Wilson v. Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Corrections , 782 F.3d 110 ( 2015 )


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  •                                        PRECEDENTIAL
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
    ___________
    No. 12-2283
    ___________
    ZACHARY WILSON,
    Appellant
    v.
    SECRETARY PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF
    CORRECTIONS;
    DONALD VAUGHN, Superintendent of the State
    Correctional Institution at Graterford
    __________
    On Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    (D.C. No. 2-02-cv-00374)
    District Judge: Honorable John R. Padova
    ___________
    Argued January 15, 2014
    Before: AMBRO, HARDIMAN and
    GREENAWAY, JR., Circuit Judges
    (Filed: March 16, 2015)
    Michael Wiseman, Esq. [Argued]
    P.O. Box 120
    Swarthmore, PA 19081
    Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellant
    Thomas W. Dolgenos, Esq. [Argued]
    Philadelphia County Office of District Attorney
    3 South Penn Square
    Philadelphia, PA 19107
    Attorney for Defendants-Appellees
    ____________
    OPINION OF THE COURT
    ____________
    HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge
    Appellant Zachary Wilson holds the remarkable
    distinction of having received writs of habeas corpus vacating
    not one, but two murder convictions. These victories have
    been Pyrrhic, however, as Wilson has remained incarcerated
    since the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decided to
    prosecute him anew for both crimes. After his rearraignment
    in state court, Wilson promptly returned to federal court and
    filed motions seeking to bar a retrial. The District Court for
    the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied Wilson’s motions
    and he filed this appeal.
    2
    I
    The facts underlying Wilson’s convictions have no
    bearing here, but the unusual procedural posture of the case
    requires us to describe in some detail what transpired in the
    state courts and in the District Court.
    Wilson was convicted in 1984 by a jury in the
    Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas of murdering
    David Swift and was sentenced to life in prison. Four years
    later, a different Philadelphia jury convicted him of an
    unrelated crime: the murder of Jamie Lamb. Wilson was
    sentenced to death for that offense, in part because of his
    previous conviction for murdering Swift.
    After Wilson exhausted his direct and collateral
    appeals in state court, he filed a federal habeas petition under
    
