Haynes v. Boyd

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Tennessee
DecidedApril 24, 2020
Docket1:16-cv-01258
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Haynes v. Boyd, (W.D. Tenn. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE EASTERN DIVISION

JAY EARL HAYNES, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) No. 1:16-cv-01258-STA-jay ) BERT C. BOYD, ) ) Respondent. )

ORDER DIRECTING CLERK TO MODIFY RESPONDENT, DENYING § 2254 PETITION, DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY, AND DENYING LEAVE TO APPEAL IN FORMA PAUPERIS

Petitioner Jay Earl Haynes, a Tennessee state prisoner, has filed a pro se habeas corpus petition (the “Petition”), pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (ECF No. 1.) For the following reasons, the Petition is DENIED. BACKGROUND In August 2009, the Dyer County, Tennessee, grand jury indicted Haynes on two counts of rape involving the intellectually disabled adult twin grandsons of his girlfriend, in violation of Tenn. Code. Ann. § 39-13-503. (ECF No. 11-1 at 5.) The Tennessee statute defines rape as “the unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant or the defendant by a victim” when “[t]he defendant knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless[.]” Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-503(a)(3). At Haynes’s jury trial, it was established that the victims, who were nineteen years old at the time of the rapes, “lived with their mother and required constant adult supervision because they had the mental development of a child.” State v. Haynes, No. W2012-01917-CCA-R3-CD, 2013 WL 3807992, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. July 17, 2013) (hereinafter “Haynes I”), perm. appeal denied (Tenn. Nov. 13, 2013). The victims’ grandmother testified that, on June 26, 2009, to June 27, 2009, the twins stayed overnight at her house, which she shared with the Defendant. (ECF No. 11-4 at 79, 81–82.) In the early morning hours of June 27, “she received a call that she needed to be at work at 4:00 a.m.” Haynes I, 2013 WL 3807992, at *1. “She left for work while

[Haynes] and the victims were sleeping.” Id. The victims testified that, while their grandmother was at work, Haynes anally raped each of them twice. Id. He “told the victims not to tell what had happened.” Id. When they were returned home later that day, they “told [their mother] what had occurred while at their grandmother’s house.” Id. “As a result, their mother called their father and the police.” Id. The victims were subsequently examined at the hospital, “where nurses . . . found that both victims showed signs of anal redness and slight injury to the anus.” Id. The victims’ father “decided to confront” Haynes and observed him walking out of the grandmother’s house and approaching a “burn barrel.” Id. “Before [Haynes] could put [bed] sheets in the barrel, the victims’ father ran over and knocked the barrel over to put out the fire.” Id.

Forensic and clinical psychiatrist Dr. Fred Steinberg testified regarding his evaluations of the victims and the Defendant. (ECF No. 11-3 at 49–128.) He reported “that the victims were both mildly mentally retarded[,] . . . had a low IQ,” and “functioned at a five-year-old level with regard to their development, including language development, self-direction, and socialization.” Haynes I, 2013 WL 3807992, at *3. He opined “that at the time of the rapes, the victims did not have the ability to consent to sexual intercourse.” Id. Dr. Steinberg related that the Defendant was mildly mentally retarded, had “a higher level of executive functioning” than the victims, and could understand and “plan . . . sexual activity[.]” (ECF No. 11-3 at 119–23.) The jury convicted Haynes on both counts of rape. Haynes I, 2013 WL 3807992, at *2. The circuit court sentenced him to two consecutive twenty-year terms of imprisonment. Id. The Defendant took an unsuccessful direct appeal. Id. at *1, 5. He filed a timely pro se petition for state post-conviction relief (ECF No. 11-13 at 9–19), which appointed counsel amended (id. at

24–28). The post-conviction court held an evidentiary hearing and denied relief. (Id. at 31–32.) The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals (the “TCCA”) affirmed the decision and the Tennessee Supreme Court denied permission to appeal. See Haynes v. State, No. W2015-00919- CCA-R3-PC, 2016 WL 750233, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 26, 2016) (hereinafter “Haynes II”), perm. appeal denied (Tenn. June 24, 2016). DISCUSSION In September 2016, Haynes filed his Petition, asserting that counsel provided ineffective assistance (“Claim 1”), and a claim challenging the constitutionality of the state statute under which he was convicted (“Claim 2”). (ECF No. 1 at 5–15.) Respondent Bert C. Boyd1 filed a Motion to Dismiss and most of the state court record. (ECF Nos. 11, 12.). He argued that

Haynes submitted the Petition to prison authorities for mailing two days beyond the expiration of the limitations period. (ECF No. 12 at 5–6.) The Court found that the Petition was timely and ordered Respondent to answer the Petition. (ECF No. 18.) Respondent filed his Answer on May 18, 2018, arguing that Claim 1 is without merit and Claim 2 is procedurally defaulted. (ECF No. 23 at 1–2.) Haynes did not file a reply, although allowed to do so. (See ECF No. 18 at 5.)

1 The Clerk is DIRECTED to substitute Bert C. Boyd for Randy Lee as Respondent. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d). I. Legal Standards A. Federal Habeas Review The statutory authority for federal courts to issue habeas corpus relief for persons in state custody is provided by § 2254, as amended by the Antiterrorisim and Effective Death Penalty

Act (“AEDPA”). See 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Under § 2254, habeas relief is available only if the prisoner is “in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). The availability of federal habeas relief is further restricted where the petitioner’s claim was “adjudicated on the merits” in the state courts. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). In that circumstance, the federal court may not grant relief unless the state-court decision “‘was contrary to’ federal law then clearly established in the holdings of [the Supreme] Court; or that it ‘involved an unreasonable application of’ such law; or that it ‘was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts’ in light of the record before the state court.” Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 100 (2011) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1)–(2)) (citations omitted)).

A state court’s decision is contrary to federal law when it “arrives at a conclusion opposite to that reached by [the Supreme] Court on a question of law,” or when “the state court confronts facts that are materially indistinguishable from a relevant Supreme Court precedent and arrives at” an “opposite” result. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 405 (2000). An unreasonable application of federal law occurs when the state court, having invoked the correct governing legal principle, “unreasonably applies the . . . [principle] to the facts of a prisoner's case.” Id. at 409. For purposes of § 2254(d)(2), a state court’s “factual determination is not unreasonable merely because the federal habeas court would have reached a different conclusion in the first instance.” Wood v. Allen, 558 U.S. 290

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Haynes v. Boyd, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haynes-v-boyd-tnwd-2020.