Richley v. Norris

860 F. Supp. 631, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10727, 1994 WL 391418
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedJuly 27, 1994
DocketNo. PB-C-94-410
StatusPublished

This text of 860 F. Supp. 631 (Richley v. Norris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richley v. Norris, 860 F. Supp. 631, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10727, 1994 WL 391418 (E.D. Ark. 1994).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HENRY WOODS, District Judge.

Petitioner, Darryl V. Richley, has filed a second petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254. For the reasons that follow, the petition is dismissed.

In their submissions, the parties have provided the Court with an exhaustive outline of the history of this case. It is therefore unnecessary for the Court to repeat that history. The Court should note, though, that petitioner is presently scheduled to be executed on August 3, 1994.

As a preliminary matter, petitioner has apparently exhausted his available state remedies. He can not litigate the claims at bar in an Arkansas state court. See Wayne v. White, 735 F.2d 324, 325 (8th Cir.1984) (when no state remedy is available, failure to exhaust is not a bar to a habeas corpus proceeding).

Petitioner has alleged four claims in this petition. They are: (1) the prosecutor failed to disclose that the victim’s wife and daughter had been hypnotized prior to trial, (2) petitioner’s right to “individualized, discretionary sentencing procedures” was violated as were his rights to due process, equal protection, and effective assistance of counsel because he has been “represented jointly throughout the entire process,” (3) he was denied due process when the state Supreme Court did not conduct a search of the record for errors not raised on appeal and did not [633]*633conduct a comparative review of his sentence, and (4) the instructions given in capital cases in the State of Arkansas are unconstitutional because they do not address the question of parole ineligibility. Respondent first alleges that this petition constitutes an abuse of the writ because it contains two claims which are being raised for the first time in this proceeding, i.e., claims three and four.

The Court has reviewed petitioner’s first petition and finds that claims three and four were not raised in that petition. The Court is satisfied that these claims were available to him during the trial and appeal of his conviction and sentence. In addition, the Court is satisfied that these claims were available to him on the day he filed his first petition in federal court. Respondent’s assertion of abuse of the 'writ is therefore not without merit. The Court must determine whether petitioner’s failure to raise the two claims in his first petition constitutes an abuse of the writ and bars the Court from considering them.

“The doctrine of abuse of the writ defines the circumstances in which federal courts decline to entertain a claim presented for the first time in a second ... petition for ... writ of habeas corpus.” McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467, 470, 111 S.Ct. 1454, 1457, 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991). Typically, it is invoked when a claim is asserted in a second petition but the claim was available at the time of the first petition. Gilmore v. Delo, 908 F.2d 385,. 387 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 497 U.S. 1049, 111 S.Ct. 20, 111 L.Ed.2d 828 (1990). See also Common, v. Armontrout, 959 F.2d 727 (8th Cir.1992); Olds v. Armontrout, 919 F.2d 1331 (8th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 500 U.S. 908, 111 S.Ct. 1692, 114 L.Ed.2d 86 (1991). If abuse of the writ is asserted by respondent, McCleskey requires the federal court to utilize the following analysis:

[T]he government bears the burden of pleading abuse of the writ. The government satisfies this burden if, with clarity and particularity, it notes petitioner’s prior writ history, identifies the claims that appear for the first time, and alleges that prisoner has abused the writ. The burden to disprove abuse then becomes petitioner’s. To excuse his failure to raise the claim earlier, he must show cause for failing to raise it and prejudice therefrom as those concepts have been defined in our procedural default decisions. The petitioner’s opportunity to meet the burden of cause and prejudice will not include an evidentiary hearing if the district court determines as a matter of law that petitioner cannot satisfy the standard. If petitioner cannot show cause, the failure to raise the claim in an earlier petition may nonetheless be excused if he or she can show that a fundamental miscarriage of justice would result from a failure to entertain the claim.

McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. at 494, 111 S.Ct. at 1470.

Respondent has outlined petitioner’s prior writ history with clarity and particularity. Respondent has also identified the new claims and has alleged that petitioner has abused the writ. Given these representations, the burden shifts to petitioner to establish that he did not abuse the writ. He meets this burden by showing cause and prejudice. If he is unable to show cause and prejudice, his failure to raise the new claims will nevertheless be excused if he can show that a fundamental miscarriage of justice will result from a failure to entertain the claims.

Petitioner has not attempted to show cause or prejudice for failing to raise claims three and four in his earlier petition but has instead, anticipating respondent’s contention, alleged that a fundamental miscarriage of justice will result if the claims are not addressed. Specifically, he alleges:

14. Petitioner claims actual innocence and asserts that it would be a miscarriage of justice to execute him pending resolution of these issues. On this basis, there is no abuse of the writ under McClesky [.McCleskey] v. Zant, ... and Duggar v. Adams, [489 U.S. 401, 109 S.Ct. 1211, 103 L.Ed.2d 435,] ... by the filing of this second petition.

15. The issues raised herein also question petitioner’s eligibility for the death penalty and further question the accuracy of the jury’s decision of whether to impose death. This would qualify under the “fundamental miscarriage of justice” exception [634]*634to the prohibition against successor habeas actions. Kuhlmann v. Wilson, [477 U.S. 436, 106 S.Ct. 2616, 91 L.Ed.2d 364,] ... On that basis, grounds exist[] for the granting of a stay of execution pending resolution of the issues herein, even if there were no claim of “actual innocence” under McClesky [McCleskey], ...

Petition at 3.

The fundamental miscarriage of justice exception applies “only in ‘extraordinary instances when a constitutional violation probably has caused the conviction of one innocent of the crime.’ ” Comman v. Armontrout, 959 F.2d at 730 [citations omitted]. The court in Comman further explained that:

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Bluebook (online)
860 F. Supp. 631, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10727, 1994 WL 391418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richley-v-norris-ared-1994.