Kummer 96890 v. Ryan

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedOctober 3, 2019
Docket2:18-cv-02338
StatusUnknown

This text of Kummer 96890 v. Ryan (Kummer 96890 v. Ryan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kummer 96890 v. Ryan, (D. Ariz. 2019).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 James Brian Kummer, No. CV-18-02338-PHX-ROS

10 Petitioner, ORDER

11 v.

12 Charles Ryan, et al.,

13 Respondents. 14 15 Magistrate Judge John Z. Boyle recommends Petitioner James Brian Kummer’s 16 petition for writ of habeas corpus be denied and dismissed with prejudice. (Doc. 22). 17 Kummer filed lengthy objections to which Respondents responded. Kummer then filed 18 another document, addressing Respondents’ response. (Doc. 25, 29, 30). Finally, Kummer 19 filed a “Motion to Introduce New Evidence” requesting the Court consider a newspaper 20 article regarding a lab that performs DNA testing for police agencies. (Doc. 31). The 21 Court has reviewed all the filings and, for the following reasons, agrees with Magistrate 22 Judge Boyle that Kummer is not entitled to relief. 23 BACKGROUND 24 The Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) provides the background regarding 25 Kummer’s various convictions. That background is accurate and will be adopted. 26 However, a few portions of the background are crucial for understanding some of 27 Kummer’s objections and those portions are forth here. 28 Kummer was convicted of one count of burglary, one count of kidnapping, one 1 count of violent sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, and one count of 2 assault. Kummer was sentenced to prison terms totaling more than 60 years. Kummer 3 appealed his convictions but his appellate counsel filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. 4 California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating he had “searched the record” and was unable to 5 find any “arguable question of law that is not frivolous.” (Doc. 13-2 at 87). Kummer then 6 filed a pro se “supplemental brief” presenting a variety of arguments regarding 7 “prosecutorial misconduct, judicial error, and ineffective assistance of counsel.” (Doc. 13- 8 3 at 4). In its opinion affirming Kummer’s convictions and sentences, the Arizona Court 9 of Appeals noted it had reviewed Kummer’s “supplemental brief,” as well as the entire 10 record as required by Anders, but it was unable to find any “reversible error.” (Doc. 13-3 11 at 32). 12 Having failed to obtain relief on direct review, Kummer filed a notice of post- 13 conviction relief in state court. Kummer was appointed counsel who reviewed his file. 14 That counsel then filed a notice stating she was unable to find any colorable issues on which 15 to seek post-conviction relief. Kummer then filed a pro se petition that focused on claims 16 of ineffective assistance of counsel. (Doc. 13-3 at 66). After the superior court denied 17 relief Kummer filed a petition for review with the Arizona Court of Appeals. That court 18 granted review but denied relief. In doing so, the Arizona Court of Appeals described 19 Kummer as “raising claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered 20 evidence, and actual innocence.” 2017 WL 4171877, at *1 (Ariz. Ct. App. Sept. 21, 2017). 21 The appellate court concluded it was unnecessary to provide a detailed analysis of 22 Kummer’s claims because the trial court had “clearly identified and correctly ruled upon 23 the issues raised.” Id. Thus, the appellate court “adopt[ed] the trial court’s ruling as to the 24 issues raised,” and denied relief. Id. Kummer then filed the present federal petition. 25 The Court construed Kummer’s petition as presenting 23 separate claims. 26 Respondents answered the petition and the Magistrate Judge prepared a lengthy R&R. In 27 analyzing the 23 claims, the R&R provided useful groupings of similar claims. The parties 28 have largely followed the R&R’s groupings in providing their objections and responses. 1 Thus, the Court will also follow the R&R’s groupings with only minor modifications. 2 ANALYSIS 3 Before discussing particular claims, it is necessary to first point out a central flaw 4 in Kummer’s objections. As explained by the R&R, “[o]rdinarily, a federal court may not 5 grant a petition for writ of habeas corpus unless a petitioner has exhausted available state 6 remedies.” (Doc. 22 at 6). To exhaust state remedies, a petitioner must present all of his 7 claims to the state courts in the procedurally appropriate manner. According to the R&R, 8 Kummer did not exhaust many of the claims he is now attempting to pursue. In his 9 objections, Kummer argues all of his claims were properly raised in state court because the 10 Arizona Court of Appeals had a duty, pursuant to Anders v. California, to “conduct a ‘full 11 appellate review’ to determine if there were any issues with merit.” (Doc. 25 at 11). That 12 “full appellate review,” according to Kummer, must have included all the federal claims 13 he now wishes to pursue. In other words, Kummer argues the Arizona Court of Appeals’ 14 performing its obligations pursuant to Anders effectively exhausted all possible federal 15 claims. That is incorrect. 16 Before explaining why Kummer’s argument is incorrect, it is important to note the 17 Anders review occurred only during the direct review of Kummer’s convictions. In that 18 direct review proceeding, however, the Arizona Court of Appeals did not consider any 19 claims involving ineffective assistance of counsel. Rather, Arizona courts only consider 20 ineffective assistance of counsel in the context of post-conviction relief proceedings. Thus, 21 the Arizona Court of Appeals’ Anders review is irrelevant to the exhaustion of Kummer’s 22 ineffective assistance of counsel claims. 23 Turning to the claims that Kummer should have exhausted by pursuing them in his 24 direct appeal, Kummer cites no authority that the Arizona court’s Anders review exhausted 25 all such claims. The only authority the Court has located points to the opposite conclusion. 26 For example, in Moormann v. Schriro the Ninth Circuit discussed the Arizona Supreme 27 Court’s statutory obligation to review the trial record in every capital case for “fundamental 28 errors affecting the judgment or sentence.” 426 F.3d 1044, 1057 (9th Cir. 2005). In 1 Moorman, the habeas petitioner argued that statutory obligation meant all possible federal 2 claims had been exhausted, even if the petitioner did not brief them. Id. The Ninth Circuit 3 rejected that argument in a single sentence: “Where the parties did not mention an issue in 4 their briefs [to the Arizona Supreme Court] and where the [Arizona Supreme Court] did 5 not mention it was considering that issue sua sponte, there is no evidence that the [Arizona 6 Supreme Court] actually considered the issue, regardless of its duty to review for 7 fundamental error, and the issue cannot be deemed exhausted.” Id. 8 Multiple lower court judges in the Ninth Circuit have cited this language from 9 Moorman and extended it to the argument Kummer is now making in the non-capital 10 Anders context. In Ales v. Ryan, for example, the court held “[t]he Arizona Court of 11 Appeals’ review pursuant to Anders [does] not result in exhaustion” of all possible federal 12 claims. No. CV-16-1840-PHX-NVW-JZB, 2017 WL 707498, at *6 (D. Ariz. Jan. 9, 2017). 13 In that court’s view it would be a perversion of the exhaustion requirement “[i]f Anders 14 review exhausted all federal claims” while briefs raising discrete federal claims were found 15 to exhaust only the exact claims argued in the briefs. Id. Similarly, in Smiley v. Ryan, the 16 court noted that allowing Anders review to exhaust all possible federal claims “would 17 effectively gut the principles of exhaustion for many of the habeas cases filed.” No. CV- 18 12-2525-PHX-FJM, 2014 WL 7272474, at *13 (D. Ariz. Dec. 18, 2014).

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