Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros v. Gary L. Henman, Warden, United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois

896 F.2d 255
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 22, 1990
Docket88-2767
StatusPublished
Cited by132 cases

This text of 896 F.2d 255 (Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros v. Gary L. Henman, Warden, United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros v. Gary L. Henman, Warden, United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, 896 F.2d 255 (7th Cir. 1990).

Opinions

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros (“Mat-ta”), petitions this Court by writ of habeas corpus claiming that the United States illegally kidnapped him from his home in Honduras and tortured him before transporting him to the United States to face trial on pending criminal charges. Based on these allegations, Matta claims that the United States violated the Honduran Constitution, international law, and the due process clause of the United States Constitution and as a result, the United States is without personal jurisdiction over him. The district court denied his petition without a hearing on the basis that the facts, as alleged, did not entitle him to the requested relief. Matta petitions us to remand the case to the district court for an evidentiary hearing. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I. FACTS

In 1971, Matta escaped from the United States Prison Camp at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and fled to Honduras. He is a Honduran citizen and because Honduras does not extradite its own citizens, he believed that he had found a safe haven from the reach of United States law enforcement officials. While he was in the Honduras, he allegedly became heavily involved in the narcotics trade and now faces criminal charges in the federal district courts of Arizona, Central California, and Southern California. At the time he filed the writ, he was also under indictment in the Northern District of Florida for escape pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 751(a). He has since been convicted of that crime and sentenced to three years imprisonment.

At about 6:00 a.m. on the morning of April 5, 1988, Matta, accompanied by his bodyguards, arrived at his home in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.1 Upon his arrival, Matta was surrounded by armed members of the Honduran Special Troops or “Cobras,” who were accompanied by at least four United States Marshals. He was arrested and handcuffed, allegedly at the direction of the United States Marshals. A black hood was placed over his head and he was pushed onto the floor of a car driven by the United States Marshals.

A United States Marshal immediately drove him to a United States Air Force base approximately an hour-and-a-half away. During the ride, Matta claims that he was severely beaten and burned with a “stun gun”2 at the direction of the United States Marshals. Once he arrived at the airport, Matta was flown to the United States. He claims that during this flight, he was once again beaten and shocked about the body, including on his testicles and feet, again by United States Marshals.

Upon his arrival in the United States, Matta was immediately transferred to Marion Penitentiary. Approximately 24 hours had passed from the time of his apprehension. Matta was subsequently examined by a physician who found abrasions on his head, face, scalp, neck, arms, feet, and penis, as well as blistering on his back. According to the examining physician, these injuries were consistent with those which could have been caused by a stun gun.

Based on these allegations, Matta filed a writ of habeas corpus in the Southern District of Illinois claiming that the United States had acted in violation of the Honduran Constitution, international law, and the [257]*257United States Constitution. He demanded his release back to Honduras on the basis the United States was without jurisdiction to prosecute him as a result of the alleged due process violations.

At the time he filed the writ, Matta faced indictment in the Northern District of Florida for escape from the United States Prison Camp at Eglin Air Force Base in 1971, along with indictments on various narcotics charges in the central and southern districts of California, and the district of Arizona. After filing the writ, he sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the government from transferring him from Marion to face prosecution in these districts. Matta-Ballesteros ex rel. Stolar v. Henman, 697 F.Supp. 1036 (S.D.Ill.1988). Matta did not face charges anywhere within the jurisdiction of the district court where he brought his petition. He was simply being held in Marion Penitentiary pending transfer to jurisdictions where he did face charges. The preliminary injunction was denied by the district court on the basis that Matta failed to establish that he had no adequate remedy at law and failed to show irreparable harm. Id.

After denying the preliminary injunction, the district court ordered an expanded record from the parties, including affidavits from the petitioner and any occurrence witnesses. In addition to other documents, Matta filed affidavits from his bodyguards who were with him at the time of his arrest confirming his allegations. The government filed affidavits by various United States Marshals denying most of Matta’s allegations, especially those concerning torture. The United States contended that the Honduran government, and not the United States, arrested Matta and was responsible for any mistreatment. Based on this expanded record, the district court found that Matta’s claims failed as a matter of law, holding that even if the facts were as Matta alleged, he was not entitled to the relief he sought. The court, therefore, denied Matta’s request for discovery and an evidentiary hearing, ruling on the pleadings and affidavits alone, much in the manner of a summary judgment. Matta-Ballesteros ex rel. Stolar v. Henman, 697 F.Supp. 1040 (S.D.Ill.1988). Since the district court’s denial of the writ, Matta has been transferred to a prison in Florida, arraigned, tried, and convicted of escape from federal custody. 18 U.S.C. § 751(a).3

II. ANALYSIS

The district court’s decision not to grant an evidentiary hearing was based on Rule 8(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases4 (the “Rules”) which states that after the transcript and record of the state court proceedings are filed, the trial judge may determine if an evidentiary hearing is needed, and if not, shall “make such disposition of the petition as justice shall require.” Rule 8(a) of the Rules; 28 U.S.C. § 2554. The district court held that it could consider the facts much as in a summary judgment motion, reading any facts in dispute in favor of the non-movant, in this case Matta, and then applying the law to those facts.

Matta’s only claim on appeal is based on this denial: he claims he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing by the district court. To advance this claim, Matta presents two [258]*258arguments. First, he asserts that he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing because of the unique posture of his case, i.e., there was no trial court record upon which the denial of the writ could be based. Second, he maintains that the facts, as he alleges them, entitle him to relief as a matter of law, and therefore, there are material issues of fact that must be determined through an evidentiary hearing. We consider each of these in turn. Both claims present questions of law, so we review the district court’s decision de novo. See Christianson v. Colt. Indust. Operating Corp., 870 F.2d 1292, 1299 (7th Cir.1989).

A. Denial of an Evidentiary Hearing

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896 F.2d 255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/juan-ramon-matta-ballesteros-v-gary-l-henman-warden-united-states-ca7-1990.