FI L ED

U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S

EL EVENTH CI RCUI T

AUGUST 20, 2010

J OHN L EY

CL ERK [ P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

N o

. 0 9

- 1 3 8 3 8

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 0 8

- 2 0 7 3 0

- C V

- J A L

J U L I O C E S A R B E L L I Z I A

,

P e t i t i o n e r

- A p p e l l e e

,

v e r s u s

F L O R I D A D E P A R T M E N T O F C O R R E C T I O N S

, S e c r e t a r y

, W a l t e r A

. M c N e i l

,

R e s p o n d e n t

- A p p e l l a n t

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t

f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f F l o r i d a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

( A u g u s t 2 0

, 2 0 1 0 )

B e f o r e B A R K E T T a n d M A R C U S

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

, a n d H O O D

, D i s t r i c t J u d g e

. *

P E R C U R I A M :

Honora ble J oseph M. Hood, United States District Judge f or the Ea stern District of *

Kentucky , sitti ng by

desig nation.W a l t e r A

. M c N e i l

, t h e S e c r e t a r y f o r t h e F l o r i d a D e p a r t m e n t o f C o r r e c t i o n s

( “ t h e S t a t e ” )

, a p p e a l s t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s g r a n t o f J u l i o C e s a r B e l l i z i a ’ s 2 8 U

. S

. C

.

§ 2 2 5 4 h a b e a s c o r p u s p e t i t i o n

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t g r a n t e d B e l l i z i a ’ s § 2 2 5 4

p e t i t i o n

, f

i n d i n g t h a t h i s t r i a l c o u n s e l w a s i n e f f e c t i v e f o r f a i l i n g t o m o v e f

o r a

j u d g m e n t o f a c q u i t t a l d u r i n g B e l l i z i a ’ s t r i a l i n s t a t e c o u r t o n t h e g r o u n d t h a t t h e

S t a t e f a i l e d t o p r o v e t h a t B e l l i z i a p o s s e s s e d t w e n t y

- e i g h t g r a m s o r m o r e o f h e r o i n

f o r p u r p o s e s o f a p p l y i n g a t w e n t y

- f i v e

- y e a r m a n d a t o r y m i n i m u m s e n t e n c e

, a s

r e q u i r e d b y R o s s v

. S t a t e

, 5 2 8 S o

. 2 d 1 2 3 7 ( F l a

. 3 d D i s t

. C t

. A p p

. 1 9 8 8 )

. T h e

d i s t r i c t c o u r t f

o u n d t h a t h a d B e l l i z i a ’ s c o u n s e l c h a l l e n g e d t h e S t a t e ’ s f a i l u r e t o t e s t

t h e c o n t e n t s o f e a c h o f t h e t h i r t y

- t w o p e l l e t s

, w h i c h a l l e g e d l y c o n t a i n e d h e r o i n

,

B e l l i z i a w o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n s u b j e c t t o t h e t w e n t y

- f

i v e

- y e a r m a n d a t o r y m i n i m u m

s e n t e n c e

, a n d t h u s g r a n t e d h i s h a b e a s p e t i t i o n

. T h e S t a t e a p p e a l s

. W e a f f i r m

.

I

. B A C K G R O U N D

A t t r i a l

, B e l l i z i a t e s t i f

i e d t h a t h e w a s a p p r o a c h e d b y t w o m e n w h o

t h r e a t e n e d t o k i l l h i s m o t h e r a n d b r o t h e r u n l e s s h e h e l p e d t h e m t r a n s p o r t d r u g s i n t o

t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s

. H e k n e w t h e m e n w e r e d r u g t r a f f i c k e r s

. H e s w a l l o w e d t h e

a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h i r t y

- t h r e e p e l l e t s g i v e n t o h i m p r i o r t o b o a r d i n g h i s f l i g h t f r o m

V e n e z u e l a t o M i a m i

, b u t t e s t i f i e d t h a t

, w h i l e h e s u s p e c t e d t h a t t h e y c o n t a i n e d

d r u g s

, h e w a s n o t s u r e o f t h e t y p e o r a m o u n t

. U p o n a r r i v a l i n M i a m i

, B e l l i z i a l o s t

2c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d w a s a d m i t t e d t o t h e h o s p i t a l w h e r e t h e p e l l e t s w e r e d i s c o v e r e d

a n d s u r g i c a l l y r e m o v e d

.

