Source: http://openjurist.org/677/f2d/427
Timestamp: 2016-02-07 22:11:27
Document Index: 785547936

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 12', 'art. 40', '§ 9', '§ 2254', '§ 2254', '§ 2254', '§ 1', '§ 2254', '§ 4264', '§ 2254', '§ 31']

677 F2d 427 Carter v. W J Estelle | OpenJurist
677 F. 2d 427 - Carter v. W J Estelle HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 677 F.2d.
677 F2d 427 Carter v. W J Estelle 677 F.2d 427
Albert H. CARTER, Petitioner-Appellee,v.W. J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department ofCorrections, Respondent-Appellant.
Carter did not appeal his 1974 conviction. On December 3, 1974, he filed a habeas petition, Cause No. 74-H-1603, attacking the conviction in federal court. After four different amendments by Carter, this petition eventually raised claims attacking the 1974, 1969, and 1962 convictions.1
The Galtieri rule is premised upon the principle that "requiring exhaustion of all claims does not 'bar the federal courthouse door' to any petitioner." Galtieri v. Wainwright, supra, at 355. Carter's seven year challenge will, in my judgment, be barred if, as the respondent suggests, the entire petition should be dismissed. Furthermore, ... this petition raises the problem of the appropriate resolution to be made where two distinct convictions arising in two separate state courts in this County are challenged in the same action in federal court... (I)n order to avoid the harsh consequences engendered by dismissal of petitioner's viable seven year challenge and yet satisfy the demands of the exhaustion doctrine as to the issues raised in the life sentence case, it is Recommended that the Court's Order and Final Judgment dated August 21, 1978, be modified as follows:
Carter did not wait for the February 8 severance by the district court. Instead, after the August 21 order dismissing the case, he filed a second state habeas challenge to his 1974 conviction in state court, No. 178,126-B, on September 21, 1978, in the 185th District Court of Harris County, Texas.2 The district court dismissed, finding it had no jurisdiction. On January 10, 1979, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed, explaining:
In his present application, petitioner admits that he has an application for writ of habeas corpus pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, in an action styled Albert H. Carter v. W. J. Estelle, Jr., Civil Action No. 74-H-1603.
In Ex parte Green, 548 S.W.2d 914 (Tex.Cr.App.1977), this Court stated: "A petitioner must decide which form (sic) he will proceed in because this Court will not and the trial court in this State should not consider a petitioner's application so long as the federal courts retain jurisdiction of the same matter. Ex parte Powers, 487 S.W.2d 101 (Tex.Cr.App.1972)." See also Ex parte McNeil, 588 S.W.2d 592 (Tex.Cr.App.1979).
This Court dismissed this action without prejudice solely because of a gross misunderstanding by this Court of a single fact. In the second paragraph of (its) dismissal order, this Court stated that "petitioner admits" that he has a federal habeas corpus action pending. That much is true, but the pending federal action (No. 74-H-1603-(A) ) does not attack petitioner's present conviction (i.e., Cause No. 178,126 in the state District Court). Rather, the federal habeas action attacks only Petitioner's prior convictions (including a federal conviction and three misdemeanor convictions) which resulted in penal sentences which Petitioner fully discharged many years ago-and as to which the federal court has formally determined that Petitioner has fully exhausted state remedies.
(T)he failure of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to exercise habeas corpus jurisdiction over the present claim is, almost without question, attributable to a factual misunderstanding, a misunderstanding which the petitioner has made every effort to correct. The cases which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals relied upon in refusing to entertain petitioner Carter's application for writ of habeas corpus firmly establish that the state courts will not accept habeas corpus jurisdiction of a case if the same case is being litigated in federal court... That was not the case with the application that petitioner Carter had pending in federal court. As Magistrate Blask and Judge Cowan correctly determined, the petition before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the petition pending in federal court involved, "two distinct convictions arising in two separate state courts." ... The Court of Criminal Appeals, it can be seen, failed to understand the facts. That is unfortunate, to say the least, but it is not the petitioner's fault.... It cannot, moreover, prevent this Court from reviewing the petitioner's claim. See Smith v. Digmon, 434 U.S. 332, 98 S.Ct. 597, 54 L.Ed.2d 582 (1978); Carr v. Alabama, 586 F.2d 462 (5th Cir. 1978).
