John Harvey Adamson v. James G. Ricketts, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections

789 F.2d 722, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 25064
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 9, 1986
Docket84-2069
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 789 F.2d 722 (John Harvey Adamson v. James G. Ricketts, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John Harvey Adamson v. James G. Ricketts, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, 789 F.2d 722, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 25064 (9th Cir. 1986).

Opinions

FERGUSON, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the District Court of Arizona after exhausting all his state remedies. He contends that his conviction for first degree murder and death sentence violated various provisions of the federal Constitution. The district court denied his petition, and a panel of this court affirmed that denial, Adamson v. Ricketts, 758 F.2d 441 (9th Cir.1985). That decision was vacated when the majority of the judges of the circuit voted to have the appeal determined by an en banc panel. We reverse the district court and direct the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus.

I.

Petitioner Adamson was arrested and charged with the 1976 car bombing murder of Don Bolles, an investigative reporter in Arizona. In January 1977 Adamson and the state entered into a plea agreement1 under which Adamson would testify against two other individuals and plead guilty to second degree murder. In exchange, Adamson would receive a sentence of 48-49 years imprisonment, with actual incarceration time to be 20 years, 2 months.

On January 15, 1977, Superior Court Judge Ben Birdsall reviewed the plea agreement, but conditioned his acceptance of its provisions until he determined the appropriateness of the sentence. Four days later, Judge Birdsall found the sentence appropriate and accepted the guilty plea and plea agreement provisions.

After the court’s acceptance of the plea agreement, for the next three years Adam-son cooperated with authorities. On the basis of Adamson’s testimony, Max Dunlap and James Robison were convicted of the first degree murder of Bolles. While the Dunlap and Robison convictions were pending on appeal, the state moved to have Adamson’s sentence imposed. Judge Bird-sall sentenced Adamson to the agreed term of 48-49 years on December 7, 1978.

On February 25, 1980, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed the convictions of Max Dunlap and James Robison and remanded the cases for new trials. State v. Dunlap, 125 Ariz. 104, 608 P.2d 41 (1980); State v. Robison, 125 Ariz. 107, 608 P.2d 44 (1980). When the state sought to secure Adamson’s testimony in the retrials, Adam-son’s lawyer stated that his client believed that the plea agreement terminated his obligations once he was sentenced. He further stated that Adamson requested additional consideration, including release, in exchange for his testimony at the retrials.2 The state, in a letter to Adamson’s attorneys dated April 9, 1980, stated that it considered Adamson to have breached the plea agreement by refusing to testify and that Adamson would be prosecuted for first degree murder.3

A few days later, the state called Adam-son as a witness at a pretrial hearing in the Dunlap and Robison retrials. Adamson reconfirmed his previous testimony concern[725]*725ing the Bolles killing but asserted a Fifth Amendment privilege when questioned about another crime. After examining the state’s letter of April 9, 1980, Superior Court Judge Robert L. Myers denied the state’s motion to compel Adamson to testify. Judge Myers concluded that Adamson could legitimately assert his Fifth Admendment rights unless the state granted him immunity from prosecution. Although the state sought review of Judge Myers’ denial of the motion to compel Adamson to testify, the Arizona Supreme Court declined to accept jurisdiction of the Special Action Petition. Adamson v. Superior Court, 125 Ariz. 579, 582, 611 P.2d 932, 935 (1980) (en banc).

The state filed a new information charging Adamson with first degree murder, id., which he challenged by a Special Action in the Arizona Supreme Court, id. at 579, 611 P.2d at 933. The court held that Adamson, by refusing to testify, breached the plea agreement and that he waived the defense of double jeopardy. Id. at 584, 611 P.2d at 937. The court vacated Adamson’s second degree murder sentence, judgment of conviction, and guilty plea, and reinstated the open murder charge. Following that decision, Adamson offered to accept the state’s interpretation of the agreement and to testify against Dunlap and Robison. The state refused Adamson’s offer and proceeded with the charge of first degree murder.

Adamson unsuccessfully sought federal habeas corpus review pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and this court affirmed in an unpublished memorandum disposition the district court’s denial of the petition. Adamson v. Hill, 667 F.2d 1030 (9th Cir.1981). On October 17, 1980, Adamson was convicted of first degree murder. At sentencing, in accordance with the Arizona statute, Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 13-703(C), Judge Birdsall concluded that two aggravating circumstances — (1) the defendant committed the offense as consideration for the receipt, or in expectation of the receipt, of anything of pecuniary value, and (2) the defendant committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner — were present to invoke a death sentence. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed. State v. Adamson, 136 Ariz. 250, 665 P.2d 972, cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 204, 78 L.Ed.2d 178 (1983). The petitioner then instituted the present federal habeas corpus proceeding.

The issues before this court are (1) whether the admission of certain evidence at trial violated the Confrontation Clause; (2) whether the Arizona statute denied the petitioner’s right to a jury trial by permitting judicial factfinding to determine eligibility for a death sentence; (3) whether the Arizona statute’s aggravating factor of heinous, cruel or depraved manner is unconstitutionally vague; (4) whether the imposition of a death sentence following Adam-son’s assertion of his Fifth Amendment rights constitutes prosecutorial or judicial vindictiveness;4 (5) whether the Arizona statute violates the Eighth Amendment by requiring a death sentence if aggravating circumstances are present; and (6) whether prosecution for first degree murder after Adamson’s guilty plea and conviction for second degree murder violated the prohibition against double jeopardy. Because the state’s actions violated the Double Jeopardy Clause, we do not discuss or decide the validity of the remaining issues.

II.

The Double Jeopardy Clause, which applies to state proceedings, Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969), provides that no person shall “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” U.S. Const, amend. V. The clause incorporates three separate guarantees: “It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and against multiple punishments [726]*726for the same offense.” Justices of Boston Municipal Court v. Lydon, 466 U.S. 294, 306-07, 104 S.Ct. 1805, 1812-13, 80 L.Ed.2d 311 (1984) (citing Illinois v. Vitale, 447 U.S. 410, 415, 100 S.Ct. 2260, 2264, 65 L.Ed.2d 228 (1980)); see United States v. Brooklier, 637 F.2d 620, 621 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 980, 101 S.Ct. 1514, 67 L.Ed.2d 815 (1980).

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Bluebook (online)
789 F.2d 722, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 25064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-harvey-adamson-v-james-g-ricketts-director-arizona-department-of-ca9-1986.