T h e c r i m i n a l i s t a t t h e M i a m i

- D a d e P o l i c e D e p a r t m e n t C r i m e L a b t e s t e d o n e

p e l l e t

, w h i c h w a s f

o u n d t o c o n t a i n h e r o i n

, b u t d i d n o t t e s t t h e r e m a i n d e r

. I n s t e a d

,

s h e w e i g h e d t h e o n e p e l l e t c o n t a i n i n g h e r o i n

, a s s u m e d t h e r e m a i n i n g t h i r t y

- o n e

p e l l e t s c o n t a i n e d h e r o i n o f a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e s a m e w e i g h t ( 9

. 1 g r a m s e a c h )

, a n d

c o n c l u d e d

, o n t h a t b a s i s

, t h a t B e l l i z i a p o s s e s s e d a n e t w e i g h t o f 2 9 1

. 2 g r a m s o f

h e r o i n

. B a s e d t h e r e u p o n

, B e l l i z i a w a s c o n v i c t e d o f t r a f f i c k i n g i n t w e n t y

- e i g h t

g r a m s o r m o r e o f h e r o i n

, a n d s e n t e n c e d t o t h e t w e n t y

- f i v e

- y e a r m a n d a t o r y

m i n i m u m

. T h e s t a t e t r i a l a n d a p p e l l a t e c o u r t s a f f i r m e d h i s c o n v i c t i o n a n d

s e n t e n c e

, a n d h i s p r o s e R u l e 3

. 8 5 0 m o t i o n s f o r p o s t

- c o n v i c t i o n r e l i e f w e r e d e n i e d

.

B e l l i z i a t h e n t i m e l y f

i l e d t h e i n s t a n t § 2 2 5 4 h a b e a s c o r p u s p e t i t i o n

, a r g u i n g

i n t e r a l i a t h a t h i s t r i a l c o u n s e l w a s i n e f f e c t i v e f o r f a i l i n g t o m o v e f

o r a j u d g m e n t o f

a c q u i t t a l b a s e d u p o n t h e i n s u f f i c i e n c y o f t h e S t a t e ’ s e v i d e n c e p u r s u a n t t o R o s s

, a n d

t h a t h e w a s p r e

j u d i c e d d u e t o t h e e r r o n e o u s i m p o s i t i o n o f t h e t w e n t y

- f i v e

- y e a r

m a n d a t o r y m i n i m u m s e n t e n c e

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t r e v i e w e d t h e c l a i m d e n o v o a n d 1

Whil e fe dera l courts ty

pically must give de fer ence to state court a djudications of claims 1

in a habe as petition, see 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)( 1), such de fer ence is not required if the state cour t

failed to the a ddress the me rits of a c laim asserte d by the petitioner. See Davis v. Sec’ y for the

Dep’ t of Corr., 341 F .3d 1310, 1313 (11th Cir. 2003). Thus, we a g ree with the district court that

defe renc e wa s not require d beca use the state c ourts failed to a ddress the me rits of Be lliz ia’s

claim. The district c ourt found that B ellizi a over came the proc edura l defa ult rule by

demonstrating cause and pre judice in his meritorious Strickland claim. I n any event, the State

3g r a n t e d B e l l i z i a ’ s m o t i o n

, w h i c h t h e S t a t e a p p e a l s

.

I I

. D I S C U S S I O N

W h e n r e v i e w i n g t h e g r a n t o f a § 2 2 5 4 p e t i t i o n

, w e r e v i e w “ q u e s t i o n s o f l a w

a n d m i x e d q u e s t i o n s o f l a w a n d f a c t

, i n c l u d i n g i n e f

f e c t i v e a s s i s t a n c e o f c o u n s e l

c l a i m s

, d e n o v o

, a n d r e v i e w f i n d i n g s o f f

a c t f o r c l e a r e r r o r

. ” P a r d o v

. S e c ’ y

, F l a

.

D e p ’ t o f C o r r

. , 5 8 7 F

. 3 d 1 0 9 3

, 1 0 9 8 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 9 ) ( c i t a t i o n o m i t t e d )

. W e

c o n s t r u e p r o s e f

i l i n g s

, l i k e B e l l i z i a ’ s

, l i b e r a l l y

. S e e U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. W e b b

, 5 6 5

F

. 3 d 7 8 9

, 7 9 2 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 9 )

.

I n t h i s c a s e

, B e l l i z i a c o n t e n d s t h a t h i s c o u n s e l w a s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y

i n e f f e c t i v e u n d e r S t r i c k l a n d v

. W a s h i n g t o n

, 4 6 6 U

. S

. 6 6 8 ( 1 9 8 4 ) f o r f a i l i n g t o 2

a r g u e t h a t

, u n d e r R o s s

, t h e S t a t e w a s r e q u i r e d t o p r o v e t h a t e v e r y p e l l e t c o n t a i n e d

h e r o i n a n d t o w e i g h e a c h p e l l e t

. B e c a u s e t h e S t a t e h a d n o t m e t i t s b u r d e n

, B e l l i z i a

does not cha lleng e this finding by the district court a

nd acc ording ly

is deemed to ha

ve

abandone d them on appea l. See Mize v. Hall, 532 F.3d 1184, 1189 n.3 (11th Cir. 2008).