499 F.Supp. 777 at 781-82.
The District Court considered but rejected the possibility that the Texas Courts were applying a rule of justiciability or comity requiring prior "exhaustion" of federal remedies which might conceivably moot or otherwise affect the state habeas case.
(I)t is conceivable that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals did not misunderstand the facts in regard to the petitioner's habeas corpus cases, but, instead, by refusing to entertain the petitioner's claim, intended to adopt a new rule: that state habeas corpus jurisdiction would not extend to a challenge to one conviction when the petitioner had a challenge to another conviction pending in federal court, at least when the latter conviction was used to enhance the sentence given for the former conviction. Such a rule, would, however, be a substantial departure from the current rule followed by the Texas courts... It would, moreover, severely impair the flow of multiple offenders' habeas corpus cases through the state and federal systems. In order to obtain state habeas corpus review of convictions obtained after the original filing of a habeas corpus action in federal court, the petitioner would, presumably, repeatedly have to dismiss and refile his federal habeas corpus case. The delay and disruption would be staggering. Finally, as petitioner Carter's case aptly demonstrates, such a rule would, if respected by the federal courts, "bar the federal courthouse door," Galtieri v. Wainwright, supra, at 355, to many claims. This Court cannot believe that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals would have adopted such a rule without explicitly saying so. It need not decide, therefore, whether, if such a rule had been adopted, dismissal for failure to exhaust state remedies would be required.
499 F.Supp. at 782-83 (emphasis added).
The State of Texas filed a timely appeal to this court. However, in a still further procedural wrinkle on this case, the State sought and obtained a stay in the proceedings in No. 74-H-1603-A pending the outcome of the present appeal.3
Rather, we must take the Court of Criminal Appeals decisions in No. 178,126-B and No. 178,126-C at face value. These opinions, the relevant language of which appears above, dismissed Carter's habeas petitions on the basis of three Texas cases, Ex parte Powers, 487 S.W.2d 101 (Tex.Cr.App.1972), Ex parte Green, 548 S.W.2d 914 (Tex.Cr.App.1977), and Ex parte McNeil, 588 S.W.2d 592 (Tex.Cr.App.1979). These cases developed a doctrine of state habeas abstention which we now examine in detail.
Further delay was caused by prosecuting an appeal to the Fifth Circuit from the federal court order at the same time Petitioner proceeded on his application for writ of habeas corpus in the courts of this State. A petitioner must decide which forum he will proceed in, because this Court will not, and a trial court in this State should not, consider a petitioner's application so long as the federal courts retain jurisdiction of the same matter. Ex parte Powers, 487 S.W.2d 101 (Tex.Cr.App.1972). The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has now dismissed Petitioner's appeal from the federal district court order; therefore, we will now consider Petitioner's application on its merits.
548 S.W.2d at 916. The language of Powers and Green had not clearly indicated whether the proper procedure was for the state court merely to hold the petition in abeyance pending the outcome of federal proceedings, or to dismiss it outright. This ambiguity was resolved in Ex parte McNeil :
The petitioner now has pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Civil Action No. H-79-393 styled John Alvin McNeil, Petitioner v. W. J. Estelle, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent, an application for writ of habeas corpus seeking the same relief that he seeks here. Since that court has entertained and retained jurisdiction of the matter we dismiss this application as we did in Ex parte Powers, 487 S.W.2d 101 (Tex.Cr.App.1972) and Ex parte Green, 548 S.W.2d 914 (Tex.Cr.App.1977). See also Galtieri v. Wainwright, 582 F.2d 348 (5th Cir. 1978).
The question arises whether this rule of state habeas abstention is grounded upon notions of federal-state comity or on the underlying jurisdiction of the Texas courts. The Texas courts have construed their jurisdictional powers very narrowly in other circumstances, and have, in certain civil matters, refused on state constitutional grounds to decide the merits of a case while a federal court retains jurisdiction over the same case. United Services Life Ins. Co. v. Delaney, 396 S.W.2d 855 (Tex.1965); see Moore v. El Paso County, 660 F.2d 586 (5th Cir. 1981); Palmer v. Jackson, 617 F.2d 424 (5th Cir. 1980); Romero v. Coldwell, 455 F.2d 1163 (5th Cir. 1972); Barrett v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 444 F.2d 38 (5th Cir. 1971) (Texas courts would not decide state law issues in Pullman-type situation while federal court retained jurisdiction). One panel of this court has intimated that the rule of Ex parte Green has a similar origin in the Texas courts' restricted interpretation of their own constitutionally granted jurisdiction. Red Bluff Drive-In, Inc. v. Vance, 648 F.2d 1020, 1025 n.4 (5th Cir. 1981).
