(HC) Clarke v. Trate

District Court, E.D. California·Decided December 14, 2022·No. 1:22-cv-00820·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 SWAIN CLARKE, Case No. 1:22-cv-00820-CDB (HC)

12 Petitioner, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE FIRST AMENDED PETITION FOR WRIT OF 13 v. HABEAS CORPUS BE DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE AS TO PETITIONER’S ESCAPE 14 B. TRATE, HATCH CLAIM AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE AS TO PETITONER’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL 15 Respondent. CUSTODY CLAIM

16 30-day Deadline

17 Clerk of Court to assigned District Judge

18 (ECF Nos. 11-12) 19

20 Petitioner Swain Clarke (“Petitioner”) is a federal prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition

21 for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Petitioner seeks review of his custody and 22 review of the judgment and sentence imposed on him by the United States District Court for the 23 District of Maryland. For the reasons that follow, the Court will recommend that the petition be 24 dismissed with prejudice as to Petitioner’s escape hatch claim and without prejudice as to Petitioner’s 25 unconstitutional custody claim 26 Background 27 On September 16, 2015, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Petitioner with 28 20 counts of interference with commerce by robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a), and nine 1 counts of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 § 924(c). United States v. Clarke, Case No. 1:15-cr-00503-JKB-1 (D. Md. 2015). On September 8, 3 2016, Petitioner entered a plea of guilty to Count One of the indictment pursuant to a plea agreement 4 in which the government agreed to dismiss at the time of sentencing the remaining counts. Id. As part 5 of the parties’ agreement, Petitioner waived his right to appeal his conviction and sentence. Id. On 6 February 9, 2017, the district court sentenced Petitioner to 240 months of imprisonment and three 7 years of supervised release. Id. 8 On February 23, 2017, Petitioner filed a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals 9 for the Fourth Circuit challenging his sentence. Id. On November 7, 2017, the Fourth Circuit 10 dismissed Petitioner’s appeal, holding that Petitioner “knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to 11 appeal and that the issues [Petitioner] seeks to raise on appeal fall squarely within the compass of his 12 waiver of appellate rights.” Id. On January 9, 2018, the Fourth Circuit denied Petitioner’s request for 13 rehearing and rehearing en banc. Id. 14 On March 15, 2019, Petitioner filed in the district of conviction (District of Maryland) a 15 motion to vacate pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Id. Petitioner claimed he was denied his Sixth 16 Amendment right to have effective assistance of counsel in preparation for trial and during the plea 17 process, his sentencing, and the appellate process. Id. On June 10, 2019, the district court issued an 18 order denying Petitioner’s motion to vacate and declining to issue a certificate of appealability. Id. 19 On June 21, 2019, Petitioner filed to the Fourth Circuit a notice of appeal and a motion for a certificate 20 of appealability. Id. In June 2020, the Fourth Circuit denied Petitioner’s motion for a certificate of 21 appealability, dismissed his appeal, and declined Petitioner’s request for rehearing and rehearing en 22 banc. Id. 23 At some point, Petitioner entered into the custody of the Bureau of Prisons at United States 24 Penitentiary Atwater (“USP Atwater”). (ECF No. 1). He filed an initial petition for writ of habeas 25 corpus to this Court on July 5, 2022. Id. On August 17, 2022, Petitioner filed a motion to amend his 26 petition and on August 29, 2022, the Court granted Petitioner’s request. (ECF Nos. 8, 10). On 27 September 7, 2022, Petitioner filed a first amended petition for writ of habeas corpus. (ECF No. 11). 28 1 On September 14, 2022, Petitioner filed to the District Court of Maryland a motion to reopen 2 and a second motion to vacate pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. United States v. Clarke, Case No. 1:15- 3 cr-00503-JKB-1 (D. Md. 2015). Petitioner argued the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in United States v. 4 Peterson, 782 Fed. App’x 231 (2019), made him eligible for habeas relief as it changed the 5 constitutionality of his underlying sentence. Id. On October 3, 2022, Petitioner lodged another 6 “petition” to this Court containing information about his alleged unconstitutional custody. (ECF No. 7 12). On October 5, 2022, the District Court of Maryland determined Petitioner’s motion constituted 8 an unauthorized second or successive § 2255 petition and dismissed his motion without prejudice. 9 United States v. Clarke, Case No. 1:15-cr-00503-JKB-1 (D. Md. 2015). 10 Petitioner’s Claims 11 Petitioner contends the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Peterson changed the constitutionality of 12 his underlying sentence. (ECF No. 11). Specifically, Petitioner argues the government breached the 13 parties’ plea agreement. Id. Petitioner claims the government was obligated to “recommend a 14 reasonable sentence” but failed to do so when it recommended “20 years, the statutory maximum at 15 Petitioner’s sentencing.” Id. at 10-11. Moreover, Petitioner asserts the government’s recommendation 16 of the statutory maximum “contradicts the specific paragraph about post-plea misconduct” and this 17 “ambiguity” should compel a court to “construe the agreement against the government as drafter.” Id. 18 at 11. Petitioner alleges because of this breach of the plea agreement his Fifth Amendment right to 19 due process and Sixth Amendment rights to effective assistance of counsel were violated. Id. at 11-12. 20 Petitioner notes the legal basis for his claim did not arise until after he exhausted his direct appeal and 21 first § 2255 petition and as a result, Petitioner claims he has not had an unobstructed procedural shot at 22 presenting this claim. Id. at 4. 23 Petitioner also challenges the manner of his sentence’s execution. (ECF No. 12). Petitioner 24 claims “Bittenbender” the warden at United States Penitentiary Allenwood (“USP Allenwood”) failed 25 to serve him a “D.H.O. Report advising me of my rights to appeal the D.H.O. findings.” Id. at 1. 26 Petitioner also alleges there are ten incident reports concerning him and he never received a copy of 27 those reports to file a “prison administration appeal.” Id. at 2. 28 1 Preliminary Screening Requirement 2 Rule 4 of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases requires the Court to conduct a preliminary 3 review of each petition for writ of habeas corpus.1 Pro se habeas corpus petitions are to be liberally 4 construed. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21 (1972). However, the Court must dismiss a 5 petition “[i]f it plainly appears from the petition…that the petitioner is not entitled to relief.” Habeas 6 Rule 4; Hendricks v. Vasquez, 908 F.2d 490, 491 (9th Cir. 1990). Habeas Rule 2(c) requires that a 7 petition 1) specify all grounds of relief available to the Petitioner; 2) state the facts supporting each 8 ground; and 3) state the relief requested. Notice pleading is not sufficient; rather, the petition must 9 state facts that point to a real possibility of a constitutional error. Mayle v. Felix, 545 U.S. 644

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