Watson v. Boone

F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
NOV 28 1997
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
JESSE WATSON,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v. No. 97-5040
(D.C. No. 96-CV-460-B)
BOBBY BOONE; ATTORNEY (N.D. Okla.)
GENERAL OF THE STATE OF
OKLAHOMA,
Respondents-Appellees.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before BALDOCK, BARRETT, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
After examining appellant’s brief and the appellate record, this panel has
determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the
determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9.
The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Petitioner Jesse Watson, appearing pro se, appeals the district court’s denial
of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Our
jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 2253. Because Watson filed his habeas
petition in the district court on May 22, 1996, we review his petition under
28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996)
(effective April 24, 1996). See Lindh v. Murphy, 117 S. Ct. 2059, 2068 (1997).
Under AEDPA, a federal court may not grant a writ of habeas corpus with
respect to any claim that was rejected on the merits by a state court unless the
state court’s adjudication resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved
an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, as determined by
the Supreme Court, or 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). We grant petitioner’s application for a
certificate of appealability and we affirm. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c).
Background
Petitioner was convicted of robbery with a firearm, unlawful wearing of
a mask while in commission of a felony, felonious possession of a firearm, and
possession of a police radio while in commission of a felony. He appealed his
conviction to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which reversed on the
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felonious possession of a firearm count, and summarily affirmed on all other
claims. Petitioner sought post-conviction relief in Oklahoma state court, which
was denied. On May 22, 1996, petitioner filed his petition for a writ of habeas
corpus in the district court, raising eight grounds for relief, all of which had been
raised in Oklahoma state court. The district court denied habeas relief, and
concluded petitioner should not be granted a certificate of appealability.
Petitioner asserts that three of his claims warrant a certificate of
appealability: (1) an instruction violated his presumption of innocence because it
assumed as fact that he had departed from the crime scene; (2) the trial court
erred in refusing to give his requested instruction cautioning the jury on
identification testimony; and (3) several comments by the prosecutor denied him
a fair trial.
The Flight Instruction
The challenged flight instruction, a standard Oklahoma jury instruction,
permits the jury to consider evidence of defendant’s departure from the crime as
a circumstance tending to prove guilt. The introductory paragraph of the
instruction states, “[e]vidence has been introduced of the defendant’s departure
shortly after the alleged crime was committed. You must first determine whether
this action by the defendant constituted flight.”
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After petitioner’s state appeal, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
concluded that because this instruction assumes the defendant to have committed
the crime, it was fundamental error to give it unless the defendant had either
admitted to the alleged crime or otherwise placed himself at the scene, but
interposed a plea of self-defense or otherwise testified at trial explaining his
departure. Mitchell v. State, 876 P.2d 682, 684-85 (Okla. Crim. App. 1993),
as corrected by 887 P.2d 335 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994). However, the court later
held that the rule in Mitchell was an interpretation of state law, did not create any
new constitutional rights, and, therefore, only applied prospectively. See Richie
v. State, 908 P.2d 268, 276 (Okla. Crim. App. 1995), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 111(1996); Rivers v. State, 889 P.2d 288, 292 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994).
Petitioner did not place himself at the scene of the crime and claims that
giving this instruction violated his constitutional presumption of innocence.
Assuming there is a constitutional error, an issue we do not decide, the effect of
the instruction on the jury’s verdict is subject to a harmless error analysis.
Several Supreme Court decisions have held that instructions that erroneously
created a presumption with respect to a factual element of the crime, though
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unconstitutional, could be harmless error. See Carella v. California, 491 U.S.
263, 266 (1989) (instruction erroneously created a presumption as to a factual
issue, case remanded for harmless error determination under Chapman v.
California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967)); Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 579-82 (1986)
(same); Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 526 (1979) (same); see also
California v. Roy, 117 S. Ct. 337, 339 (1996) (per curiam) (instruction that
erroneously defined the crime held to be “trial error,” rather than a “structural”
error); Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497, 502-04 (1987) (instruction provided
improper standard for determination of factual issue, remanded for harmless
error determination).
The proper harmless error standard on collateral review is whether,
considering the record as a whole, the error “had substantial and injurious effect
or influence in determining the jury’s verdict.” Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S.
619, 638 (1993); see also Roy, 117 S. Ct. at 338 (same). We have carefully
reviewed the record in this case and are satisfied from the evidence presented at
trial that the challenged instruction did not substantially influence or taint the
jury’s verdict. Ample evidence was submitted of petitioner’s guilt of the robbery
charge, including an eyewitness who identified him as being at the scene of the
robbery, eyewitnesses who identified him as the passenger in the car which fled
the robbery scene, and other strong circumstantial evidence pointing to him as
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the robber. We therefore find that petitioner is not entitled to habeas relief
on this ground. See Nguyen v. Reynolds, No. 96-5254, 1997 WL 693685, at *17-
18 (10th Cir. Nov. 7, 1997).
