Joshua v. DeWitt

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 7, 2003
Docket01-4118
StatusPublished

This text of Joshua v. DeWitt (Joshua v. DeWitt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Joshua v. DeWitt, (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit Rule 206 2 Joshua v. DeWitt No. 01-4118 ELECTRONIC CITATION: 2003 FED App. 0276P (6th Cir.) File Name: 03a0276p.06 O F F I C E O F T H E A T T O RN E Y G E N E R A L, CORRECTIONS LITIGATION SECTION, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Siobhan R. Clovis, David H. UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Bodiker, PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. M. Scott Criss, OFFICE OF THE FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ATTORNEY GENERAL, CORRECTIONS LITIGATION _________________ SECTION, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.

AARON JOSHUA, X HAYNES, D. J., delivered the opinion of the court. CLAY, Petitioner-Appellant, - J. (pp. 35-40), delivered a separate concurring opinion. - NELSON, J. (pp. 41-51), delivered a separate dissenting - No. 01-4118 opinion. v. - > _________________ , DON DE WITT, - Respondent-Appellee. - OPINION _________________ N Appeal from the United States District Court HAYNES, District Judge. Petitioner Aaron Joshua appeals for the Southern District of Ohio at Columbus. the district court’s order denying his petition for a writ of No. 00-00763—George C. Smith, District Judge. habeas corpus to set aside his conviction of possession of drugs by an Ohio court. Petitioner contends that he was Argued: January 28, 2003 denied effective assistance of trial and appellate counsel in that his trial and appellate counsel failed to challenge the Decided and Filed: August 7, 2003 arresting officer’s reliance upon a police flyer containing information that Petitioner was a drug courier. Petitioner Before: NELSON and CLAY, Circuit Judges; HAYNES, asserts that despite a clearly applicable Supreme Court District Judge.* precedent, United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221 (1985), the state failed to offer any proof that the police officer who _________________ provided the information in the police flyer had reasonable suspicion to believe that Petitioner was involved in criminal COUNSEL activity. We REVERSE the district court’s denial of the writ and grant the writ subject to the state’s retrial of Petitioner. ARGUED: Siobhan R. Clovis, PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. M. Scott Criss,

* The Honorable William J. Haynes, Jr., United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, sitting by designation.

1 No. 01-4118 Joshua v. DeWitt 3 4 Joshua v. DeWitt No. 01-4118

BACKGROUND detention," J.A. at 104, but did not discuss Hensley. The Ohio Court of Appeals also ruled that independent grounds A. Procedural History existed to justify Petitioner’s detention that resulted in the discovery of the drugs. Petitioner then filed a timely appeal On March 13, 1998, the Ross County, Ohio grand jury to the Ohio Supreme Court, contending that the Ohio Court indicted Petitioner for one count of possession of crack of Appeals misconstrued or ignored Petitioner’s claim that cocaine in excess of 100 grams in violation of Ohio Revised Petitioner’s appellate counsel was ineffective. On May 3, Code (R.C.) § 2925.11. Count one included a separate 2000, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for want specification under R.C. § 2941.1410 that charged Petitioner of a substantial constitutional question. as a major drug offender. Petitioner’s trial counsel filed a motion to suppress the fruits of the search conducted by state On July 5, 2000, Petitioner filed his petition for writ of highway troopers, which yielded 100 grams of cocaine and habeas corpus in district court, asserting that both his trial and the passenger’s statement that implicated Petitioner’s guilt. appellate counsel were ineffective for failing to challenge the Petitioner’s counsel asserted, in essence, that the length of the factual basis of the police flyer that the arresting officer relied traffic stop alone violated Petitioner’s Fourth Amendment upon to conduct the investigative detention of Petitioner after rights under the United States Constitution. The state trial his traffic stop. The district court denied the petition for court denied the motion to suppress and Petitioner entered a habeas relief, but issued a certificate of appealability. In sum, plea of nolo contendere. The state trial court sentenced the district court held that the Ohio Court of Appeals’ Petitioner to ten years in prison. application of clearly established federal law was not objectively unreasonable in finding that Petitioner was not Petitioner filed a timely direct appeal with the Ohio Court denied effective assistance of trial counsel, because there of Appeals, asserting four claims of error, including that the were "alternate grounds justifying [P]etitioner’s detention." state trial court erred in denying Petitioner’s suppression (J.A. at 172). The district court further held that the Ohio motion because Petitioner’s stop was unconstitutional by Court of Appeals’ finding that Petitioner was not denied virtue of its duration, i.e., forty-two minutes. The Ohio Court effective assistance of appellate counsel was not objectively of Appeals affirmed the state trial court’s denial of unreasonable, because "the issue of [P]etitioner’s detention Petitioner’s motion to suppress and Petitioner’s conviction. was squarely presented for both the trial and appellate courts to review." (J.A. at 173). The district court did not discuss Petitioner then filed an application with the Ohio Court of Hensley. Appeals to reopen his direct appeal, arguing, in sum: (1) that the trial court erred because the state failed to establish the B. Facts factual predicate for the dispatch that led to Petitioner’s further detention and (2) that his counsel was ineffective for The state suppression hearing transcript reflects that on failing to pursue this deficiency in the state’s case in the post- March 2, 1998, at 11:07 a.m.1, Petitioner was traveling hearing briefs and on appeal. On January 11, 2000, the Ohio southbound on State Route 104 in a rental car when Trooper Court of Appeals denied Petitioner’s application to reopen, but with a statement of its reasons. In a word, the Ohio Court of Appeals concluded that Petitioner’s counsel "implicitly 1 raised the issue of whether the dispatch justified the Due to a videotape of Petitioner’s detention and arrest, the precise timing of events was preserved. No. 01-4118 Joshua v. DeWitt 5 6 Joshua v. DeWitt No. 01-4118

James Hannon, with the Ohio Highway Patrol, executed a to leave based upon the information from the "Read & Sign" traffic stop for speeding. According to Trooper Hannon, his book. When asked at the suppression hearing whether he radar revealed that Petitioner was traveling sixty-seven miles could verify the information in the "Read & Sign" book, per hour in a fifty-five mile per hour speed zone. Petitioner Trooper Barnes answered, "No. No." (J.A. at 148). was traveling from Columbus to Portsmouth, Ohio, and was accompanied by Gabriella Chapman and her infant child. As At 11:15 a.m., the dispatcher called the Columbus Police Trooper Hannon approached the vehicle, he noticed that Department to determine if Petitioner had any outstanding Petitioner and Chapman were acting nervous and suspicious. warrants, and was informed that Petitioner did not. At 11:17 Trooper Hannon asked Petitioner for "his license, registration a.m., Trooper Barnes arrived at the scene and, at this time, and proof of insurance." (J.A. at 150). Petitioner gave Trooper Hannon observed Petitioner and Chapman being Trooper Hannon his driver’s license and rental car papers. nervous and restless. After he was informed that Petitioner Prior to returning to his patrol car to conduct a status check of was a known drug courier, Trooper Hannon examined the Petitioner’s driver’s license, Trooper Hannon questioned rental car papers and discovered that the rental car papers did Petitioner about his travel plans. Trooper Hannon’s suspicion not match the vehicle that Petitioner occupied.

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Joshua v. DeWitt, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joshua-v-dewitt-ca6-2003.