Ex parte Rayford

553 S.W.3d 918
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 26, 2018
DocketNO. WR–63,201–02
StatusPublished

This text of 553 S.W.3d 918 (Ex parte Rayford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex parte Rayford, 553 S.W.3d 918 (Tex. 2018).

Opinion

Per curiam.

We have before us a subsequent application for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to the provisions of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 11.071 § 5 and a motion to stay applicant's execution.1

In December 2000, a jury found applicant guilty of the 1999 capital murder of Carol Hall. The jury answered the special issues submitted pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 37.071, and the trial court, accordingly, set applicant's punishment at death. This Court affirmed applicant's conviction and sentence on direct appeal. Rayford v. State , 125 S.W.3d 521 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003).

Applicant raised twelve allegations in his initial application for a writ of habeas corpus, including allegations that: the State sponsored false testimony, his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel; his appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance; the trial court violated his right to present mitigating evidence; he was denied his right to remain silent; and the Eighth Amendment barred the execution of mentally ill persons like himself. This Court adopted the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law and denied relief on applicant's claims. Ex parte Rayford , No. WR-63,201-01, 2006 WL 1413533 (Tex. Crim. App. May 24, 2006) (not designated for publication).

On January 19, 2018, applicant filed the instant application in the trial court. This is applicant's first subsequent writ of habeas corpus application. Applicant raises five claims in his application. Specifically, he asserts that

(1) his due process rights were violated when a State's witness presented false testimony encouraging the jury to consider his race when determining whether he was a future danger;
(2) he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel at sentencing when his trial attorney elicited testimony linking race to dangerousness;
(3) he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because his trial attorneys failed to investigate and present available mitigation evidence that he has brain damage from lead poisoning ;
(4) he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because his trial attorneys failed to investigate and present available evidence that he did not kidnap Ms. Hall; and
(5) executing him after seventeen years on death row, and nearly twenty *919years after the crime, violates the Eighth Amendment.

After reviewing applicant's writ application, we find that he has failed to satisfy the requirements of Article 11.071 § 5. Accordingly, we dismiss the application as an abuse of the writ without reviewing the merits of the claims, and we deny his motion to stay his execution. Art. 11.071 § 5(c).

IT IS SO ORDERED THIS THE 26th DAY OF JANUARY, 2018.

Hervey, J., filed a concurring opinion in which Keller, P.J., Keasler, and Newell, JJ., joined.

I join the Court's order dismissing Rayford's first subsequent application for habeas corpus relief and denying his motion for a stay of his execution. I write separately to provide some context regarding his claims that his race was used as a factor in deciding whether he would be a future danger. The Court properly rejects Rayford's claim because his case is distinguishable from the recent decision of Buck v. Davis , --- U.S. ----, 137 S.Ct. 759, 197 L.Ed.2d 1 (2017), by the United States Supreme Court.

Section 5

The dissent argues that the Court should file and set Rayford's subsequent writ application to determine whether Buck , 137 S.Ct. at 759, constitutes a new legal basis, but I conclude that it does not.

To satisfy the Section 5 subsequent-writ bar, an applicant must allege a new factual or legal basis. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art 11.071 § 5(a)(1). When the issue is whether there is a new legal basis, the applicant must show both that the legal basis for the claim was not already recognized when the subsequent writ application was filed and that, if it was not recognized, the claim also could not have been reasonably formulated from the jurisprudence of the United States Supreme Court, federal circuit courts of appeals, or Texas appellate courts. Id. The problem with Rayford's claim is that it could have been reasonably formulated before Buck was decided; thus, as a result, and pursuant to Section 5, this Court is procedurally barred from considering the merits of his subsequent writ application.

Buck's claim is one of several that involved Dr. Quijano testifying specifically that some minorities are more likely to be a danger in the future. Buck's claim was based upon Saldano , an earlier case involving Quijano. See, e.g. , Saldano v. State , 70 S.W.3d 873 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002). In Saldano , Quijano testified that, as a Hispanic, Saldano was more likely to be a future danger. Saldano appealed Quijano's injection of race as a factor in determining his future dangerousness, and the case eventually wound up at the United States Supreme Court. Before the Supreme Court, the Texas Attorney General confessed error and asked the Supreme Court to vacate the judgment and to remand the cause because of Quijano's testimony, which the Court did. Buck , 137 S.Ct. at 770 ; Saldano v. Texas , 530 U.S. 1212, 120 S.Ct. 2214, 147 L.Ed.2d 246 (2000). Subsequently, other defendants were also granted relief on the basis of similar testimony from Quijano. Buck , 137 S.Ct. at 770 (collecting cases).

When Buck was before the United States Supreme Court, he argued that his case should be controlled by Saldano , even though it was in a different procedural posture. In other words, Buck's claim was based on Saldano (a 2000 case). After Buck

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Related

Rayford v. State
125 S.W.3d 521 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Ex Parte Graves
70 S.W.3d 103 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Saldano v. State
70 S.W.3d 873 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Buck, Duane Edward
418 S.W.3d 98 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Buck v. Davis
580 U.S. 100 (Supreme Court, 2017)
Saldano v. Texas
530 U.S. 1212 (Supreme Court, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
553 S.W.3d 918, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-rayford-texcrimapp-2018.