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
     claiming that his conviction in the Swift
    case was unconstitutional because the jury was empaneled in
    violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 
    476 U.S. 79
     (1986). On April
    19, 2004, the District Court granted the writ, stating:
    IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Petition for
    a Writ of Habeas Corpus is GRANTED. IT IS
    FURTHER ORDERED that [Wilson’s]
    convictions of May 16, 1984 for First Degree
    Murder and Possessing an Instrument of Crime
    . . . are VACATED. The Commonwealth of
    Pennsylvania may retry [Wilson] on these
    charges within 180 days of the date of this
    Order.
    3
    Wilson v. Beard, 
    314 F. Supp. 2d 434
    , 450 (E.D. Pa. 2004).
    The District Court’s opinion in support of its order noted that
    Wilson was on death row for his conviction in the Lamb
    murder. 
    Id. at 439
    . The Commonwealth appealed the order of
    the District Court and we affirmed. Wilson v. Beard, 
    426 F.3d 653
     (3d Cir. 2005).
    At no point during the federal court proceedings in the
    Swift case did the Commonwealth ask the District Court to
    stay its order pending appeal or for an extension of the 180-
    day period established by the District Court. Yet Wilson was
    neither retried nor released because he was on death row for
    the Lamb murder. Between November 2, 2005, and February
    18, 2010, there was no activity in the case.
    After the District Court vacated Wilson’s conviction
    for the Swift murder and while that order was under review
    by our Court, he filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus
    seeking to invalidate his conviction for the Lamb murder.
    This time, Wilson claimed the Commonwealth violated Brady
    v. Maryland, 
    373 U.S. 83
     (1963), by withholding exculpatory
    information that would have allowed him to impeach the
    three main witnesses against him. The District Court
    conditionally issued a writ in August 2006, stating that the
    Commonwealth “may retry [Wilson] on these charges within
    180 days of the date of this Order,” Wilson v. Beard, 
    2006 WL 2346277
    , at *17 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 9, 2006). Once again, the
    Commonwealth appealed and we affirmed the order of the
    District Court. Wilson v. Beard, 
    589 F.3d 651
     (3d Cir. 2009).
    Soon after we affirmed the District Court’s order
    granting Wilson habeas relief in the Lamb case, the
    Commonwealth moved to retry him for the Swift murder,
    nearly five and a half years after the District Court had
    4
    vacated that conviction. On January 22, 2010, the
    Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas appointed
    counsel for Wilson in connection with the Swift retrial, and
    on February 16, 2010, he was arraigned.1
    Two days later, Wilson filed a motion to enforce writ
    of habeas corpus in the District Court, seeking to prevent the
    Commonwealth from retrying him because it waited more
    than 180 days to do so. The District Court held argument on
    the motion to enforce and scheduled an evidentiary hearing.
    Prior to the scheduled hearing, Wilson filed a motion seeking
    relief under Rule 60(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil
    Procedure.2 As with his motion to enforce, Wilson contended
    the Commonwealth should be barred from retrying him
    because it had failed to do so within the 180 days required by
    the District Court’s order. In the alternative—that is, if the
    Court interpreted “may retry . . . within 180 days” as “retry
    within 180 days or else release him”—Wilson requested an
    unconditional writ barring any retrial for the Swift murder.
    App. 12-13.
    The District Court held four evidentiary hearings on
    the motions, after which the parties filed proposed findings of
    fact and conclusions of law. The District Court heard final
    argument on April 11, 2012.
    1
    The Commonwealth also moved to retry Wilson for
    the Lamb murder, arraigning him in October 2010.
    2
    The relevant portion of Rule 60(b) reads: “On motion
    and just terms, the court may relieve a party or its legal
    representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for
    the following reasons:
    (6) any other reason that justifies relief.”
    5
    Nine days later, Judge Padova issued a thorough
    opinion denying Wilson’s motions. Wilson v. Beard, 
    2012 WL 1382447
    , *1 (E.D. Pa. April 20, 2012). He observed that
    Wilson “cite[d] no authority for the proposition that we may
    bar his retrial based solely on the Commonwealth’s failure to
    retry him within 180 days,” and he opined that Wilson’s
    arguments “evidence[d] a misunderstanding of the nature of a
    conditional writ of habeas corpus.” 
    Id. at *5
    . According to the
    District Court, the Commonwealth’s failure to retry Wilson
    within 180 days automatically converted the conditional writ
    to an absolute writ, which meant that after the deadline
    passed, the Commonwealth could no longer imprison Wilson
    based on the Swift murder conviction. 
    Id.
     This was unavailing
    to Wilson, however, because he “was not held in custody in
    connection with his conviction for the Swift murder at any
    time after the [w]rit became absolute in this case.” 
    Id. at *6
    .
    In the District Court’s view: “between January 7, 1988 and
    June 9, 2010, he was held as a convicted prisoner awaiting
    execution for the murder of Jamie Lamb. Since June 9, 2010,
    Wilson has been held as a pretrial murder defendant in
    connection with his retrials for both the Swift and Lamb
    murders.” 
    Id.
     Accordingly, the District Court held that its
    order granting the writ simply returned Wilson to the position
    he was in before his incarceration: under indictment for the
    crime. 
    Id.
     Thus, even though the Commonwealth “failed to
    commence proceedings related to the retrial within the 180
    day time period,” it did not violate the terms of the writ. 
    Id.
    The District Court then denied Wilson’s Rule 60(b)
    motion, which had sought essentially the same relief as the
    motion to enforce, but on more complex grounds. There,
    Wilson argued that he should not suffer a retrial “because the
    Commonwealth’s delay in commencing the proceedings
    6
    related to his retrial . . . created extraordinary circumstances
    which may be remedied only by such relief.” 
    Id.
    Wilson claimed extraordinary circumstances for three
    principal reasons. First, “the Commonwealth delayed
    commencing his reprosecution for the Swift murder for more
    than five years after [the District Court] granted the [w]rit.”
    