To preva il on a claim of inef fec tive assistance of counse l, the defe ndant must 2

demonstrate both ( 1) that his counsel’s pe rfor mance was de ficient, i.e. the per formanc e fe ll

below an obje ctive standa rd of r easona

bleness, and ( 2) that he suf fer ed pre judice as a

result of

that defic ient perf

ormanc e. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687-88. “ To establish defic ient perf ormanc e,

a def endant must show that his counsel’s r epre sentation fell below a n objective standa

rd of

rea sonablene ss in light of pre vailing pr ofessional norms a t the time the repr esenta tion took

place .” Cummings v. Sec’ y for De p’t of Corr., 588 F .3d 1331, 1356 (11th Cir. 2009) (quotation

and citation omitted). To demonstra te pre judice, the de fenda

nt must show that “there is a

rea sonable proba

bility that, but for counse l’s unprofe ssional error s, the result of the pr ocee ding

would have be en diffe rent.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694. “A r easona ble proba bility is a

probability

sufficie nt to undermine conf idence in the outcome.” I d. The pe titioner has the

burden of establishing tha t he was pr ejudiced by his lawy er’ s deficie nt perfor mance . I d. at 696.

4w o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n s u b j e c t t o a t w e n t y

- f

i v e

- y e a r m a n d a t o r y

- m i n i m u m s e n t e n c e

,

h a d h i s c o u n s e l r a i s e d t h e i s s u e

.

I n R o s s

, t h e d e f

e n d a n t w a s a r r e s t e d a n d c h a r g e d w i t h t r a f f i c k i n g i n c o c a i n e

a f t e r p o l i c e r e c o v e r e d a b r o w n p a p e r b a g

, w h i c h c o n t a i n e d t w o b u n d l e s

, t h a t h e

t h r e w a w a y

. 5 2 8 S o

. 2 d a t 1 2 3 8

. T h e f i r s t b u n d l e c o n t a i n e d t h i r t y

- s i x s e p a r a t e l y

w r a p p e d

, p l a s t i c p a c k e t s o f w h i t e p o w d e r

, a n d t h e s e c o n d b u n d l e c o n t a i n e d f i f t y

s i x

. I d

. T h e S t a t e t e s t e d o n l y t w o o f t h e p a c k e t s

, o n e f r o m e a c h b u n d l e

, a n d t h e n

a t t e m p t e d t o i n c l u d e t h e w e i g h t o f t h e c o n t e n t s o f a l l n i n e t y

- t w o p a c k e t s t o s u p p o r t

a t r a f f i c k i n g c o n v i c t i o n

. I d

.

T h e T h i r d D i s t r i c t C o u r t o f A p p e a l r e v e r s e d t h e c o n v i c t i o n

, h o l d i n g t h a t

w h e n a d e f

e n d a n t i s c h a r g e d w i t h c o c a i n e t r a f f i c k i n g

, a n d t h e s u b s t a n c e s u s p e c t e d

t o b e c o c a i n e i s c o n t a i n e d i n s e p a r a t e l y w r a p p e d p a c k e t s

, t h e S t a t e d o e s n o t s a t i s f y

i t s b u r d e n o f p r o v i n g t h a t t h e c o c a i n e s a t i s f i e s t h e m i n i m u m s t a t u t o r y w e i g h t b y

c h e m i c a l l y t e s t i n g o n l y o n e o f t h e p a c k e t s a n d t h e n v i s u a l l y e x a m i n i n g t h e c o n t e n t s

o f t h e r e m a i n i n g p a c k e t s

. I d

. a t 1 2 3 9

- 4 1

. T h e c o u r t p o i n t e d o u t t h a t v i s u a l

e x a m i n a t i o n o f u n t e s t e d p a c k e t s i s i n s u f f i c i e n t t o s u p p o r t a c o n v i c t i o n b e c a u s e t h e

f a c t t h a t a p a c k e t c o n t a i n i n g c o n t r a b a n d i s f o u n d a m o n g o t h e r p a c k e t s c o n t a i n i n g a

s u b s t a n c e o f s i m i l a r a p p e a r a n c e i s n o a s s u r a n c e t h a t t h e o t h e r u n t e s t e d p a c k e t s

c o n t a i n t h e s a m e c o n t r a b a n d a s t h e r e a r e a v a s t n u m b e r o f o t h e r c h e m i c a l

5c o m p o u n d s t h a t h a v e a s i m i l a r a p p e a r a n c e

. I d

. a t 1 2 3 9

- 4 0

. M o r e o v e r

, a v i s u a l

e x a m i n a t i o n c a n n o t d e t e r m i n e t h e w e i g h t o f t h e s u s p e c t e d c o n t r a b a n d

