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Nature of Suit Code: 530
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Habeas Corpus
Cause of Action: 

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FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

APR 27 2005 

PATRICK FISHER 

Clerk 

JOHN W. DICKSON, 

Petitioner-Appellant, 

V. 

ERIC FRANKLIN, Warden, 

Respondent-Appellee. 

No. 04-6196 

(D.C. No. CV-04-53-F) 

(W.D. Okla.) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before LUCERO, McKAY, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and 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)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.l(G). The case is 

therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. 

Petitioner-appellant John W. Dickson appeals from the district court's order 

denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Dickson was 

This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the 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. 

Appellate Case: 04-6196 Document: 010110614710 Date Filed: 04/27/2005 Page: 1
convicted after a jury trial in Oklahoma state court of possession of cocaine base 

after prior conviction of a felony. On appeal he raises two issues: (I) the jury at 

his trial was instructed under the wrong habitual offender statute; and (2) he 

should have received the benefit of an amendment to the habitual offender statute 

applicable to his case. The district court previously granted him a certificate of 

appealability (COA) as to these issues. See id. § 2253(c). We affirm the 

judgment of the district court denying Dickson's petition. 

The state district court sentenced Dickson, in accordance with the jury's 

recommendation, to a forty-year sentence. On direct appeal to the Oklahoma 

Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA), Dickson raised two issues. He contended (I) 

that his sentence was excessive due to numerous factors including prosecutorial 

misconduct in the form of improper argument during his sentencing proceeding, 

and (2) that he was entitled to the benefit of a post-offense amendment of the 

general sentencing enhancement statute. The OCCA granted Dickson relief on 

the prosecutorial misconduct issue, and reduced his sentence to twenty years. It 

dcniC'd relief on the post-offense amendment issue, however, reasoning that since 

there was no express indication that the legislature had intended the sentencing 

amendment to operate retroactively, Dickson was only entitled to the law in effect 

at the time he committed his crime. 

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Dickson later filed an application for sentence modification in state district 

court. He argued that the district court had given improper jury instructions that 

combined provisions from Oklahoma's drug enhancement statute, Okla. Stat. tit. 

63, § 2-401, with provisions from its general enhancement statute, Okla. Stat. tit. 

21, § 51.1. He also reasserted his argument about retroactive modification to the 

sentencing statute, incorrectly stating that the OCCA had not addressed that 

argument in its decision on his direct appeal. The state district court summarily 

denied Dickson's application. Dickson filed a petition in error to the OCCA, 

which dismissed his appeal because he had failed to provide a certified copy of 

the order denying post-conviction relief with his petition in error. 1 

Dickson moved for rehearing of the dismissal, asserting that the omission 

had been due to a prison law clerk error. In support of his motion for rehearing, 

he provided an affidavit from the prison law clerk who prepared the appeal. The 

law clerk stated that he was responsible for a high volume of cases, and had made 

an inadvertent mistake in processing Dickson's appeal paperwork. After 

preparing the paperwork he had given it to Dickson for proofreading and filing, 

but had inadvertently forgotten to tell him to provide a copy of the order denying 

In dismissing the appeal, the OCCA cited Oklahoma Court of Criminal 

Appeals Rule 2.1 ( e )( 1 ), which pertains to applications for an appeal out of time. 

Dickson had not requested an appeal out of time, however, and the citation to this 

rule appears to have been a scrivener's error. The proper rule requiring a 

certified copy of the state district court's order, is OCCA Rule 5.2(C)(2). 

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relief to the OCCA. The law clerk asked the OCCA not to hold his mistake 

against Dickson. It appears that the OCCA subsequently denied Dickson's motion 

for rehearing. 

Dickson filed this action in federal district court, asserting the two issues 

he now presents on appeal. The district court found that he had procedurally 

defaulted his improper jury instruction argument by failing to present a certified 

copy of the order appealed from with his submission to the OCCA. It further 

found that his other issue, concerning retroactive modification of the statute, 

raised only an issue of state law and that Dickson therefore could not obtain 

federal habeas relief as to that issue. 

1. Improper jury instruction issue 

We will describe this issue briefly, before showing why it is procedurally 

barred. The basic range for Dickson's sentence for cocaine possession was two to 

ten years. See Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 2-402(B)(l). His sentence was enhanced 

because he had a prior felony conviction for second-degree murder. The version 

of Oklahoma's general sentencing enhancement statute in effect prior to 2001 

provided that a person who committed an offense carrying a sentence of more 

than five years for a first conviction, and who had a prior felony conviction, 

would be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of "not less than ten (I 0) years." 

Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 51.1 (A)( 1) (1999). Dickson argues, however, that the jury 

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was improperly instructed under a different enhancement statute, Okla. Stat. tit. 

63, § 2-401 (C), applicable only to repeat drug offenses. 

As mentioned, the OCCA rejected Dickson's attempt to raise this issue on 

appeal, because he failed to provide a certified copy of the district court's order 

denying his motion for sentence modification. See OCCA Rule 5.2(C)(2). The 

OCCA has determined that this requirement is jurisdictional. See Duvall v. State, 

869 P.2d 332, 334 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994). By failing to comply with the rule, 

Dickson defaulted his federal claim in Oklahoma state court. 

