(HC) Feci v. Burton

District Court, E.D. California·Decided October 30, 2020·No. 2:20-cv-00878·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JAMES MICHAEL FECI, No. 2:20-cv-00878-KJM-CKD P 12 Petitioner, 13 v. ORDER AND 14 ROBERT BURTON, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 15 Respondent. 16 17 Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this habeas corpus action filed pursuant 18 to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Currently pending before the court is petitioner’s motion to stay these 19 proceedings in order to exhaust his state court remedies, and respondent’s motion to dismiss 20 claims 2, 3, and 4 of petitioner’s habeas corpus application. ECF Nos. 6, 10. The motions have 21 been fully briefed in accordance with a supplemental briefing schedule ordered on September 17, 22 2020. ECF No. 19. For the reasons discussed below, the undersigned recommends granting 23 respondent’s motion to dismiss and denying petitioner’s motion for a stay pursuant to Rhines v. 24 Weber, 544 U.S. 269 (2005).1 The court further recommends granting petitioner a stay of these 25 proceedings pursuant to Kelly v. Small, 315 F.3d 1063 (9th Cir. 2003), overruled on other 26 grounds by Robbins v. Carey, 481 F.3d 1143 (9th Cir. 2007).2 27 1 Hereinafter referred to as a “Rhines stay.” 28 2 Hereinafter referred to as a “Kelly stay.” 1 I. Factual and Procedural History 2 Petitioner was convicted in the Sacramento County Superior Court of voluntary 3 manslaughter with a firearms enhancement and sentenced to a total term of 15 years 4 incarceration. ECF No. 1 at 1. The California Court of Appeal affirmed his conviction on 5 December 18, 2019. ECF No. 11-2 at 1-22 (direct appeal opinion). The California Supreme 6 Court denied a petition for review on February 26, 2020. ECF No. 1 at 19. 7 On April 6, 2020, petitioner filed the instant federal habeas corpus application raising 8 seven claims for relief.3 In his first claim for relief, petitioner raises a Sixth Amendment 9 confrontation clause challenge to the admission of his wife’s statement to the police. ECF No. 1 10 at 37. Petitioner separately asserts that his trial lawyer was ineffective for failing to object to the 11 admission of this statement on confrontation clause grounds. ECF No. 1 at 61. In his third claim 12 for relief, petitioner asserts that his wife’s statement was erroneously admitted by the trial court in 13 violation of state evidentiary laws. ECF No. 1 at 66. Next, petitioner contends that his 14 Fourteenth Amendment right to due process was violated based on the admission of the same 15 statement. ECF No. 1 at 69. In his fifth claim for relief, petitioner challenges the use of 16 CALCRIM No. 3471, the jury instruction on self-defense, as a violation of his right to due 17 process. ECF No. 1 at 71. Next, petitioner contends that the trial court erred in utilizing 18 CALCRIM No. 3472 because it was not supported by substantial evidence. ECF No. 1 at 87. 19 Lastly, petitioner raises a cumulative error claim. ECF No. 1 at 92. 20 II. Motion to Stay and Abey 21 On May 20, 2020, petitioner filed a motion to stay and abey these proceedings based on 22 his filing of a habeas corpus petition in the Sacramento County Superior Court. ECF No. 6. The 23 motion included a copy of the state habeas corpus petition presenting two claims for relief. ECF 24 No. 6 at 10-25. First, petitioner challenged the trial judge’s failure to reverse his conviction 25 because she recognized that he was entitled to use self-defense. ECF No. 6 at 12. In the second 26 claim for relief, petitioner asserted that the trial transcript is incomplete. ECF No. 6 at 13. The 27 3 All of petitioner’s filing dates were calculated using the prison mailbox rule. See Houston v. 28 Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988). 1 Sacramento Superior Court denied petitioner’s habeas application on July 2, 2020. ECF No. 22 at 2 7-10. Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration was denied by the court on August 26, 2020. ECF 3 No. 22 at 11-13. 4 After this court ordered outlined the two procedural mechanisms through which the 5 federal court could issue a stay in these proceedings, petitioner specifically requested a stay and 6 abeyance pursuant to Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269, 278 (2005). ECF No. 22 at 3. Petitioner 7 also requested to withdraw his pending motion to resume this case which was filed on August 17, 8 2020. ECF No. 22 at 3; see also ECF No. 16 (motion to resume case). 