However, the language actually used by the Court of Criminal Appeals in its cases dealing with habeas abstention suggests that the doctrine is based on comity and not lack of jurisdictional power. The three reported Texas cases speak of the Texas courts as "declin(ing) to consider the petitioner's application," Ex parte Powers, supra, at 102, and hold that the Court of Criminal Appeals "will not, and a trial court in this State should not" consider applications when federal proceedings are pending. Ex parte Green, supra, at 916. Moreover, the Court of Criminal Appeals, in dismissing Carter's petition in No. 178,126-B, had justified its action "out of deference to the federal courts."
A further reason to suspect that the abstention is based on comity and not jurisdiction is that it has only been applied so far in the context of state habeas petitions. If the practice were based upon a true lack of jurisdiction, then a criminal defendant directly appealing a conviction who attacked prior convictions used for enhancement would equally be forced to forego his appeal until his federal habeas attacks on those prior convictions were dismissed or fully litigated. Such a rule would obviously have deleterious effects on a criminal defendant's right of appeal in Texas, and we have found no Texas case where the abstention rule is invoked under these circumstances. Hence we conclude that the rule is one of comity specifically fashioned for use in the habeas context, and not a rule stemming from an inherent lack of jurisdictional power.4
We can understand the gloss which the Texas courts have given to the term "same matter" by a careful examination of Carter's habeas petitions in state and federal courts. After Judge Cowan had initially dismissed No. 74-H-1603, but while the motion for reconsideration was still pending, Carter had filed habeas petition No. 178,126-B in state court, attacking his 1974 conviction. The Court of Criminal Appeals, noting that an attack on the 1974 conviction was still pending in federal court, dismissed and stated that "(o)ut of deference to the federal courts we will not exercise our habeas corpus jurisdiction until Carter's attack on the validity of his 1974 conviction in Cause No. 178,126, has been finally concluded in the federal courts." Given that 74-H-1603 contained an attack on the 1974 conviction, and sought the same relief as the state petition, this decision seems in accord with the rule of Powers, Green, and McNeil.
III. Petitioner's punishment was enhanced under Texas Penal Code Article 63 (1925) by evidence of a prior state embezzlement conviction (No. 137,784, 174th District Court of Harris County, Texas) and of a prior federal perjury conviction (No. 2158, United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia, Albany Division), which convictions are constitutionally invalid for the reasons hereinafter described. See pp. B-1-B-6, post.
In sum, Carter's habeas petition in No. 178,126-C contains constitutional challenges to his 1974, 1969, and 1962 convictions. Although after severance, No. 74-H-1603-A no longer challenged the 1974 conviction, it did still attack the 1969 and 1962 convictions.5 Thus, the federal court action challenged the 1969 and 1962 convictions while the state court action challenged these two convictions plus the 1974 conviction. Under these circumstances, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Carter's habeas petition, holding that the "same matters" were pending in federal and state court.
Given this action by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, we conclude that by "same matter" is meant "same conviction," for in both state and federal court Carter was attacking his 1969 and 1962 convictions.6
An alternative hypothesis, that "same matter" means instead the same substantive claim against a particular conviction, must be rejected on the facts of this case. For nothing in the record indicates that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals knew anything about the nature of Carter's attack on the 1969 and 1962 convictions in federal court other than that these convictions were in fact being attacked on some grounds. We have examined Carter's habeas petitions in state court carefully and find no reference to the nature of the claims being raised in federal court. Moreover, we have carefully compared the claims raised in Carter's habeas petitions in No. 74-H-1603 with those raised in his state habeas petition in No. 178,126-B (which were incorporated into the petition in No. 178,126-C), and we find that the state petition raises new claims attacking the 1969 and 1962 convictions not found in Carter's petitions in No. 74-H-1603. Since the Texas courts could not know which, if any, of the state and federal claims were identical, we must conclude that the identity of the claims raised in federal and state court is apparently irrelevant for the purposes of Ex parte Green : it is enough that both pending actions deal with the "same matter," i.e., the 1969 and 1962 convictions.