    Id. at *7
    . Second, “during the time in which the
    Commonwealth delayed his retrial, his mental condition
    deteriorated to such an extent that he is no longer competent
    to stand trial.” 
    Id.
     Finally, his attorneys “recently discovered
    that the prosecution committed a Brady violation at his trial
    with respect to [a key prosecution witness, whose] mental
    condition has deteriorated so dramatically since 2005 that he
    would not be competent to testify at Wilson’s retrial or to be
    cross-examined about the alleged Brady issue.” 
    Id.
     The
    Commonwealth opposed these claims on the merits, but also
    argued that they constituted a Sixth Amendment speedy trial
    claim that had to be exhausted in state court. 
    Id.
    The District Court agreed with the Commonwealth,
    both procedurally and substantively, observing that “[t]he
    prejudice Wilson claims he will suffer as the result of the . . .
    delay is clearly the kind of prejudice the speedy trial right was
    designed to protect against.” 
    Id. at *8
    . Because Wilson’s
    claims of delay were new claims that arose after the District
    Court issued the writ in 2004 and were unrelated to the
    Batson claim that formed the basis for his petition, they had
    to be exhausted in state court. 
    Id. at *9
    . The District Court
    also rejected Wilson’s arguments that he was not required to
    exhaust his Rule 60(b) claims and that there was no remedy
    available to him in state court. 
    Id.
     at *11–12. Alternatively,
    the District Court held that even if Wilson’s claims did not
    7
    have to be exhausted, he had not established extraordinary
    circumstances. 
    Id. at *19
    .
    After Wilson appealed only the District Court’s denial
    of his Rule 60(b) motion, we asked counsel to brief the
    following issues presented by this appeal’s unique procedural
    posture: (1) whether a certificate of appealability is required
    and “whether Harbison v. Bell, 
    556 U.S. 180
     (2009), bears on
    that issue;” (2) whether the District Court had jurisdiction to
    adjudicate the motion to enforce and the Rule 60(b) motion;
    and (3) whether the Commonwealth complied with the
    District Court’s conditional habeas order by vacating
    Wilson’s conviction on the Swift murder.
    II
    We begin, as we typically do, with the question of
    jurisdiction. Although neither party claims the District Court
    lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate Wilson’s motion to enforce
    or his Rule 60(b) motion, “federal courts have an independent
    obligation to ensure that they do not exceed the scope of their
    jurisdiction, and therefore they must raise and decide
    jurisdictional questions that the parties . . . elect not to press.”
    Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, 
    131 S. Ct. 1197
    ,
    1202 (2011) (citing Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 
    546 U.S. 500
    ,
    514 (2006)).
    A
    The parties assert that because Wilson is not appealing
    the denial of the motion to enforce, the question of whether
    the District Court had jurisdiction to entertain that motion is
    now moot. We agree, though it is worth noting that the
    District Court had the power to adjudicate the motion to
    8
    enforce. See, e.g., Gibbs v. Frank, 
    500 F.3d 202
    , 205 (3d Cir.
    2007) (holding that district courts have “continuing
    jurisdiction to address alleged noncompliance with
    conditional writ of habeas corpus”) (citing Mickens-Thomas
    v. Vaughn, 
    355 F.3d 294
    , 303 (3d Cir. 2004)).
    The question of the District Court’s jurisdiction over
    Wilson’s Rule 60(b) motion is not so clear. The issue arises
    frequently after a petitioner is denied a writ of habeas corpus,
    but this appears to be our first opportunity to consider it after
    a petition was granted. Although we have found no
    controlling authority directly on point, the Supreme Court’s
    decision in Pitchess v. Davis, 
    421 U.S. 482
     (1975) (per
    curiam), suggests that the District Court had jurisdiction to
    adjudicate Wilson’s Rule 60(b) motion. In Pitchess, a state
    prisoner (Davis), won conditional habeas relief and the state
    promptly moved to retry him. 
    Id.
     at 483–84. In advance of the
    retrial, Davis learned that physical evidence had been
    destroyed in a routine purge after his original trial but before
    the conditional writ had issued. 
    Id. at 484
    . Davis then filed a
    Rule 60(b) motion in the district court “seeking to ‘modify’
    its prior conditional writ of habeas corpus and replace it with
    an order granting an absolute writ and enjoining any retrial on
    the pending state charges.” 
    Id.
     at 484–85. The district court
    granted the motion, concluding that the destruction of
    evidence not only violated Brady, but also constituted an
    incurable defect that precluded Davis from ever receiving a
    fair trial on the charges. 
    Id.
     Following an affirmance by the
    Ninth Circuit, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that Davis
    had failed to exhaust state remedies on his destruction-of-
    evidence claim. 
    Id.
     at 486–87, 490.
    In its adjudication of the merits of Davis’s appeal, the
    Supreme Court never suggested that the District Court lacked
    9
    jurisdiction to hear his Rule 60(b) motion. Likewise, in its
    most recent case interpreting the rule, the Supreme Court
    noted that “Rule 60(b) has an unquestionably valid role to
    play in habeas cases,” including cases in which the writ has
    been granted. Gonzalez v. Crosby, 
    545 U.S. 524
    , 534 (2005).
    Accordingly, we hold that the District Court had jurisdiction
    to adjudicate Wilson’s Rule 60(b) motion.
    B
    We next consider our jurisdiction given that the
    District Court denied a certificate of appealability (COA)
    under 
    28 U.S.C. § 2253
    (c). The Commonwealth claims a
    COA is required; Wilson disagrees.
    In Morris v. Horn, 
    187 F.3d 333
    , 340–41 (3d Cir.
    1999), we held that a COA is required to appeal the denial of
    a Rule 60(b) motion. However, the vitality of that decision is
    undermined somewhat by the Supreme Court’s decision in
    Harbison v. Bell, which stated that the COA requirement
    “governs final orders that dispose of the merits of a habeas
    corpus proceeding—a proceeding challenging the lawfulness
    of the petitioner’s detention.” 
    556 U.S. at 183
    . Not all orders
    in habeas cases fit that description, including the motion at
    issue in Harbison, which was “[a]n order that merely denies a
    motion to enlarge the authority of appointed counsel.” Id.; see
    also Jones v. Ryan, 
    733 F.3d 825
    , 832 n.3 (9th Cir. 2013)
    (suggesting a COA may not be necessary to appeal the denial
    or dismissal of “a valid Rule 60(b) motion,” as opposed to
    one seeking habeas-style relief).
    Irrespective of the impact of Harbison, this appeal
    does not require us to revisit our decision in Morris v. Horn.
    As Wilson argues, the Sixth Circuit’s decision in D’Ambrosio
    10
    v. Bagley—which conflicts with the District Court’s decision
    in this case—demonstrates that the issue Wilson presents is
    “debatable among jurists of reason.” See Lozada v. Deeds,
    
