May v. Hunter

451 F. Supp. 2d 1084, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69477, 2006 WL 2668515
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedAugust 30, 2006
DocketCV 05-6026-RGE(RC)
StatusPublished

This text of 451 F. Supp. 2d 1084 (May v. Hunter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
May v. Hunter, 451 F. Supp. 2d 1084, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69477, 2006 WL 2668515 (C.D. Cal. 2006).

Opinion

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

KLAUSNER, District Judge.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 636, the Court has reviewed the Petition and other papers along with the attached Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Rosalyn M. Chapman, and has made a de novo determination.

IT IS ORDERED that (1) the Report and Recommendation is approved and adopted; (2) the Report and Recommendation is adopted as the findings of fact and conclusions of law herein; and (3) Judgment shall be entered denying the habeas corpus petition and dismissing the action.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall serve copies of this Order, the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation and Judgment by the United States mail on the parties.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

CHAPMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

This Report and Recommendation is submitted to the Honorable R. Gary Klausner, United States District Judge, by Magistrate Judge Rosalyn M. Chapman, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636 and General Order 01-13 of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

BACKGROUND

I

On May 7, 2002, in Sonoma County Superior Court case no. MCR397173, petitioner pleaded no contest to, and was convicted of, one count of making terrorist threats under California Penal Code (“P.C.”) § 422, and petitioner admitted having suffered a prior conviction within the meaning of P.C. 667.5(b). Answer, Exh. A at 76, 82. The petitioner was sentenced to the total term of three years in state prison. Id. at 77, 79, 83.

On February 24, 2004, the California Board of Prison Terms (“Board”) 1 held a hearing and certified petitioner as a mentally disordered offender (“MDO”) within the meaning of P.C. § 2962. 2 Answer, *1086 Exh. B at 108. On March 18, 2004, petitioner filed a petition under P.C. § 2966 in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court case no. F355164 for appointment of counsel and a hearing to review the Board’s certification of him as an MDO. Answer, Exh. A at 21-22. On May 18, 2004, the court found petitioner is an MDO within the meaning of P.C. § 2962. Id. at 26-27.

Petitioner appealed the decision to the California Court of Appeal, Answer, Exh. A at 28, which affirmed the Judgment in an unpublished opinion filed March 16, 2005. Id., Exh. F. On April 19, 2005, petitioner filed a petition for review in the California Supreme Court, which denied the petition on June 8, 2005. Id., Exhs. GH.

II

In upholding petitioner’s certification as an MDO, the California Court of Appeal made the following findings of fact regarding the underlying circumstances of petitioner’s offense and MDO certification: 3 On June 20, 2002, petitioner was convicted of making terrorist threats (P.C. § 422) after he entered his girlfriend’s bedroom in the middle of the night and threatened to plunge a knife eighteen inches into her heart.

After the Board certified petitioner is an MDO, petitioner filed a petition challenging the Board’s determination and waived jury. Petitioner’s treating physician, Dr. Jay Seastrunk, testified that petitioner suffered from a severe mental disorder that was not in remission and that petitioner met all the MDO criteria. The trial court received four psychological reports, three of which concluded that the severe mental disorder was not in remission. Petitioner testified that he suffers from “schizophrenia, paranoia,” the symptoms of which includes auditory hallucinations.

Ill

On June 29, 2005, petitioner, proceeding pro se, filed the pending habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, which transferred the matter to this court on August 17, 2005. On November 18, 2005, respondent filed a motion to dismiss the petition for lack of personal jurisdiction due to petitioner’s failure to name the custodian of the institution where he is confined, and on November 21, 2005, the Court granted respondent’s motion with leave to amend.

On January 5, 2006, petitioner filed an amended petition naming the proper respondent, and on March 30, 2006, respon *1087 dent filed his answer. Petitioner did not file a reply or traverse.

The amended petition, although rambling, raises the following claim: The trial court erred in finding petitioner is not compliant with prescribed medications; thus, there was insufficient evidence to support the court finding petitioner is an MDO. In particular, petitioner challenges the findings under P.C. 2962(a) that he is medication non-compliant, is not following his treatment program, and his mental illness is not in remission. Amended Petition at 5-6.

IV

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”) “circumscribes a federal habeas court’s review of a state court decision.” Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, 70, 123 S.Ct. 1166, 1172, 155 L.Ed.2d 144 (2003); Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 520, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 2534, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003). As amended by AED-PA, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) provides:

An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim — [¶] (1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or [¶] (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.

28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Further, under AEDPA, a federal habeas court shall presume the state court’s factual findings are correct, and petitioner bears the burden of rebutting that presumption by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).

The California Supreme Court addressed petitioner’s claim on the merits when it denied his petition for review without comment. Hunter v.

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Bluebook (online)
451 F. Supp. 2d 1084, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69477, 2006 WL 2668515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/may-v-hunter-cacd-2006.