against nature referred only to anal intercourse and not to sodomy in general), section 18-6607 was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to Schwartzmiller's convictions on two counts of performing anal intercourse on one of two fourteen-year old boys. Id. at 1377-78. The district court did find the statute unconstitutionally vague as applied to his conviction on a third count for masturbating the other fourteen-year old boy. Although that count also contained a charge of attempted anal intercourse with the boy, the court could not ascertain whether the jury relied on the masturbation charge, and thus held the conviction on that count violative of due process. Id. at 1378. The court decided that this ruling afforded no immediate relief, however, because the sentence for the third count would not begin until the sentences for the first two anal intercourse counts had been served. Id. at 1378-79. The court refused to disturb the jury's finding that Schwartzmiller engaged in his acts with the specific intent to arouse sexual passions required by section 18-6607. Id. at 1379-80.

After the district court issued its decision, the Idaho Supreme Court heard Schwartzmiller's appeal of his 1981 conviction. It rejected his claims that section 18-6607 is unconstitutionally vague, or that he was unfairly deprived of the opportunity to cross-examine the boys. State v. Schwartzmiller, 107 Idaho 89, 685 P.2d 830 (1984).

II

The state challenges Schwartzmiller's habeas corpus petition on the ground that his present incarceration relates solely to his 1981 conviction, and not his 1977 conviction, and thus he had not exhausted his state remedies by the time he filed this petition. Ordinarily, a state prisoner may not obtain federal habeas corpus relief without first exhausting all state remedies available at the time he files for relief. See Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 515-20, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 1201-04, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982); Humphrey v. Cady, 405 U.S. 504, 516, 92 S.Ct. 1048, 1055, 31 L.Ed.2d 394 (1972), citing Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 434-35, 83 S.Ct. 822, 846-47, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963). The exhaustion requirement as to a particular claim is satisfied once the claim has been fairly presented to the highest court of the state. See Jackson v. Cupp, 693 F.2d 867, 869 (9th Cir.1982). See also Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 275, 92 S.Ct. 509, 512, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971); Hudson v. Rushen, 686 F.2d 826, 830 (9th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 916, 103 S.Ct. 1896, 77 L.Ed.2d 285 (1983). The exhaustion doctrine, however, is not jurisdictional, but reflects a policy of federal-state comity. Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. at 515-16, 102 S.Ct. at 1201-02; Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. at 275, 92 S.Ct. at 512. Thus, an appellate court may give relief if state remedies are exhausted by the time it acts, even if these remedies were not exhausted when the habeas corpus petition was filed. See Sharpe v. Buchanan, 317 U.S. 238, 63 S.Ct. 245, 87 L.Ed. 238 (1942) (per curiam); Thomas v. Teets, 205 F.2d 236, 240-41 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 346 U.S. 910, 74 S.Ct. 240, 98 L.Ed. 407 (1953).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

David S.W. v. State
509 A.2d 1100 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
752 F.2d 1341, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 15762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dean-a-schwartzmiller-v-darrol-gardner-warden-idaho-state-correctional-ca9-1984.