9 In his supplemental briefs, petitioner asserts that he is entitled to a stay and abeyance due 10 to the ineffectiveness of his appellate lawyer who did not include claims two, three, and four in 11 his petition for review to the California Supreme Court. ECF No. 23 at 2-3. Petitioner argues 12 that these unexhausted claims have merit based on the trial judge’s statements concerning his use 13 of self-defense. ECF No. 23 at 3. However, petitioner also contends that properly exhausting 14 these claims in the California Supreme Court is a futile act and that his time should not be wasted 15 “with such a ridiculous filing.” Id. 16 III. Motion to Dismiss 17 In his motion to dismiss, respondent asserts that claims two and four are unexhausted 18 because they were not included in the petition for review filed in the California Supreme Court. 19 ECF No. 10 at 3. Nor has petitioner properly exhausted these claims by raising them via a habeas 20 corpus petition in the California Supreme Court. Id. Respondent also requests the dismissal of 21 claim three because it only concerns state evidentiary laws and is therefore not cognizable on 22 federal habeas review. Id. at 3-4 (citing Bradshaw v. Richey, 546 U.S. 74, 76 (2005)). 23 Respondent further opposes petitioner’s request for a Rhines stay arguing that he has 24 failed to demonstrate good cause because “he does not explain why he did not exhaust claims two 25 and four on state collateral review if he thought they should be included in the federal petition.” 26 ECF No. 24 at 3. Respondent suggests that petitioner has engaged in dilatory litigation tactics 27 because he has not filed any further state habeas corpus petitions after the Sacramento County 28 Superior Court’s denial on July 2, 2020. ECF No. 24 at 3-4. Due to petitioner’s unjustified delay 1 in not filing any subsequent state habeas petition, a Rhines stay is inappropriate. According to 2 respondent, petitioner’s medical problems are not good cause for his failure to exhaust all of his 3 claims because he “has demonstrated his ability to present his claims in a collateral action to the 4 state superior court.” ECF No. 24 at 3. 5 IV. Legal Standards 6 The exhaustion of state court remedies is a prerequisite to the granting of a petition for 7 writ of habeas corpus. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1). A petitioner satisfies the exhaustion requirement 8 by providing the highest state court with a full and fair opportunity to consider each habeas claim 9 before presenting it to the federal court. Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 276 (1971); Middleton 10 v. Cupp, 768 F.2d 1083, 1086 (9th Cir. 1985).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

(HC) Feci v. Burton, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

(HC) Feci v. Burton ((HC) Feci v. Burton) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Picard v. Connor
404 U.S. 270 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Rose v. Lundy
455 U.S. 509 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Jones v. Barnes
463 U.S. 745 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Murray v. Carrier
477 U.S. 478 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Houston v. Lack
487 U.S. 266 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Estelle v. McGuire
502 U.S. 62 (Supreme Court, 1991)
O'Sullivan v. Boerckel
526 U.S. 838 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Rhines v. Weber
544 U.S. 269 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Andreas Kelly v. Larry Small, Warden
315 F.3d 1063 (Ninth Circuit, 2003)
Fred Jay Jackson v. Ernest C. Roe, Warden
425 F.3d 654 (Ninth Circuit, 2005)
Arthur Robbins, III v. Tom L. Carey
481 F.3d 1143 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Mayle v. Felix
545 U.S. 644 (Supreme Court, 2005)
King v. Ryan
564 F.3d 1133 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Bradshaw v. Richey
546 U.S. 74 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Alfonso Blake v. Renee Baker
745 F.3d 977 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Terry Dixon v. Renee Baker
847 F.3d 714 (Ninth Circuit, 2017)