Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJuly 22, 2021
Docket2:21-cv-01396
StatusUnknown

This text of Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig (Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig, (C.D. Cal. 2021).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CIVIL MINUTES —- GENERAL

Case No. _ CV 21-1396 JGB (PVC) Date: July 22, 2021 Title Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig, et al.

Present: The Honorable Pedro V. Castillo, United States Magistrate Judge

Marlene Ramirez None Deputy Clerk Court Reporter / Recorder Attorneys Present for Petitioner: Attorneys Present for Respondent: None None PROCEEDINGS: [IN CHAMBERS] ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE SHOULD NOT RECOMMEND THAT THIS ACTION BE DISMISSED AS UNTIMELY

On December 30, 2020, Gary Eugene Sasser (“Petitioner’’), a California state prisoner proceeding pro se, constructively filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.! (“Petition,” Dkt. No. 1). The claims in the Petition appear to be based on Petitioner’s claimed right to the protections of California Penal Code § 1016.8, effective January 1, 2020, which provides in relevant part that “[a] provision of a plea bargain that requires a defendant to generally waive future benefits of legislative enactments, initiatives, appellate decisions, or other changes in the law that may retroactively apply after the date of the plea is void as against public policy.” Cal.

' Pursuant to the mailbox rule, “[w]hen a prisoner gives prison authorities a habeas petition or other pleading to mail to court, the court deems the petition constructively ‘filed’ on the date it is signed.” Roberts v. Marshall, 627 F.3d 768, 770 n.1 (9th Cir. 2010); see also Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 270 (1988). Accordingly, the Court adopts the date in the signature block, December 30, 2020, as the Petition’s constructive filing date. (Petition at 10). For ease of reference, when citing to Petitioner’s submissions, the Court relies on the CM/ECF-generated pagination on the Court’s docket.

CV-90 (03/15) Civil Minutes — General Page 1 of 13

CIVIL MINUTES – GENERAL

Case No. CV 21-1396 JGB (PVC) Date: July 22, 2021 Title Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig, et al.

Penal Code §1016.8(b).2 Petitioner broadly contends that § 1016.8 has retroactive effect and that he is entitled to a post-conviction remedy that corrects and reduces his current indeterminate life sentence. (Id. at 14–15).

Petitioner asserts two claims. First, he contends that he was denied his right to the effective assistance of his trial counsel in the proceedings resulting in his current conviction and of the counsel who represented him in his prior criminal pleas. Petitioner contends that counsel were all ineffective because none of them informed him that the terms of his prior plea agreements could be “changed” upon the enactment of a new law, such as California’s Three Strikes law. Second, Petitioner claims that the trial court violated his due process rights when it used his prior pleas, which Petitioner had entered into before the enactment of California’s Three Strikes law, to enhance his current sentence to a life term, beyond the terms agreed upon when Petitioner made the prior pleas. (Id. at 16–24). For the reasons set forth below, the Petition appears to be untimely.

2 Section 1016.8 expressly includes a detailed description of the Supreme Court authority on which it rests. The statute explains that the United States Supreme Court has held that due process requires a plea to be knowing, intelligent and voluntary. Cal. Penal Code § 1016.8(a)(2) (citing Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969)). The statute further notes that according to the Supreme Court, a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver requires knowledge of an existing right or privilege. Cal. Penal Code § 1016.8(a)(3) (citing Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454, 471 n. 16 (1981); Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938); and Taylor v. U.S., 414 U.S. 17, 19 (1973)). In light of this precedent, the statute asserts that “[a] plea bargain that requires a defendant to generally waive unknown future benefits of legislative enactments, initiatives, appellate decisions, or other changes in the law that may occur after the date of the plea is not knowing and intelligent,” Cal. Penal Code § 1016.8(a)(4), and therefore such provisions are void under state law as contrary to public policy. Id. § 1016.8(b). CIVIL MINUTES – GENERAL

Case No. CV 21-1396 JGB (PVC) Date: July 22, 2021 Title Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig, et al.

A. AEDPA Statute of Limitations

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”) applies to the instant Petition because Petitioner filed it after AEDPA’s effective date of April 24, 1996. Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 336 (1997). AEDPA altered federal habeas litigation by imposing a specific time limit on the filing of federal habeas petitions. See Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269, 274 (2005). By creating a limitations period, Congress intended “to reduce delays in the execution of state and federal criminal sentences.” Woodford v. Garceau, 538 U.S. 202, 206 (2003).

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1), as amended, state prisoners have only one year in which to file their federal habeas petitions. AEDPA’s one-year limitations period begins to run from the latest of:

(A) the date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review; (B) the date on which the impediment to filing an application created by State action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States is removed, if the applicant was prevented from filing by such State action; (C) the date on which the constitutional right asserted was initially recognized by the Supreme Court, if the right has been newly recognized by the Supreme Court and made retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review; or (D) the date on which the factual predicate of the claim or claims presented could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence.

28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A)–(D). Here, the applicable limitations period is that set forth in § 2244(d)(1)(A).

Subsection B of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1) has no application in the present case. Petitioner does not allege, and this Court finds no indication, that any illegal state action CIVIL MINUTES – GENERAL

Case No. CV 21-1396 JGB (PVC) Date: July 22, 2021 Title Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig, et al.

prevented Petitioner from filing the present Petition sooner. See Herrera v. Gibson, 2021 WL 2337215, at *2 (E.D. Cal. June 8, 2021) (claim based on § 1016.8 not entitled to later statute of limitations start date under § 2244(d)(1)(B) because enactment of the statute was not the removal of a “state-created impediment [that] prevented a timely filing”).

Subsection C of 28 U.S.C. § 2244

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Related

Johnson v. Zerbst
304 U.S. 458 (Supreme Court, 1938)
Boykin v. Alabama
395 U.S. 238 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Taylor v. United States
414 U.S. 17 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Estelle v. Smith
451 U.S. 454 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Houston v. Lack
487 U.S. 266 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Lindh v. Murphy
521 U.S. 320 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Carey v. Saffold
536 U.S. 214 (Supreme Court, 2002)
Woodford v. Garceau
538 U.S. 202 (Supreme Court, 2003)
Rhines v. Weber
544 U.S. 269 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Pace v. DiGuglielmo
544 U.S. 408 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Evans v. Chavis
546 U.S. 189 (Supreme Court, 2006)
Banjo v. Ayers
614 F.3d 964 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Porter v. Ollison
620 F.3d 952 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Bills v. Clark
628 F.3d 1092 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Roberts v. Marshall
627 F.3d 768 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Velasquez v. Kirkland
639 F.3d 964 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Ahmad J. Hasan v. George M. Galaza
254 F.3d 1150 (Ninth Circuit, 2001)

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Gary Eugene Sasser v. Craig Koenig, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gary-eugene-sasser-v-craig-koenig-cacd-2021.