Morin v. Rhode Island

741 F. Supp. 32, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8683, 1990 WL 96886
CourtDistrict Court, D. Rhode Island
DecidedJuly 12, 1990
DocketCiv. A. No. 86-0631-T
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 741 F. Supp. 32 (Morin v. Rhode Island) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morin v. Rhode Island, 741 F. Supp. 32, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8683, 1990 WL 96886 (D.R.I. 1990).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

TORRES, Judge.

This case is before the Court on Ruth Morin’s objection to a Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation that her petition for a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, be dismissed pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.1 For reasons hereinafter stated, the Court accepts the Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation.

FACTS

On February 1, 1978 the petitioner, her husband and two other family members were convicted in state court of various crimes stemming from a scheme to burn their dwelling in order to obtain the proceeds of insurance on the property. Petitioner’s conviction was affirmed by the Rhode Island Supreme Court on December 3, 1980. Petitioner then sought post-conviction relief in the Rhode Island Superior Court claiming that her sixth amendment right to effective assistance of counsel was violated because the same attorney represented all of the defendants. That petition was denied as was a motion for a rehearing. The petitioner then appealed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court which dismissed her appeal and denied a motion for a rehearing.

Petitioner then sought a writ of habeas corpus in this Court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, alleging violation of her Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. Judge Pettine denied both that petition and a subsequent motion for reconsideration. Morin v. State of Rhode Island, C.A. No. 83-0186-P, slip op. (D.R.I. August 5, 1983); Morin v. State of Rhode Island, C.A. No. 83-0186-P, slip op. (D.R.I. March 21, 1984). Petitioner’s counsel filed a notice of intention to claim an appeal, but there is no indication in the record that any such appeal was perfected.

Some time later, petitioner filed the petition for a writ of habeas corpus that is presently before this Court. That petition has been the subject of two previous Reports and Recommendations to Judge Pet-tine, both of which were remanded to the magistrate for further consideration due to objections filed by the petitioner. It is the third Report and Recommendation that is now before this Court.

DISCUSSION

The petitioner advances two arguments in support of her application for habeas relief. The first is a re-assertion of her contention that she was denied effective assistance of counsel during state court trial. The second argument is that she was denied her right of appeal from Judge Pet-tine’s rejection of her previous habeas corpus petition. The Court will consider those arguments, in turn.

1. Standard of Review

An objection to a Magistrate’s recommendation regarding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss requires a de novo determination by the Court. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Such a motion should not be granted “unless it appears beyond doubt that the [petitioner] can prove no set of facts in support of [her] claim which would entitle [her] to relief.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) (footnote omitted). In making that determination the petition should be construed in the light most favor[34]*34able to the party against whom the motion is directed. E.g., Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). Every doubt must be resolved in the petitioner’s favor, and all well-pleaded allegations of the petition must be accepted as true. E.g., Miree v. DeKalb County, 433 U.S. 25, 27 n. 2, 97 S.Ct. 2490, 2492 n. 2, 53 L.Ed.2d 557 (1977).

2. Denial of Effective Assistance During State Court Trial

One of the grounds asserted by Morin in support of her contention that she did not receive effective assistance of counsel during her state court trial is that her attorney also represented the co-defendants. As previously noted, that identical argument was considered and rejected by Judge Pettine in denying Morin’s previous habeas petition. Indeed, the petition itself acknowledges that, to that extent, it is nothing more than a regurgitation of the prior petition. See Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus at paras. 11 and 15. Consequently, the argument is clearly frivolous.

The statute governing habeas corpus specifically provides that:

When after an evidentiary hearing on the merits of a material factual issue, or after a hearing on the merits of an issue of law, a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court has been denied by a court of the United States ... release from custody or other remedy on an application for a writ of habeas corpus, a subsequent application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of such person need not be entertained ... unless the application alleges and is predicated on a factual or other ground not adjudicated on the hearing of the earlier application for the writ, and unless the court, justice, or judge is satisfied that the applicant has not on the earlier application deliberately withheld the newly asserted ground or otherwise abused the writ.

28 U.S.C. § 2244(b).

Moreover, Rule 9(b) of the Rules Governing § 2254 Habeas Corpus Proceedings provides that “[a] second or successive petition [for habeas corpus] may be dismissed if the judge finds that it fails to allege new or different grounds for relief and the prior determination was on the merits.... ”

These provisions have been construed by the Supreme Court to mean that successive applications for habeas relief are subject to dismissal if “(1) the same ground presented in the subsequent application was determined adversely to the applicant on the prior application, (2) the prior determination was on the merits, and (3) the ends of justice would not be served by reaching the merits of the subsequent application.” Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 15, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 1077, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963).

In this case, there is absolutely no question that the assertion regarding multiple representation by counsel falls squarely within the prohibition against repetitive petitions. An examination of Judge Pettine’s decisions reveals that he thoroughly surveyed the applicable law, carefully considered petitioner’s contentions, and meticulously examined the trial record. After having done so, he concluded that the petitioner was not deprived of effective assistance of counsel saying:

The Court’s own review of the trial record in this case confirms that no actual conflict adversely affected the adequacy of representation. The four co-defendants [Ernest Morin, Ruth Morin, Robert McCallum and Priscilla McCallum] were all members of the same family.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Krebs v. Weber
2000 SD 40 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2000)
Pratt v. U.S.A.
D. New Hampshire, 1995

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
741 F. Supp. 32, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8683, 1990 WL 96886, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morin-v-rhode-island-rid-1990.