Cautionary Identification Instruction
Petitioner claims eyewitness evidence was sufficiently weak that it was
error for the trial court to deny his request to caution the jury as to the use of
eyewitness identification testimony. As the district court ruled, under Oklahoma
state law, this instruction is only to be given where there is a serious question
concerning the reliability of the identification, see McDoulett v. State, 685 P.2d
978, 980 (Okla. Crim. App. 1984). We have reviewed the record and find no
error in the trial court’s refusal to give the instruction.
Claims of Prosecutorial Misconduct
Petitioner claims several comments by the prosecutor deprived him of a
fair trial. Review of prosecutorial misconduct on habeas relief is limited to
the question of whether the challenged statements “so infected the trial with
unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process.”
Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 643 (1974). In evaluating whether
improper prosecutorial comments render a defendant’s trial fundamentally unfair,
the court views the comments within the context of the trial as a whole. United
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States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 11-12 (1985). The court considers “the pertinent
surrounding circumstances at trial, including the strength of the state’s case
relating to the petitioner’s guilt, and the prejudice, if any, attributable to the
prosecutor’s comments.” Brecheen v. Reynolds, 41 F.3d 1343, 1355 (10th Cir.
1994) (internal quotation and citation omitted).
Petitioner first claims as error what he characterizes as the prosecutor’s
attempts to define reasonable doubt. The prosecutor asked jurors during voir dire
not to impose a heavier burden on the state than reasonable doubt, and described
certain examples, which he asked the jurors to agree would place a higher burden
on the state than the reasonable doubt standard. Oklahoma has held that it is error
for the trial judge or prosecutor to try to define reasonable doubt. See Williams
v. State, 658 P.2d 499, 500 (Okla. Crim. App. 1983). However, the prosecutor’s
statement did not misstate the burden of proof, nor did his attempted definition
“create[] such confusion and uncertainty in the minds of the jury so as to render
the verdict possibly unfair and violative of defendant’s right to a fundamentally
fair trial.” Jones v. State, 554 P.2d 830, 835 (Okla. Crim. App. 1976). Thus, we
find no constitutional error in the prosecutor’s remarks.
Petitioner next claims the prosecutor attempted to convey to the jury that
the presumption of innocence was eliminated at the end of testimony, prior to
deliberations. The prosecutor opened his rebuttal closing argument with the
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statement, “[t]he defense is right, the defendant is presumed to be innocent.
It’s now time to lift that presumption. It’s time to make that go away.”
Tr. at 408.
It is settled law that “[t]he presumption of innocence . . . remains with the
accused throughout every stage of the trial, including, most importantly, the jury’s
deliberations, and . . . is extinguished only upon the jury’s determination that guilt
has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.” Mahorney v. Wallman, 917
F.2d 469, 471 n.2 (10th Cir. 1990) (emphasis in original). In Mahorney, the
prosecutor made misstatements concerning the presumption of innocence during
voir dire and closing arguments, and his closing argument comments conveyed to
the jury that the presumption of innocence had been eliminated prior to
deliberations. Id. at 471. We granted habeas, finding that the prosecutor’s
comments negated the defendant’s constitutionally rooted presumption of
innocence. Id. at 473-74.
We do not condone the prosecutor’s remarks in this case. However, the
comments in Mahorney were more egregious and pervasive than here. 1
1
In Mahorney, the prosecutor stated, “I submit to you, under the law and the
evidence, that we are in a little different position today than we were in when we
first started this trial and it was your duty at that time, under the law of this land,
as you were being selected as jurors, to actively in your minds presume that man
over there not to be guilty of the offense of rape in the first degree, but you know,
things have changed since that time. I submit to you at this time, under the law
(continued...)
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Further, the jury was properly instructed as to the presumption of innocence and
the state’s burden of proof. Given this, we conclude the challenged remark did
not so undermine petitioner’s presumption of innocence as to deny him a
constitutional protection. Cf. Mahorney, 917 F.2d at 473.
Finally, petitioner complains about the prosecutor’s comment that the jury’s
sentence should put petitioner “out of the game” and about other sentencing-
related comments. Petitioner misunderstands that these comments were made at
the sentencing stage of the trial, after the jury had reached a guilty verdict. Thus,
the comments were not error.
The judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District
of Oklahoma is AFFIRMED. The mandate shall issue forthwith.
Entered for the Court
Michael R. Murphy
Circuit Judge
1
(...continued)
and under the evidence, that presumption has been removed, that the presumption
no longer exists, that that (sic) presumption has been removed by evidence and he
is standing before you now guilty.” Mahorney, 917 F.2d at 471.
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