Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-88-02747/USCOURTS-ca10-88-02747-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Jim Brittian
Appellee
Andres Valdez
Appellant
Duane L. Woodard
Appellee

Document Text:

FILED 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

Uoited State$ CfflJri of 1\ppeals 

Tenth Cir.aiit 

MAR 2 9 1990 

.ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

ANDRES VALDEZ, also known as 

Robert J. Russo, 

Petitioner-Appellant, 

v. 

) 

) 

, ) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

JIM BRITTIAN, Superintendent of ) 

Arkansas Valley Correction Facility;) 

DUANE L. WOODARD, Attorney General, ) 

Respondent-Appellee. 

) 

) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

No. 88-2747 

(D.C. No. 88-F-110) 

(D. Colorado) 

Before LOGAN, MOORE, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judge. 

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. 

Andres Valdez was convicted in Colorado state court of 

second-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault, habitual 

* 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 estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

Appellate Case: 88-2747 Document: 01019966771 Date Filed: 03/29/1990 Page: 1 
criminality, and commission of a violent crime. He was sentenced 

to concurrent life sentences. 

Valdez appealed his convictions to the Colorado Court of 

Appeals which reversed, finding, inter alia, that the district 

court had abused its discretion in failing to remove a prospective 

juror for cause. People v. Russo, 677 P.2d 386, 388 (Colo. Ct. 

App. 1983). On certiorari to the Colorado Supreme Court, the 

Court of Appeals decision was reversed and the convictions 

reinstated. See People v. Russo, 713 P.2d 356 (Colo. 1986). 

Thereafter, having presented the single issue involved in 

this appeal to the state courts in Colorado, Valdez sought relief 

in federal court by writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2254. The only issue presented to us on appeal is the argument 

that failure to remove the prospective juror for cause violated 

Valdez' federal constitutional rights. 

We have considered the issue carefully and cannot add 

substantially to the district court's memorandum opinion and order 

entered October 27, 1988. We do not believe the circumstances of 

this case present a situation appropriate for "implied bias.'' See 

generally Smith v. Phillips, 455 U.S. 209, 221-24 (1982) 

(O'Connor, J., concurring); Person v. Miller, 854 F.2d 656, 664 

(4th Cir. 1988) ("[T]he doctrine of implied bias is limited in 

application to those extreme situations where the relationship 

between a prospective juror and some aspect of the litigation is 

such that it is highly unlikely that the average person could 

remain impartial in his deliberations under the circumstances."), 

cert. denied, 109 S. Ct. 111 9 (1989). Therefore, we affirm for 

-2-

Appellate Case: 88-2747 Document: 01019966771 Date Filed: 03/29/1990 Page: 2 
• 

• 

substantially the reasons given in the district court's memorandum 

opinion and order. The mandate shall issue forthwith . 

AFFIRMED. 

-3-

Entered for the Court 

James K. Logan 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 88-2747 Document: 01019966771 Date Filed: 03/29/1990 Page: 3