Hurlburt v. Cunningham

802 F. Supp. 585, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14744, 1992 WL 236679
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Hampshire
DecidedSeptember 9, 1992
DocketNo. C-92-92-S
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 802 F. Supp. 585 (Hurlburt v. Cunningham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hurlburt v. Cunningham, 802 F. Supp. 585, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14744, 1992 WL 236679 (D.N.H. 1992).

Opinion

ORDER

LOUGHLIN, Senior District Judge.

This order addresses petitioner Robert Hurlburt’s Amended Petition for Writ of [588]*588Habeas Corpus (doc. no. 10) along with the following pleading and motions: (1) Objection to Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation (doc. no. 11); (2) Request for Further Orders (doc. no. 15); (3) Request for Further Orders and/or Discovery (doc. no. 16) and (4) Motion for Judgment by Default (doc. no. 20). Jurisdiction is founded on 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

Petitioner was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm following a jury trial in Strafford County Superior Court. He was sentenced to an extended term of 7V2-15 years by the trial judge (Nadeau, J.). The conviction was reversed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court and a new trial was ordered. See State v. Hurlburt, 132 N.H. 674, 569 A.2d 1306 (1990). On retrial, the petitioner was again convicted by a jury, but this time the trial judge (Temple, J.) sentenced him to an extended term of 10-30 years. Petitioner appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the conviction was affirmed. See State v. Hurlburt, 135 N.H. 143, 603 A.2d 493 (1991). Petitioner is presently incarcerated in New Mexico.1 The issues raised in the Objection to Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation will be addressed first.

In his Report and Recommendation dated June 26, 1992, Magistrate Judge William H. Barry ruled that petitioner’s claim that the state failed to prove petitioner had been incarcerated twice previously on sentences of one year or more as required by N.H.Rev.Stat.Ann. 651:6-I(c) is not subject for review in this federal habeas petition since petitioner (1) did not raise the issue on appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court which amounts to a procedural default and (2) did not satisfy the requirements of the “cause and prejudice” standard2 which is necessary to overcome the procedural default.' Doc. no. 9. Petitioner contends that the magistrate did not take into account the reason for petitioner’s failure to raise the issue on appeal — petitioner’s appellate counsel’s failure, by inadvertence or ignorance, to raise the issue on appeal — which, from petitioner’s perspective, provides a justifiable excuse for the procedural default. Specifically, petitioner asserts that appellate counsel’s failure amounts to ineffective assistance of counsel.

In order to overcome a procedural . default so that a claim may be presented in a federal habeas corpus petition, a petitioner must establish cause for procedural noncompliance and actual prejudice. Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 86-87, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 2506-07, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977). This “cause and prejudice” standard must be met since the federal court may not waive the procedural default which is a matter solely within the province of the state court. Puleio v. Vose, 830 F.2d 1197 (1st Cir.1987). However; strict adherence to the standard is not mandatory. An exception to this rule exists when in an appropriate case, “the principles of comity and finality that inform the concepts of cause and prejudice ‘must yield to the imperative of correcting a fundamentally unjust incarceration.’ ” Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 495, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 2649, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986) (quoting Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 135, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 1575, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982)). This exception though, is narrowly construed to apply when “a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent_” Murray, 477 U.S. at 496, 106 S.Ct. at 2649. In the instant matter, petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel relates to the length of petitioner’s sentence and not his conviction thus the exception illustrated in the Murray decision does not apply. To overcome the pro[589]*589cedural default, petitioner will have to satisfy the “cause and prejudice” standard.

Before addressing the issue whether petitioner has satisfied the “cause and prejudice” standard, one other issue must first be examined] As a preliminary matter, it is clear that ineffective assistance of counsel constitutes cause for a procedural default. Murray, 477 U.S. at 488, 106 S.Ct. at 2645. However, a petitioner must still comply with the exhaustion doctrine requiring a petitioner to exhaust all available remedies in the state court before present-, ing the claim to a federal court in a petition for habeas corpus. Id. at 488-489, 106 S.Ct. at 2645-46; See also Cosale v. Fair, 833 F.2d 386, 391 (1st Cir.1987). This exhaustion requirement applies specifically to a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Casale, 833 F.2d at 391.

Having conducted an extensive review of the record, it does not appear that petitioner has raised the issue of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The only entry in the record that relates to this issue is found in the Pre-Trial Motions Hearing transcript (“Tr.”). At the beginning of the motions hearing, Atty. Byron J. Siegal, petitioner’s appointed counsel, makes mention to Superior Court Judge Nadeau that petitioner submitted a motion indicating that Atty. Siegal was “totally lacking in the constitutional obligation ...” Tr. at 9. Petitioner is apparently making reference to an accused’s constitutional right to assistance of counsel. U.S. Const, amend VI. When the court addressed the motion, petitioner withdrew the motion without elaborating. Tr. at 94, 120. Apart from this entry, the state court record is devoid of any mention of ineffective assistance of counsel. Moreover, petitioner has not even alleged that he has brought this issue before the appropriate state court. Therefore, petitioner has not exhausted his state court remedies concerning his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel which, in turn, prohibits review of the claim in this habeas corpus petition.

Assuming arguendo that plaintiff did exhaust his state court remedies, plaintiff’s attempt to have this claim reviewed in this habeas petition would still fail as petitioner has not satisfied the “cause and prejudice” standard to overcome the procedural default. When a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is argued as cause for failing to make an objection,

[the] court must start with the ‘strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.’ Strickland v. Washington, [466 U.S. 668, 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2065, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) ]. The petitioner bears the burden of proving that specific acts or omissions of counsel are outside the range of professionally competent assistance. Id. at 687 [104 S.Ct. at 2064]. He bears the further burden of showing that ‘counsel’s errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable.’ Id.

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Related

Hurlburt v. Cunningham
First Circuit, 1993
Robert C. Hurlburt v. Michael J. Cunningham
996 F.2d 1273 (First Circuit, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
802 F. Supp. 585, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14744, 1992 WL 236679, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hurlburt-v-cunningham-nhd-1992.