"In all cases in which a state prisoner has defaulted his federal claims in 

state court pursuant to an independent and adequate state procedural rule, federal 

habeas review of the claims is barred unless the prisoner can demonstrate cause 

for the default and actual prejudice ... or demonstrate that failure to consider the 

claims will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice." Coleman v. Thompson, 

501 U.S. 722, 750 (1991). We have previously held that failure to comply with 

Rule 5.2(C)(2) represents an independent and adequate state ground for denying 

habeas relief. Duvall v. Reynolds, 139 F.3d 768, 796-97 (10th Cir. 1998). 

Therefore, Dickson's claim is procedurally barred in the federal courts unless he 

can show either cause and prejudice for his default, or that a fundamental 

miscarriage of justice will result from application of the procedural bar. 

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Dickson has asserted two grounds as "cause" to excuse his procedural 

default. First, he claims that the prison law clerk erred by not properly instructing 

him to submit a certified copy of the order appealed from. Assuming that 

ineffective assistance by a prison law clerk could establish "cause," Dickson 

cannot make such a showing in this instance, because he had no constitutional 

right to assistance of counsel in connection with post-conviction relief. See 

Smallwood v. Gibson, 191 F.3d 1257, 1269 (10th Cir. 1999). 

Second, Dickson has argued that his procedural default should be excused 

because he suffers from mental disabilities including retardation and major 

depressive disorder. Given his reliance on a prison law clerk to prepare his 

submissions to the Oklahoma courts, Dickson fails to show that his own mental 

disabilities were the cause of his procedural default. 

Nor can Dickson demonstrate actual prejudice from the alleged error. In 

the prior offense stage of Dickson's trial, the jury was instructed that it could 

impose a sentence of imprisonment of "not less than 10 years." Trial Tr. at 224. 

The court asked whether this was the correct penalty for the offense of possession 

of a controlled substance after a previous conviction for second-degree murder. 

The prnsecutor replied "yes," and defense counsel did not disagree. See id. In 

fact, the sentence of "not less than ten years" is exactly the sentence prescribed in 

Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 51.l(A)(l) (1999), the enhancement statute Dickson contends 

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was applicable to his case (though as we shall see, he also contends he was 

entitled to a subsequent modification of the statute). 

Finally, Dickson argues that a miscarriage of justice will occur if his claim 

is not heard, because he is actually innocent of the drug offense. Having carefully 

reviewed the transcript of his trial, however, we find no grounds to conclude that 

Dickson was actually innocent of his crime. Notwithstanding Dickson's claim 

that his case involved "a drug that he did not use, in someone['s] home other than 

his own, which was found in the restroom where he had no control over the drug," 

Aplt. Br. at 3, the uncontroverted testimony at trial revealed that Officer Larry 

Damron observed Dickson fling the piece of rock cocaine for which he was 

convicted out of his left hand just before Officer Damron arrested Dickson. 

Officer Damron recovered the cocaine, and the chain of custody and chemical 

identity of this substance as rock cocaine were established at trial. 

2. Retroactive benefit of sentencing enhancement statute issue 

While Dickson's other issue, involving an amendment to Okla. Stat. tit. 21, 

§ 51.1 (A)(l ), is not procedurally barred, it is without merit. The statute was 

amended effective July 1, 2001, to provide for a minimum sentence for offenders 

with one prior felony conviction of twice the minimum provided in the applicable 

felony statute for a first time offender. Since the minimum sentence provided by 

the statute governing Dickson's drug offense was two years, the amendment 

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would, if applied to his conviction, have allowed the jury to award him a 

minimum punishment of four years, rather than ten years. 

In rejecting Dickson's claim that he was entitled to the benefit of the 

retroactive amendment, the OCCA determined as a matter of state law that 

Dickson was not entitled to the benefit of the amendment. Federal habeas relief 

will not lie for errors of state law. Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67-68 (1991). 

Dickson argues, however, that the OCCA's alleged failure to properly apply state 

law violated his federal due process rights, citing Hicks v. Oklahoma, 447 U.S. 

343, 346 (1980). Hicks involved the affirmance by the OCCA of a conviction 

obtained under a statute that the OCCA had previously declared unconstitutional 

in a different case. Id. at 345. Here, by contrast, Dickson fails to point to any 

OCCA precedent determining that the amendment to Okla. Stat. tit. 21, 

§ 51.1 (A)( 1) should have retroactive effect. In fact, Oklahoma case law is to the 

contrary. See Williams v. State, 59 P .3d 518, 519 (Okla. Crim. App. 2002) 

(stating general rule that in absence of express indication that legislature intended 

amendment changing sentencing range to operate retroactively, defendant is 

entitled only to application of law in effect at time of his crime). In order to 

benefit from the rule in Hicks, a habeas petitioner must show that the alleged 

failure to apply state law was "arbitrary in the constitutional sense." Aycox v. 

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Lytle, 196 F .3d 1174, 1180 (10th Cir. 1999) ( quotation omitted). Dickson has not 

met that standard. 

The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. 

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Entered for the Court 

Stephen H. Anderson 

Circuit Judge 

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