However, if "same matter" refers to "same conviction", one might well ask why the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the attack on the 1974 conviction as well as the attacks on the 1969 and 1962 convictions, for only the latter two constituted the "same matter". Apparently, what Texas has done is adopt a rule analogous to that of this circuit in Galtieri v. Wainwright, 582 F.2d 348 (5th Cir. 1978), that where a federal petition contains a mixture of exhausted and unexhausted claims, the entire petition will be dismissed, including the exhausted claims. (The Supreme Court has recently decided in favor of a "total exhaustion" rule of this type in Rose v. Lundy, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982).) The analogy to Galtieri is that where a state habeas petition contains some claims pending in federal court, the whole petition will be dismissed. We are strengthened in this conclusion by the fact that the Court of Criminal Appeals' opinion in Ex parte McNeil specifically refers to Galtieri for support.
The decision by the Texas courts to dismiss all claims when only some of them attack the same convictions as are pending in federal court may be based on a familiar rationale in the law of habeas corpus: the avoidance of piecemeal litigation. The State of Texas has previously expressed the desire that habeas petitioners, insofar as it is reasonably possible, bring all of their claims at one time to the Texas courts for determination. See, e.g., Ex parte Carr, 511 S.W.2d 523 (Tex.Cr.App.1974). The desire that habeas claims, where possible, be brought together in one proceeding underlies this circuit's en banc decision in Galtieri v. Wainwright, supra, and the Supreme Court's recent pronouncement in Rose v. Lundy, supra, for the reasons described in those opinions. Some of Carter's claims attack the 1974 conviction via an attack on the enhancing 1969 and 1962 convictions, while others attack the 1974 conviction by itself without reference to the earlier convictions. If the Texas courts dismiss only the former sorts of claims and retain and pass upon the latter, they will be creating the very sort of piecemeal litigation they desire to avoid.
Our analysis of Texas case law has led us to the following general rule: Assume that a petitioner has been convicted of a felony A, and this conviction A is later used to enhance the sentence in a subsequent conviction for felony B. Assume further that the petitioner raises a claim or set of claims (call it "A1") attacking his conviction A in the state courts, whether by direct appeal or state collateral review procedures. If his claim is exhausted in the state courts, it may be heard through a habeas petition in the federal courts. Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971). Assume that A1 is thus pending in the federal courts. In the meantime, petitioner has been tried and convicted of felony B. He now raises in a state habeas proceeding claims B1 and B2, attacking conviction B. B1 is an attack on B which makes no reference to and does not depend on the validity of A. B2, on the other hand, is an attack on B on the grounds that A, the conviction used to enhance B, is invalid. The rule which the Texas courts appear to have adopted here is that if B1 and B2 are now raised in state court, and an attack on A is pending in federal court, the "same matter" is pending for purposes of Ex parte Green, and the state court will refuse to hear both B1 and B2. This is true even though the attack on A in B2 may not be identical to that in A1,7 and even though B1 contains no attack on A at all. Apparently, the fact that any challenge to A exists in both state and federal courts is enough to prevent the Texas courts from hearing the entire petition.
Of course, it may be objected that the simpler and better solution is simply to dismiss A1 and exhaust B1 and B2 first. But this, too, has its problems. If any of the grounds in A1 are particularly meritorious, it seems unfair to require the petitioner to remain incarcerated so that B1 and B2 may be tested in the state courts first. This is especially so if B1 and B2 are novel or uncertain claims. The petitioner is then put to a strategic choice which is at odds with the fundamental purposes of the Great Writ-to have meritorious claims heard and vindicated and illegal incarceration ended with swift dispatch. Moreover, whichever path petitioner chooses-holding off the former claim until the latter claims are exhausted or the latter until the former is passed on in the federal courts-there is the very real danger that the delayed claim or claims will become stale and difficult of proof with the passage of time. Witnesses may die unexpectedly, memories may fade or cloud, and evidence may be lost, damaged, or destroyed. It is always true that these dangers are inherent whenever litigation is protracted. But it is clear that they would be greatly aggravated here because each set of new claims may not be pursued immediately as it arises. This defeats an orderly and efficient presentation of claims through the state and federal systems.