    498 U.S. 430
    , 432 (1991) (per curiam). We therefore grant a
    COA limited to whether the District Court properly denied
    Wilson’s motion to enforce and his Rule 60(b) Motion.
    Accordingly, our jurisdiction lies under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1291
     and
    § 2253.3
    III
    Turning to the merits of Wilson’s appeal, the first and
    most important legal principle guiding our inquiry is that we
    analyze Rule 60(b) motions in the habeas context based on
    the substance of the claim, not the form. Gonzalez, 
    545 U.S. at
    530–32. We exercise plenary review over the District
    Court’s legal conclusion that Wilson had to exhaust state
    remedies. Hankins v. Fulcomer, 
    941 F.2d 246
    , 249 (3d Cir.
    1991) (“[I]n a federal habeas corpus proceeding the
    determination of whether state remedies have been exhausted
    and whether exhaustion should be excused involves the
    application and interpretation of legal precepts.” (citations
    omitted)).
    3
    The Commonwealth relies on Eddleman v. McKee,
    
    586 F.3d 409
     (6th Cir. 2009), to argue that we lack
    jurisdiction over this appeal because the Commonwealth
    complied with the writ the District Court issued. As far as the
    motion to enforce is concerned, our precedent forecloses the
    argument. See Gibbs, 
    500 F.3d at
    205–206. And as for the
    Rule 60(b) motion, Eddleman does not apply as it was not a
    Rule 60 case.
    11
    A
    The crux of Wilson’s argument is that he need not
    exhaust state remedies because he demonstrated
    “extraordinary circumstances” under Rule 60(b). We
    disagree.
    “The power of a court to invoke Rule 60(b) to vacate
    its own earlier judgment is unquestioned.” Budget Blinds, Inc.
    v. White, 
    536 F.3d 244
    , 251 (3d Cir. 2008). Nevertheless, the
    Supreme Court has made clear that Rule 60 applies only to
    the extent it does not conflict with other statutes. See
    Gonzalez, 
    545 U.S. at 529
    . Because Wilson’s Rule 60(b)
    motion raises new substantive claims unrelated to the original
    habeas petition, he must exhaust the claims in state court
    before a federal court can hear them unless “(i) there is an
    absence of available State corrective process; or (ii)
    circumstances exist that render such process ineffective to
    protect the rights of the applicant.” 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
    (b)(1)(B). The exhaustion requirement is not
    jurisdictional, “but rather addresses federalism and comity
    concerns by ‘afford[ing] the state courts a meaningful
    opportunity to consider allegations of legal error without
    interference from the federal judiciary.” Coady v. Vaughn,
    
