Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-05172/USCOURTS-ca10-90-05172-0/pdf.json

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

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) 

FILED 

Uoited States Q,,..,r of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS T,-nth Cirr.u;. 

MOSES HUBERT MUHAMMAD, 

Petitioner-Appellant, 

v. 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

STEPHEN W. KAISER, Warden; ~ GENERAL, 

STATE OF OKLAHOMA, 

Respondent-Appellee. 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

APR 2 i 1991 

llOBERT L. HOECKER 

) Clerk 

) 

) 

) 

) No. 90-5172 

) (D.C. No. 89-C-695-B) 

) (N.D. Okla.) 

) 

) 

) 

Before ANDERSON, TACHA, and BRORBY, 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); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

Petitioner-appellant Moses Hubert Metoyer MUhammad was 

convicted by a jury of larceny of merchandise from a retailer in 

Oklahoma state court. He is currently incarcerated at the 

Lexington Correction Center in Lexington, Oklahoma. 

Petitioner filed a direct appeal from his conviction with the 

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. During the pendency of that 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppal. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

Appellate Case: 90-5172 Document: 010110034342 Date Filed: 04/24/1991 Page: 1 
appeal, the appellate court remanded the matter to the district 

court for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of purposeful 

exclusion of minorities from the jury panel. The hearing was 

conducted by District Judge Jay Dalton, the same judge who 

presided over petitioner's initial jury trial. The Court of 

Criminal Appeals affirmed petitioner's conviction. Petitioner 

also filed two applications for post-conviction relief with the 

district court. Judge Dalton denied both these applications, and 

these rulings were affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals. 

Petitioner claims his constitutional rights have been 

violated because the judge who presided over his initial jury also 

conducted the evidentiary hearing on petitioner's claim under 

Batson Y..!.. Kentucky. 476 U.S. 79 (1986) and denied the two 

applications for post-conviction relief. Petitioner, however, 

failed to present any evidence of the district judge's bias or 

personal interest. See United States Y..!.. Irwin, 561 F.2d 198, 200 

(10th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1012 (1977). Petitioner's 

unsupported allegations of bias are not a sufficient basis on 

which this court may conclude petitioner's consitutional rights 

have been violated. 

Moreover, Oklahoma law requires a petitioner to submit his 

claim that his sentence was entered in violation of the law to 

"the court in which the judgment and sentence on conviction was 

imposed to secure the appropriate relief." Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 

22, § 1080. It was therefore proper for the trial judge to 

consider petitioner's applications for post-conviction relief. 

-2-

Appellate Case: 90-5172 Document: 010110034342 Date Filed: 04/24/1991 Page: 2 
. 1 

These rulings were upheld by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal 

Appeals. 

Petitioner contends Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 22, § 1084 

prohibited the trial judge from conducting the evidentiary hearing 

on the Batson issue because the judge had presided over the 

initial jury trial. This disqualification requirement, however, 

does not apply to an order of the Court of Appeals directly to the 

trial judge to reconsider a particular matter. 

Finally, we agree with the district court's conclusion that 

petitioner was adequately represented at the evidentiary hearing. 

We find petitioner's other claims to be without merit. We AFFIRM 

the ruling of the district court. The mandate shall issue 

forthwith. 

-3-

ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Deanell Reece Tacha 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 90-5172 Document: 010110034342 Date Filed: 04/24/1991 Page: 3