The problems just described are a result of the time delay between the filing of A1 and the filing of the habeas attack on B in state court. When one is dealing with multiple convictions, a time lag between attacks on earlier and later convictions will almost always exist of necessity. Indeed, under Texas law A cannot even be used for enhancement of B to a life sentence unless A has become final prior to the commission of the offense which is the subject of conviction B. E.g. Carter v. State, 510 S.W.2d 323 (Tex.Cr.App.1974); Rummel v. Estelle, 587 F.2d 651, 656 (5th Cir. 1978); aff'd, 445 U.S. 263, 100 S.Ct. 1133, 63 L.Ed.2d 382 (1980) (both discussing predecessor to present enhancement statute Tex.Pen.Code Ann. § 12.42 (West)). Given this fact, a time lag between the filing of a habeas attack on A and on B is virtually certain; consequently the probability is considerable that petitioners attacking multiple convictions will be ensnared in the difficulties caused by the time lag and Texas habeas law.
The seminal case on the requirement of exhaustion is Ex parte Royall, 117 U.S. 241, 6 S.Ct. 734, 29 L.Ed. 868 (1886). In that case, the petitioner claimed that the Virginia statute he had allegedly violated was unconstitutional and sought federal habeas relief while he was still awaiting trial. The federal circuit court dismissed the writ and the Supreme Court affirmed. In so doing, it stated the two principles upon which exhaustion doctrine rests. The first principle is that the federal courts always possess the power to grant the writ without exhaustion due to the federal judiciary's basic purpose and duty of protecting and vindicating federal constitutional rights.8 The second principle is that as a matter of judicial discretion, federal courts should allow the state courts the first opportunity to vindicate these federal constitutional rights; in this way, due respect for state institutions will be given and needless federal-state interference avoided. 117 U.S. at 251, 6 S.Ct. at 740.
The exhaustion requirement was the response to an inevitable tension between state and federal interests created by the historical importance of the Great Writ in Anglo-American law and the system of dual sovereignty at the heart of the American Constitution. The federal interest was in a sure and speedy method of remedying unconstitutional incarceration-for this was the very purpose of the Great Writ-and since 1867, the federal courts had been empowered to exercise that remedy with respect to state convictions. The state interest, on the other hand, was in an orderly functioning of its own judicial processes without needless interference by the federal government.
The comity spoken of in Darr v. Burford necessarily involves a balancing of both state and federal interests, of orderly state judicial administration and speedy vindication of constitutional rights.9 The exhaustion doctrine is a compromise which reflects the interests and needs of both federal and state systems. The principle of comity means that the federal courts are not usually able to grant an immediate remedy given the requirement of exhaustion. On the other hand, the state judicial process can hear a petitioner's constitutional claims immediately and indeed has a duty to pass on them every bit as great as the federal courts have.
In sum, the notion of comity which underlies the exhaustion doctrine must be understood not as a capitulation of federal power to state interests; rather, comity involves a delicate balance and compromise of both state and federal concerns.10 For as much as the unchanneled exercise of habeas corpus by the federal courts would disrupt the integrity of the state criminal process, so too would an unthinking subservience to state sovereignty render the time-honored Writ of Liberty sterile and nugatory. Comity requires sensitive accommodation, and not simply slavish adherence, to the interests of the states.
As a matter of comity the petitioner will usually be required to follow the normal appellate or post-conviction procedural routes for raising his claim in the state's highest court; the use of extraordinary writs or other abnormal or seldom-used avenues of relief is generally not considered a proper method of exhaustion when normal methods are available.11
However, Brown made clear that the requirement that a petitioner should follow state procedural rules in exhausting his claims is not an inflexible one; "we would not permit a state procedural rule or practice to frustrate vindication of federal constitutional rights where it is unfairly applied or puts an undue burden on a petitioner." 530 F.2d at 1284. Thus with respect to the state procedural rule involved in Brown the court stated that "(i)f petitioner is unable to obtain the assistance of counsel that ... the Texas Supreme Court require(s) ... we will deem these state remedies exhausted." Id.