    251 F.3d 480
    , 488 (3d Cir. 2001) (alteration in original)
    (quoting Vasquez v. Hillery, 
    474 U.S. 254
    , 257 (1986)). The
    state can waive the exhaustion requirement by failing to raise
    it, Mickens-Thomas, 321 F.3d at 376 n.2, but that did not
    happen here. “The habeas petitioner has the burden of
    proving exhaustion of all available state remedies.” Coady,
    
    251 F.3d at 488
    .
    In Pitchess, the case we cited previously in support of
    our jurisdictional holding, the Supreme Court made clear that
    12
    the exhaustion requirement applies to new claims that a
    successful habeas petitioner may raise in a Rule 60(b) motion.
    
    421 U.S. at 490
    . In that case, Davis obtained a writ of habeas
    corpus, but returned to the district court seeking additional
    relief on a new constitutional claim after the state moved to
    retry him. 
    Id.
     at 484–85. Like Wilson here, Davis filed a Rule
    60(b) motion seeking to “modify” the prior order “and replace
    it with an order granting an absolute writ and enjoining any
    retrial on the pending state charges.” 
    Id. at 485
    . Reversing the
    lower courts, the Supreme Court held that Davis was “entitled
    to no relief based upon a claim with respect to which state
    remedies have not been exhausted.” 
    Id. at 490
    . In doing so,
    the Court rejected the very same argument Wilson makes:
    that claims raised in a Rule 60(b) motion need not be
    exhausted. 
    Id. at 489
    .
    Wilson’s attempt to avoid exhaustion in state court is
    foreclosed by Pitchess. His claims relating to the delayed
    retrial—which the District Court properly characterized as
    speedy trial claims—have never been presented to the state
    courts and are unrelated to the Batson violation for which he
    was granted habeas relief. As the District Court rightly noted,
    it would be improper for the federal courts “to intervene in
    [Wilson’s] state court criminal proceedings to prevent the
    state court from committing possible future violations of his
    Constitutional rights.” Wilson, 
    2012 WL 1382447
     at *19.
    B
    Wilson attempts to distinguish Pitchess by relying
    heavily on the Sixth Circuit’s decision in D’Ambrosio v.
    Bagley, 
    656 F.3d 379
    , 390 (6th Cir. 2011). In that case,
    D’Ambrosio received a conditional writ of habeas corpus
    because of a Brady violation. 
    Id. at 381
    . The order required
    13
    the state to either set aside his conviction and sentence or
    conduct another trial within 180 days. 
    Id.
     The state moved to
    retry him within the time allotted, but shortly before retrial
    was set to begin, the state notified the defense team about
    additional evidence, which caused the court to delay the trial
    beyond the 180-day window. 
    Id.
     This prompted the state to
    ask the federal district court to extend the deadline for the
    retrial. 
    Id.
     D’Ambrosio replied by asking the federal court to
    grant an unconditional writ and bar his reprosecution. 
    Id.
     at
    381–82. The federal court partially granted D’Ambrosio’s
    motion by issuing an unconditional writ because of the state’s
    continued misconduct. 
    Id. at 382
    . The court declined to bar
    retrial, however, because D’Ambrosio could not demonstrate
    prejudice from the delay and the court had confidence in the
    state’s ability to provide a fair retrial. 
    Id.
    Around the time the district court declined to bar
    retrial, the state’s key witness died, which required the
    exclusion of his prior testimony under the Confrontation
    Clause. 
    Id.
     D’Ambrosio then filed a Rule 60(b) motion asking
    the District Court to vacate its earlier order and bar his
    reprosecution in light of the witness’s unavailability, as
    D’Ambrosio had planned to cross-examine the witness about
    the previously withheld Brady material. 
    Id.
     The district court
    agreed, vacating a portion of its original judgment and
    reasoning that the circumstances were sufficiently
    “extraordinary” to bar D’Ambrosio’s reprosecution. 
    Id. at 383
    . The Sixth Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court
    had jurisdiction to grant the Rule 60(b) motion, vacate its
    prior judgment, and issue an unconditional writ of habeas
    corpus. 
    Id.
    The Sixth Circuit’s opinion relied in part on its
    decision in Satterlee v. Wolfenbarger, which noted that
    14
    although the state usually is not precluded from retrying a
    successful habeas petitioner, “in extraordinary circumstances,
    such as when the state inexcusably, repeatedly, or otherwise
    abusively fails to act within the prescribed time period . . . a
    habeas court may forbid[] reprosecution.” 
    453 F.3d 362
    , 370
    (6th Cir. 2006) (internal quotations and citation omitted).
    D’Ambrosio met that standard, the court reasoned, because
    his Rule 60(b) motion relied on the same Brady claims that
    formed the basis of his original habeas relief. That fact
    distinguished D’Ambrosio from Fisher v. Rose, 
    757 F.2d 789
    (6th Cir. 1985), a decision of the Sixth Circuit that ordered
    exhaustion in state court when a petitioner sought an
    unconditional writ based on a speedy trial issue distinct from
    the Confrontation Clause claim raised in his original petition.
    Id. at 389.
    Although Wilson accurately describes D’Ambrosio, we
    are unpersuaded by that opinion. As Judge Boggs opined in
