Duarte v. DiPaolo

40 F. Supp. 2d 40, 1999 WL 166544
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedMarch 5, 1999
DocketNo. Civ.A. 98-10745-WGY
StatusPublished

This text of 40 F. Supp. 2d 40 (Duarte v. DiPaolo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Duarte v. DiPaolo, 40 F. Supp. 2d 40, 1999 WL 166544 (D. Mass. 1999).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

YOUNG, Chief Judge.

I. Introduction

Aristides Duarte (“Duarte”) petitions this Court for habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Duarte contends that his convictions in state court for first degree murder and assault and battery violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because (1) the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the requirement of knowledge; (2) the trial judge instructed the jury that the prosecution was not required to prove his precise conduct; (3) the trial judge failed to instruct the jury to give separate, personal consideration to each individual defendant; (4) the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the assessment of credibility of witnesses who may have had an interest in the outcome of the case; and (5) the trial judge denied Duarte’s motion for a mistrial after the prosecutor allegedly injected sympathy into the trial. The Commonwealth now moves to dismiss Duarte’s petition on the ground that he has not exhausted available state remedies.

II. Background

On January 14, 1993, a jury convicted Duarte of first degree murder as well as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The court sentenced Duarte to life imprisonment for the murder conviction and to a concurrent term of three to five years for the assault and battery conviction. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Duarte’s conviction on July 28, 1997. See Commonwealth v. Barros, 425 Mass. 572, 682 N.E.2d 849 (1997). Duarte filed this habeas petition on May 27, 1998.

III.Discussion

A federal court will not entertain a petition for habeas relief unless the petitioner has fully exhausted his or her state remedies with respect to each and every claim contained within the petition. See, e.g., Adelson v. DiPaola, 131 F.3d 259, 261 (1st Cir.1997). The exhaustion principle ensures that state courts have the first opportunity to address alleged constitutional errors in their own courts. See Mele v. Fitchburg District Court, 850 F.2d 817, 819 (1st Cir.1988). In order to fulfill the exhaustion requirement, the petitioner must have presented his or her federal claims to the state’s highest tribunal within “the four corners” of his or her application for further appellate review. Adelson, 131 F.3d at 263. The burden is on the petitioner to show the fair presentation of the federal claim to the state court, “and it is a heavy one.” Nadworny v. Fair, 872 F.2d 1093,1098 (1st Cir.1989).

Because each and every claim in Duarte’s petition must satisfy the exhaustion requirement, see Adelson, 131 F.3d at 261, the Court addresses his five claims seriatim.

A. Claim One: Instruction on Knowledge

Duarte contends that he expressed his first claim—that the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the requirement of knowledge—“in no uncertain terms to the Supreme Judicial Court as a due process claim.” Pet.Mem. at 2. The relevant section of. the brief Duarte submitted to the Supreme Judicial Court, however, was entirely devoid of reference to the Due Process Clause, or any other provision of the United States Constitution. See Def.Mem.Ex. 1 at 41-47. Duarte’s brief does not cite a single federal case; further, none of the four state cases on which Duarte relies contains an analysis of federal law. See id. Under these cir[43]*43cumstances, the Court concludes that Duarte has not exhausted his due process claim with respect to the knowledge instruction. See Adelson, 131 F.3d at 263 (holding due process claim not exhausted where petitioner cited no federal cases, constitutional provisions, or state cases analyzing federal law).1

B. Claim Two: Instruction on Precise Conduct

As to Duarte’s second claim, he alleged in his brief to the Supreme Judicial Court that “this instruction served to deprive the defendant of due process” because “the Commonwealth was relieved of the burden of proving the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based upon his own acts and words.” Def.Mem.Ex. 1 at 48. Unlike his first claim, Duarte tendered his second claim to the state court “in such a way as to make it probable that a reasonable jurist would have been alerted to the existence of the federal question.” Scarpa v. DuBois, 38 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir.1994). Duarte expressly cited a specific constitutional provision (the Due Process Clause) and claimed a determinate right that is constitutionally protected (to be convicted by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt),2 both of which are accepted methods for hurdling the exhaustion bar. See Nadwomy, 872 F.2d at 1098. Accordingly, this Court holds that Duarte has exhausted his state court remedies with respect to the trial judge’s instruction concerning precise conduct.

C. Claim Three: Instruction on Separate Consideration

The federal nature of Duarte’s third claim is even more apparent. The sub-heading for the section of his brief addressing this claim states that “[rjefusal to instruct the jury to consider the defendant’s case separate from the co-defendants was constitutional error.” Def. Mem.Ex. 1 at 48. He further alleged that “[t]o convict the defendant based upon conduct of another would violate both the Due Process Clause of the Federal Constitution and Article XII.” Id. at p’. 50. This language was sufficient to alert a reasonable judge that Duarte’s claim sounded in federal law. See Nadworny, 872 F.2d at 1098; Dyer, 749 F.2d at 86-87 (holding the exhaustion requirement fulfilled when petitioner referred to the Fourteenth Amendment and the right to due process).

D.Claim Four: Instruction on Witness Credibility

In regard to his fourth claim, that the trial judge improperly instructed the jury on witness credibility, Duarte’s brief to the Supreme Judicial Court cites two federal cases. See Def.Mem.Ex. 1 at 51. Reliance on federal constitutional precedent is one method by which a petitioner may fulfill the exhaustion requirement. See Nadwomy, 872 F.2d at 1098. Duarte first relies on United States v. Dwyer, 843 F.2d 60 (1st Cir.1988), which contains no analysis of constitutional law. He also cites Lannon v. Hogan, 719 F.2d 518 (1st Cir.1983), a habeas case in which the First Circuit considered whether a state trial judge’s instructions violated the defendant’s due process rights. This citation, however, is insufficient to fulfill the exhaustion requirement, as it is merely “an [44]*44isolated federal law bloom in a garden thick with state-law references.... ” Nadworny, 872 F.2d at

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Related

In Re WINSHIP
397 U.S. 358 (Supreme Court, 1970)
Manson v. Brathwaite
432 U.S. 98 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Rose v. Lundy
455 U.S. 509 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Adelson v. DiPaola
131 F.3d 259 (First Circuit, 1997)
Reginald Lannon v. William Hogan
719 F.2d 518 (First Circuit, 1983)
Bryan A. Dyer v. Joseph Ponte
749 F.2d 84 (First Circuit, 1984)
United States v. Timothy M. Dwyer
843 F.2d 60 (First Circuit, 1988)
Lane T. Mele v. Fitchburg District Court
850 F.2d 817 (First Circuit, 1988)
William Nadworny v. Michael v. Fair
872 F.2d 1093 (First Circuit, 1989)
Nazzaro Scarpa v. Larry E. Dubois, Etc.
38 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 1994)
Commonwealth v. Johnson
650 N.E.2d 1257 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1995)
Commonwealth v. Barros
682 N.E.2d 849 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
40 F. Supp. 2d 40, 1999 WL 166544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duarte-v-dipaolo-mad-1999.