. I d

. a t 1 2 4 0 ;

s e e a l s o S t a t e v

. C l a r k

, 5 3 8 S o

. 2 d 5 0 0

, 5 0 1 ( F l a

. 3 d D i s t

. C t

. A p p

. 1 9 8 9 ) ( a p p l y i n g

R o s s t o h e r o i n )

. A l t h o u g h F l o r i d a l a w a l l o w s f o r c i r c u m s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e t o b e

u s e d t o e s t a b l i s h t h e i d e n t i t y o f a c o n t r o l l e d s u b s t a n c e

, i t c a n n o t b e u s e d t o

e s t a b l i s h t h e w e i g h t o f a c o n t r o l l e d s u b s t a n c e

. S h e r i d a n v

. S t a t e

, 8 5 0 S o

. 2 d 6 3 8

,

6 4 1 ( F l a

. 2 d D i s t

. C t

. A p p

. 2 0 0 3 )

. T h u s

, R o s s s e t s o u t t h e c o n t r o l l i n g b r i g h t

- l i n e

r u l e t h a t t h e S t a t e m u s t t e s t e a c h s e p a r a t e l y w r a p p e d p a c k a g e t h a t i s s u s p e c t e d o f

c o n t a i n i n g c o n t r o l l e d s u b s t a n c e s i n o r d e r t o e s t a b l i s h t h e i d e n t i t y a n d w e i g h t o f t h e

c o n t r o l l e d s u b s t a n c e

.

I n t h i s c a s e

, t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t m a d e f a c t u a l f i n d i n g s t h a t t h e s u b s t a n c e i n s i d e

t h e s e p a r a t e l y w r a p p e d p e l l e t s w a s “ a k i n t o p o w d e r d r u g s

, ” a n d t h u s R o s s

m a n d a t e d t h a t t h e S t a t e w a s r e q u i r e d t o t e s t e a c h o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l l y

- w r a p p e d

p e l l e t s i n o r d e r t o m e e t i t s b u r d e n o f p r o o f a s t o t h e i d e n t i t y a n d w e i g h t o f t h e

a l l e g e d h e r o i n

. I t i s u n d i s p u t e d t h a t t h e S t a t e f a i l e d t o d o s o

. N o n e t h e l e s s B e l l i z i a

w a s c o n v i c t e d f

o r p o s s e s s i n g 2 8

. 1 g r a m s o f h e r o i n a n d s e n t e n c e d t o a m a n d a t o r y

m i n i m u m t e r m o f i m p r i s o n m e n t t w e n t y

- t w o y e a r s g r e a t e r t h a n t h e m a n d a t o r y

m i n i m u m s e n t e n c e o f t h r e e y e a r s t h a t h e w o u l d h a v e r e c e i v e d b a s e d u p o n t h e

6w e i g h t o f t h e o n e a n d o n l y p e l l e t t h a t w a s a c t u a l l y w e i g h e d

. 3

R o s s h a d b e e n t h e c o n t r o l l i n g l a w f o r m a n y y e a r s o n t h e p r e c i s e i s s u e t h a t

B e l l i z i a ’ s c o u n s e l f

a c e d

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d i d n o t e r r i n c o n c l u d i n g t h a t “ [ n ] o

c o m p e t e n t c o u n s e l

– t h a t i s

, n o c o u n s e l t h a t w a s a w a r e o f t h e l a w

– w o u l d h a v e

f a i l e d t o a r g u e t h a t t h e w e i g h t o f t h e h e r o i n a l l e g e d l y p o s s e s s e d b y [ B e l l i z i a ] w a s

i l l e g a l l y c a l c u l a t e d

. ” B a s e d o n t h i s r e c o r d

, w e c a n n o t s a y t h a t t h i s d e t e r m i n a t i o n

w a s w r o n g

.

A c c o r d i n g l y

, u p o n r e v i e w o f t h e r e c o r d a n d c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e p a r t i e s ’

b r i e f s

, w e a f f i r m t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s g r a n t o f B e l l i z i a ’ s § 2 2 5 4 p e t i t i o n f o r h a b e a s

c o r p u s r e l i e f

.

A F F I R M E D

.

Under Florida law, any person who know ingly

bring s heroin into Florida is guilty of 3

traff icking in illega l drug s. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 893.135(1) (c) 1. The manda tory minimum sentenc e

for the a mount of heroin in the sing le pellet tested by the State is three year s’ imprisonment, id.

§ 893.135(1)( c)1.a , as compa red to the ma

ndatory minimum of twenty -five y ear s’ imprisonment

for the qua

ntity the State attributed to B ellizi a but did not test or prove a t trial, id.

§ 893.135(1)( c)1.c

.

7