    dissent: “Pitchess makes clear that Rule 60(b) cannot be used
    to circumvent section 2254’s exhaustion requirement, and its
    holding directly controls this case.” D’Ambrosio, 
    656 F.3d at 393
    . We need not repeat the reasons underlying Judge
    Boggs’s dissent because it suffices to say that they are
    essentially the same reasons we have articulated regarding
    Wilson’s duty to exhaust his state court remedies.
    But even assuming that D’Ambrosio was correct,
    Wilson’s case is readily distinguishable. Unlike D’Ambrosio
    (but like the petitioner in Fisher), Wilson does not reprise his
    Batson claim in federal court. Rather, he makes what the
    District Court rightly characterized as an entirely new claim,
    namely, that he was denied his constitutional right to a speedy
    trial. Wilson has never presented this claim to the state courts
    and, unlike in D’Ambrosio—where the death of the key
    15
    witness demonstrated that no state retrial could rectify the
    Brady violation at issue in the original trial—Wilson does not
    contend that the Batson error that tainted his original trial will
    be repeated at his retrial. This critical factual distinction
    renders D’Ambrosio unhelpful to Wilson.
    C
    Finally, Wilson argues that even if exhaustion is
    required, it would be futile. Wilson Br. 33. Specifically,
    Wilson notes that his health has deteriorated so much since
    2004 that he may no longer be competent to stand trial. 
    Id.
     at
    22–25. His “longstanding-delusional disorder” has
    intensified, and according to his expert, he is “not able to
    meaningfully assist counsel in the development of a defense
    that is important to the continuance of this proceeding.” 
    Id.
     at
    23–24. Wilson also contends that the Commonwealth’s main
    witness against him in the Swift case has also “suffered a
    significant and debilitating deterioration in his mental health
    during the period of delay” and consequently may be
    unavailable as a witness on retrial. 
    Id.
     at 25–26. Wilson
    argues that the Commonwealth is responsible for these
    delays—first, by concealing the evidence underlying his
    Batson claim for ten years, and then by waiting more than
    five years after the District Court granted habeas to move to
    retry him.
    We express no opinion regarding the merits of these
    claims, since our task is to determine which court should
    adjudicate them in the first instance. As Wilson admitted
    during oral argument in the District Court, he can “raise both
    a Sixth Amendment speedy trial claim and a state law speedy
    trial claim pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal
    Procedure 600 in the state court.” Wilson, 
    2012 WL 1382447
    16
    at *11. This is inadequate, Wilson insists, because forcing
    him to exhaust his new claims in state court “would subject
    him to the very harm that he sought to prevent when he filed
    the [Rule 60(b)] Motion.” Wilson Br. at 29. Reduced to its
    essence, Wilson’s argument “assumes, ultimately, either the
    incompetence or the bad faith of [the] state judiciary.”
    Eddleman v. McKee, 
    586 F.3d 409
    , 413 (6th Cir. 2009). But
    as we have stated, “[b]y requiring exhaustion, federal courts
    recognize that state courts, no less than federal courts, are
    bound to safeguard the federal rights of state criminal
    defendants.” Parker v. Kelchner, 
    429 F.3d 58
    , 61 (3d Cir.
    2005) (quoting Jones v. Keane, 
    329 F.3d 290
    , 295 (2d Cir.
    2003)). And although the exhaustion requirement in habeas
    cases      recognizes      exceptions    for    “extraordinary
    circumstances,” it presumes adequate state remedies. Moore
    v. DeYoung, 
    515 F.2d 437
    , 448 (3d Cir. 1975). Without more,
    we have held, “[n]othing in the nature of the speedy trial right
    . . . qualif[ies] it as a per se ‘extraordinary circumstance’”
    exempt from the exhaustion requirement. 
    Id. at 446
    .4
    4
    Our sister courts have reached the same conclusion.
    See, e.g., Eddleman, 
    586 F.3d at 413
     (reversing district
    court’s decision to bar retrial, describing it as
    “effectively . . . adjudicat[ing] a speedy-trial claim that had
    never been presented to, much less ruled upon, by the . . .
    state courts”); Capps v. Sullivan, 
    13 F.3d 350
    , 353–54 (10th
    Cir. 1993) (holding that successful habeas petitioner
    complaining of delay in retrial may have speedy trial claim,
    but would have to satisfy exhaustion requirement); Moore v.
    Zant, 
    972 F.2d 318
    , 320 (11th Cir. 1992) (noting that
    successful habeas petitioner can assert speedy trial rights
    related to the state’s post-habeas delays in his upcoming state
    17
    IV
    For the reasons stated, we hold that the District Court
    had jurisdiction to adjudicate Wilson’s Rule 60(b) motion
    filed after he had been issued a writ of habeas corpus. We
    also hold that the District Court did not err when it required
    Wilson to exhaust in state court the new claims he raised in
    his Rule 60(b) motion. We will affirm the judgment of the
    District Court.
    proceedings); Fisher v. Rose, 
    757 F.2d 789
    , 791–92 (6th Cir.
    1985) (indicating that speedy trial claims, including those
    stemming from delay in retrying successful habeas
    petitioners, are ordinarily subject to exhaustion and listing
    other cases that held the same).
    18
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 12-2283

