Jordan v. Procunier

571 F. Supp. 371, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13844
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedSeptember 13, 1983
DocketCiv. A. No. 83-0237-R
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 571 F. Supp. 371 (Jordan v. Procunier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jordan v. Procunier, 571 F. Supp. 371, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13844 (E.D. Va. 1983).

Opinion

OPINION

WARRINER, District Judge.

Petitioner, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, filed this action on 20 April 1983. Respondent filed a motion to dismiss on 10 May. On 16 May, the Court advised petitioner of an opportunity to respond to the motion to dismiss and petitioner did so on 20 May. [372]*372On 2 August, the Court advised petitioner of an opportunity to respond in detail as to why his petition should not be barred under Rule 9, which petitioner did on 15 August. This matter is now ripe for consideration. The Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.

Respondent contends that the petition is successive and under Rule 9(b) of the Rules of Procedure following 28 U.S.C. § 2254 should be dismissed as an abuse of the writ. Respondent urges that the petition is repetitive of actions previously filed in this Court, namely, CA No. 81-0439-R and CA No. 80-0556-R. Respondent argues further that although petitioner knew of certain claims at the time of his prior filings, he deliberately waited to bring these allegations at a later date. Petitioner’s explanation as to why the allegations were not brought in the prior petitions is that his counsel for the first two petitions refused to pursue the matters. Petitioner states that the attorney was aware of the claims but refused to bring them to the attention of the Court. Petitioner further states that because of his own minimal education, it was impossible for him to litigate the claims himself in the prior petition.

The record indicates that in his initial petition, petitioner presented three (3) claims to this Court. Those claims are that petitioner was denied his right to confrontation of witnesses by the trial court’s admitting testimony of a police officer who said that by electronic means he overheard a conversation between petitioner and a paid police agent; that petitioner was denied effective assistance of counsel because counsel failed to object to the police officer’s so testifying; and that petitioner was denied effective assistance in that after the trial court, sua sponte, ordered the Commonwealth to find the tape, counsel objected to the admissibility of the tape recording. On 19 September 1980, the Court entered judgment denying the petition.

On 1 April 1981, petitioner sought leave to file a delayed appeal. By order entered 21 April, the Court directed petitioner’s counsel to address issues related to the delayed appeal. On 6 May, the Court entered an order noting from petitioner’s affidavit that although he depended on counsel to protect his interests, in fact, he did not have the benefit of counsel in the interim between denial of his petition and appeal. While the Court found that it did not have authority to extend the time period for noting an appeal, it decided to exercise its discretion to consider a successive petition for a writ of habeas corpus in order that petitioner might seek a review of his claims at all levels of the federal courts if he so desired. The Court exercised its discretion to entertain successive petitions on the basis of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b), Rule 9(b) of the rules governing § 2254 eases, and Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 15, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 1077, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963).

Availing himself of the Court’s leave to submit a successive petition, petitioner, by counsel, filed a new petition for a writ of habeas corpus, Jordan v. Mitchell, CA No. 81-0439-R, on 8 May 1981. This petition presented the same three allegations as the earlier petition. On 25 August, the Court denied the petition and petitioner appealed. The appeal was dismissed on 28 December 1981.

In the instant petition, petitioner raises fourteen (14) new allegations. Thirteen (13) of the allegations describe various ways in which counsel was ineffective. The other allegation is that the Commonwealth failed to appraise the jury of a fact which was favorable to the petitioner at trial.

The issue presented by the motion to dismiss is whether petitioner has “abused the writ” in filing successive petitions. Although a petitioner proceeding pro se will not be held to the same standard as would be an attorney, Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972), once the government pleads Rule 9 as an affirmative defense, the burden shifts to the petitioner to explain and to prove that there was no abuse of the writ. Mays v. Balkcom, 631 F.2d 48, 51 (5th Cir.1980); Price v. Johnston, 334 U.S. 266, 292, 68 S.Ct. 1049, 1063, 92 L.Ed. 1356 (1947).

[373]*373In Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963), the Supreme Court identified as an abuse of the writ a prisoner’s deliberately withholding a ground for federal collateral relief at the time of filing his first application. Id. at 17, 83 S.Ct. at 1078. The definition of “deliberate withholding” has been the source of much debate. In Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 510, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 1199, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982), the Supreme Court addressed the issue of how to process State prisoner petitions which present both exhausted and unexhausted claims. In those situations, the Court held that the federal court should dismiss the petition leaving petitioner the choice of returning to State court to exhaust the unexhausted claims before returning to federal court or simply drop his unexhausted claims and proceed in federal court only on the exhausted claims. In discussing the situation in which a petitioner decided to proceed with his exhausted claims while he exhausted those claims which had not yet been exhausted, Justice O’Connor, for a plurality warned that “by invoking this procedure, however, the prisoner would risk forfeiting consideration of his unexhausted claims in federal court.” Id. at 520, 102 S.Ct. at 1204.

Justice O’Connor discussed Sanders v. United States and the Advisory Committee comments on Rule 9(b) and concluded that a prisoner who had decided to proceed only with his exhausted claims while deliberately setting aside his unexhausted claims met the Sanders standard of “deliberate withholding” and hence ran the risk of dismissal of any subsequent federal petitions.

The entire Court did not share Justice O’Connor’s interpretation of Sanders and of what the appropriate standard for an abuse of the writ under Rule 9(b) should be. Justices Brennan and Marshall in dissent argued that “Rule 9(b) cannot be read to permit dismissal of a subsequent petition under the circumstances described in the plurality’s opinion.” Id. at 533, 102 S.Ct. at 1211. Justice Brennan argued that the plurality misread Sanders

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Related

Briley v. Booker
594 F. Supp. 1399 (E.D. Virginia, 1984)
Jordan v. Procunier
735 F.2d 1356 (Fourth Circuit, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
571 F. Supp. 371, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13844, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jordan-v-procunier-vaed-1983.