Cecil Tasby v. Ron Frakes ( 2013 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUN 26 2013
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
CECIL PAUL TASBY, No. 11-35178
Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 2:09-cv-00264-RHW
v.
MEMORANDUM *
RON FRAKES,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Washington
Robert H. Whaley, Senior District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted March 7, 2013
Seattle, Washington
Before: W. FLETCHER, RAWLINSON, and EBEL,** Circuit Judges.
Petitioner-Appellant Cecil Paul Tasby (Tasby) challenges the district court’s
denial of his habeas petition.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable David M. Ebel, Senior Circuit Judge for the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, sitting by designation.
1. We express hesitation over whether Tasby’s petition fairly presented
his federal claims to the Washington Supreme Court. A habeas petition must
reference specific federal guarantees and state facts underlying the claims. See
Gentry v. Sinclair, 705 F.3d 884, 897 (9th Cir. 2013). A federal claim may be
“raised in the petition itself, an accompanying brief, or another similar document
filed with that court.” Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
Tasby’s petition states four federal claims: “(1) Ineffective Assistance of
Counsel; (2) Prosecutorial Misconduct; (3) Rules of Evidence; [and] (4) Federal
Confrontation Clause,” but relies on the attached Washington Court of Appeal’s
opinion to state the facts underlying his claims. Although pro se petitions are “held
to a more lenient standard than counseled petitions,” Davis v. Silva, 511 F.3d 1005,
1009 (9th Cir. 2008), we nevertheless harbor doubt over whether attaching a state
court decision to a petition suffices to fairly present facts underlying a petitioner’s
federal claims.
2. Notwithstanding exhaustion, the state court did not unreasonably
conclude that the prosecutor’s misconduct constituted harmless error. While the
prosecutor improperly cross-examined Tasby on the veracity of some of the state’s
witnesses, Tasby’s conviction rested on a plethora of other evidence. See United
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States v. Moreland, 622 F.3d 1147, 1160-61 (9th Cir. 2008) (improper cross-
examination was harmless given the numerous other witnesses who bolstered the
government’s case). Similarly, although the prosecutor improperly vouched for
Cherity Phelps’s veracity, the misconduct did not materially affect the fairness of
Tasby’s trial because Phelps’s testimony was not critical to the state’s case. See
United States v. Stinson, 647 F.3d 1196, 1212-13 (9th Cir. 2011) (holding that
vouching was harmless error given the significance of the government’s other
evidence).
Nor did the state court unreasonably characterize as “not improper” the
prosecutor’s comments about a missing witness. See United States v. Necoechea,
986 F.2d 1273, 1282 (9th Cir. 1993) (“A prosecutor is entitled to comment on a
defendant’s failure to present witnesses so long as it is not phrased to call attention
to the defendant’s own failure to testify. . . .”) (citation omitted).
Finally, the state court’s conclusion was reasonable that the prosecutor did
not impermissibly comment on Tasby’s right to remain silent. See United States v.
Williams, 990 F.2d 507, 510 (9th Cir. 1993) (holding that defendant’s “right not to
testify was not implicated byecause he did in fact testify at trial”).
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3. The state court did not unreasonably conclude that the Confrontation
Clause violation was harmless. Detective Burbridge’s testimony that Tasby’s
pretrial counsel confirmed the veracity of the detective’s report was testimonial
hearsay, but it merely corroborated the detective’s own recollection of Tasby’s
admission. Other circumstantial evidence also suggested that Tasby knew that
Ramey had informed the police of his involvement in the robbery. Accordingly, the
Confrontation Clause violation was harmless because it did not implicate the
verdict. See Merolillo v. Yates, 663 F.3d 444, 454 (9th Cir. 2011) (“Habeas relief is
warranted only if the [constitutional] error had a substantial and injurious effect or
influence in determining the jury’s verdict. . . .”).
4. The state court did not unreasonably apply Strickland in denying
Tasby’s IAC claim. Because the prosecutorial misconduct and Confrontation
Clause violation were harmless errors, the failure of Tasby’s counsel to object to
these violations did not cause prejudice. See Carrera v. Ayers, 699 F.3d 1104, 1111
(9th Cir. 2012) (denying habeas relief where defendant failed to establish that
counsel’s failure to object to the prosecutor’s peremptory strikes caused prejudice).
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5. Tasby failed to exhaust his cumulative error claim, as the district court
neither considered nor certified the claim, and it was not set forth in his petition to
the Washington Supreme Court. See Wooten v. Kirkland, 540 F.3d 1019, 1026 (9th
Cir. 2008) (district court properly denied habeas petition where petitioner failed to
exhaust his cumulative error claim).
Nevertheless, given the overwhelming evidence underlying Tasby’s
convictions, the prosecutorial misconduct, coupled with the Confrontation Clause
violation, do not amount to a due process violation. Cf. Parle v. Runnels, 505 F.3d
922, 930 (9th Cir. 2007) (noting that habeas relief was warranted because
cumulative error of individual constitutional errors significantly compromised the
defense).
AFFIRMED.
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