Citation Numbers: 782 F.3d 110, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4175, 2015 WL 1137437

Judges: Ambro, Hardiman, Greenaway

Filed Date: 3/16/2015

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/19/2024

Authorities (22)

zachary-wilson-v-jeffrey-a-beard-commissioner-of-the-pennsylvania , 426 F.3d 653 ( 2005 )

louis-mickens-thomas-v-donald-vaughn-pennsylvania-board-of-probation-and , 355 F.3d 294 ( 2004 )

Wilson v. Beard , 314 F. Supp. 2d 434 ( 2004 )

Lozada v. Deeds , 111 S. Ct. 860 ( 1991 )

kelvin-x-morris-no-as-1924-v-martin-horn-commissioner-pennsylvania , 187 F.3d 333 ( 1999 )

harold-lee-hankins-v-thomas-fulcomer-superintendent-the-attorney-general , 941 F.2d 246 ( 1991 )

Brian Jones v. John Keane, Superintendent, Woodbourne ... , 329 F.3d 290 ( 2003 )

Eddleman v. McKee , 586 F.3d 409 ( 2009 )

Pitchess v. Davis , 95 S. Ct. 1748 ( 1975 )

Joseph Coady v. Donald T. Vaughn the District Attorney of ... , 251 F.3d 480 ( 2001 )

Budget Blinds, Inc. v. White , 536 F.3d 244 ( 2008 )

Brady v. Maryland , 83 S. Ct. 1194 ( 1963 )

Howard P. Fisher v. Jim Rose and William Leech , 757 F.2d 789 ( 1985 )

Shawn Parker v. Donald Kelchner, Superintendent Attorney ... , 429 F.3d 58 ( 2005 )

Gibbs v. Frank , 500 F.3d 202 ( 2007 )

Henderson v. Shinseki , 131 S. Ct. 1197 ( 2011 )

Batson v. Kentucky , 106 S. Ct. 1712 ( 1986 )

Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp. , 126 S. Ct. 1235 ( 2006 )

James Capps v. George Sullivan , 13 F.3d 350 ( 1993 )

Wynn Satterlee v. Hugh Wolfenbarger , 453 F.3d 362 ( 2006 )

View All Authorities »