FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P EALS E LEVEN T HC IRC UIT OCTOB ER 1, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 07- 11500 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ D . C. D o c k e tN o . 0 3 - 0 0 4 5 7 - CV - O C- 1 0 - G RJ E U G E N E A . F I S C H E R , P e titio n e r - A p p e lla n t, v ersu s S T A N Y A T E S , W a r d e n , R e s p o n d e n t- A p p e lle e .

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f orthe M i ddl e D i s tr i c tof F l or i da

_________________________ ( O c t ob e r 1, 2007) B efo re B IR C H , D U B IN A an d P R Y O R , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M:2

E ug ene F i sc her, a f

eder al pri soner, appeal s the di sm i ss al of hi s pet i t i on for a w r i tof habe a s c orpus . F i s c he rc ha l l e nge s hi s c onvi c t i on a nd s e nt e nc e f or p a rtic ip a tin g in ac o n tin u in g c r im in a l e n te rp r is e ( “C C E ” ) . S e e 2 1 U .S .C . § 8 4 8 . H e a r g u e s th a t h is c o n v ic tio n w a s c o n tr a ryto th e d e c is io n o f th e S u p r e m e C o u rt in R ic h a r d s o n v . U n ite d S ta te s , 5 2 6 U .S . 8 1 3 , 1 1 9 S . C t. 1 7 0 7 ( 1 9 9 9 ) , a n d n e w ly d is c o v e r e d e v id e n c e e s tab lis h e s h is a c tu a l in n o c e n c e . F is c h e rc o n te n d s th a t h e is e nt i t l e d t o habe a s r e l i e f

unde rs e c t i on 2241 ba s e d on the s a vi ngs c l aus e of s e c t i on 22 55 . 28 U . S . C . §§ 22 41 , 22 55 . B ec ause the di stri ctcourtcorr ec t l y c on cl ud ed th a tth e s a v i n g s c l au s e o f s e c t i o n 2 2 5 5 d o e s n o tap p l yt o F i s c h e r ’ s p e t i t i o n , we a f f irm . T he a va i l abi l i ty of

habe a s c orpus r e l i e f

unde rs e c t i on 2241 i s aque s t i on of l aw w e r evi ew de no vo . D arby v. H aw k-S aw ye r, 40 5 F . 3d 94 2, 94 4 (11 th C i r. 20 05 ). U nd erthe “ ‘ savi ng s c l ause ’ of [s ec t i on ] 22 55 . . . a pri soner [ m ay ] fi l e a [ s e c t i on] 2241 pe t i t i on onl y i f a n othe rw i s e a va i l abl e r e m e dyunde r[ s e c t i on] 2255 is ‘in a d e q u a te o rin e f

f e c tiv e ’ to te s t th e le g a lityo f h is d e te n tio n .” I d . a t 9 4 5 . W e h a v e h e ld th a t th e s a v in g s c lau s e ap p lie s to ac la im o n lyw h e n “1 ) th a t c la im is ba s e d upon ar e tr oa c t i ve l y appl i c abl e S upr e m e C ourtde c i s i on; 2) the hol di ng of thatS up re m e C ou rtdeci si on es t abl i shes the pet i t i on erw as conv i ct ed for a n o n e x i s t e n to f

f e n s e ; a n d , 3 ) c i r c u i tl a w s qu a r e l yf o r e c l o s e d s u c h ac l a i m a tth e t i me3

i to th erw i se sh o u l d h av e b een rai sed i n th e p et i t i o n er’ s tri al , ap p eal , o r fi rst [ s e c tio n ] 2 2 5 5 m o tio n .” W o f f o r d v . S c o tt, 1 7 7 F .3 d 1 2 3 6 , 1 2 4 4 ( 1 1 th C ir . 1 9 9 9 ) . I f apr i s one rqua l i f

i e s f orthe s a vi ngs c l aus e , the pr ope ri nqui ryi s w he the rthe p e titio n e rc a n e s tab lis h a c tu a l in n o c e n c e . I d . a t 1 2 4 4 n .3 . T he onl y W of

f or d r e qui r e m e nta ti s s ue i s w he the rF i s c he rw a s c onvi c t e d f or anone xi s t e ntof

f e ns e . F i s c he ra r gue s tha t , be c aus e R i c ha r ds on c ha nge d the e le m e n ts o f

h is o f f e n s e , h e w a s c o n v ic te d o f an o n e x is te n t o f

f e n s e . W e d is a g r e e . F i s c he r ’ s a r gum e nti s f

or e c l os e d byourde c i s i on i n S a w y e rv. H ol de r , 326 F .3 d 1 3 6 3 ( 1 1 th C ir . 2 0 0 3 ) . W e e x p r e s s lyh e ld in S a w y e rth a t “aR ic h a r d s o n c la im i s notthe type of

de f e c ttha tope ns the port a l t o a[ s e c t i on] 2241 pr oc e e di ng. ” I d. a t 1 3 6 6 . W e e x p la in e d th a t “[ t]h e c o n d u c t n e c e s s a ryto [ e s tab lis h ] aC C E o f f e n s e is the sa m e post -R i char dson . ” I d. “ R i char dson cl ar i fi ed the st andard by w hi ch a j ury mu s tf i n d ad e f e n d a n tg u i l ty o f

aCCE o f

f e n s e , b u ti td i d n o ti n v a l i d a t e CCE of f e ns e s . ” I d. A l though F i s c he rc orr e c t l yobs e rve s tha thi s appe a l di f f e r s f r om S a w y e rbe c aus e , unl i ke the de f e nda nti n S a w y e r , F i s c he rdi d notha ve a ny subst ant i ve conv i ct i on s thatprov i ded ass urance thatthe j urors unani m ou sl y a gree d on the spec i fi c vi ol at i on s und er l yi ng hi s C C E conv i ct i on , ou r s t at em enti n S aw ye r thatR i char dson cl ai m s do n otop en the po rt al t o sec t i on 22 41 proceedi ng s w as u n q u a lif ie d . T h e d is tr ic t c o u rt c o rr e c tlyd is m is s e d F is c h e r ’s p e titio n .4

F i s c he r ’ s a r gum e nttha thi s c l a i m of a c tua l i nnoc e nc e s houl d ope n the ga t e w a y t o as e c t i on 2241 pe t i t i on i s a l s o una va i l i ng. I n W of f or d, w e e xpl a i ne d tha tac l a i m of

a c tua l i nnoc e nc e c l a i m s i s c ons i de r e d a f t e rthe port a l t o as e c t i on 2 2 4 1 p r o c e e d in g is o p e n e d . 1 7 7 F .3 d a t 1 2 4 4 n .3 . A c la im o f a c tu a l in n o c e n c e is nota n e xc e pt i on t o the r e qui r e m e nttha tape t i t i one rf i r s tqua l i f

yunde rW of

f or d f or th e s a v in g s c lau s e . T h e d e n ia l o f

F is c h e r ’s p e titio n is A F F I R M E D .