The compromise of interests which underlies exhaustion doctrine requires that the federal courts assure themselves that the state courts have had a fair opportunity to pass on a petitioner's claims before they assume habeas jurisdiction; however what constitutes a "fair opportunity" is not necessarily coextensive with whatever procedural requirements the state may choose to impose. That is the lesson of Brown v. Estelle, and we have applied this reasoning repeatedly. E.g., Ogle v. Estelle, supra; Houston v. Estelle, 569 F.2d 372 (5th Cir. 1978). In Houston, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had refused to pass on the merits of some of the petitioner's claims because the introductory list of grounds of error asserted in petitioner's state brief did not give specific references to the pages in the record where the alleged trial errors occurred. Because the brief thus failed to comply with the formal requirements of Tex.Code Crim.Pro.Ann. art. 40.09, § 9 (West), the Court of Criminal Appeals did not consider the claims even though page references were present in the actual argument sections of petitioner's brief and even though the State's brief in opposition was apparently perfectly able to identify and discuss the portions of the record in question. A panel of this circuit held that the petitioner had exhausted state remedies as there could be no doubt that a fair opportunity to pass on the claims was presented to the Texas courts. 569 F.2d at 375-76. The court acknowledged Texas' right to prescribe procedural rules such as the proper form of briefing, but stated that "it does not necessarily follow, however, that perfect compliance with such rules of briefing is always a prerequisite to the exercise of federal habeas corpus jurisdiction."12 We are in full agreement. The question of whether a state has had a "fair opportunity" to consider a petitioner's constitutional claims is one for the federal courts to decide with all due respect for the integrity of state judicial processes; whether the state believes it has had an opportunity to pass upon the claims in light of its various procedural requirements is an important factor in this determination, but it is not dispositive.13
Brown v. Estelle spoke of the problem of state procedural rules which might unduly hinder or burden a habeas petitioner and how exhaustion doctrine must react with flexibility in such situations. These concerns lead us to still another aspect of exhaustion doctrine which is relevant to this case: the adequacy and effectiveness of state remedial procedures in general.VI. Adequacy and Effectiveness of State Procedures.
The present codification of the exhaustion requirement, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b), speaks directly to this problem. It states that exhaustion of state remedies is required unless "there is either an absence of available State corrective process or the existence of circumstances rendering such process ineffective to protect the rights of the prisoner." See Rose v. Lundy, --- U.S. ----, ---- N.7, 102 s.CT. 1198, 1202 n.7, 71 l.ED.2d 379 (1982) (exhaustion doctrine does not bar relief where state remedies are inadequate); Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973) (exhaustion requirement presupposes that prisoner's state remedy must be adequate and available); Young v. Ragen, 337 U.S. 235, 69 S.Ct. 1073, 93 L.Ed. 1333 (1949) (same).14
Id. Thus, it has been held that exhaustion is not necessary where resort to state remedies would be futile15, because the necessary delay before entrance to a federal forum which would be required is not justified where the state court's attitude towards a petitioner's claims is a foregone conclusion.16
The courts have also held that where the state processes cause undue delays to the hearing of petitioner's claims in special circumstances, a petitioner's claims may be treated as technically exhausted.17 Once again, this exception makes sense in the context of the underlying compromise between swift vindication of rights which is the purpose of the Great Writ and accommodation of the somewhat slower but normal judicial processes of the state courts. Where the state processes are unduly and unreasonably delayed through no fault of the petitioner, the terms of the compromise must be re-evaluated.18
Most important for our purposes, the exhaustion requirement has not been applied mechanically where it is shown that the state's procedures for exhaustion are so cumbersome, complex and confusing that they frustrate good faith attempts to comply with them. The classic statement of this principle is that of Justice Rutledge concurring in Marino v. Ragen, 332 U.S. 561, 68 S.Ct. 240, 92 L.Ed. 170 (1947). Marino was one of a series of cases in which the Supreme Court attempted, with only partial success, to fathom the complexities of Illinois remedial law.19 Justice Rutledge argued that the petitioner in Marino should be considered to have exhausted his remedies:
This rule, requiring exhaustion of state remedies as a condition precedent to federal relief, has been firmly established by repeated decisions of this Court. Even in extreme situations its application has been justified by sound administrative reasons. But it has always been clear that the rule may be applied only on the assumption that an adequate state remedy is actually available.... And it would be nothing less than abdication of our constitutional duty and function to rebuff petitioners with this mechanical formula whenever it may become clear that the alleged state remedy is nothing but a procedural morass offering no substantial hope of relief. Experience has convinced me that this is true of Illinois.
Consequently, as far as I am concerned, the Illinois remedies are exhausted here....
Although Justice Rutledge spoke for only three justices in his concurrence to Marino v. Ragen, his words and his reasoning there have been continually cited with approval by the federal courts. E.g., Wilwording v. Swenson, 404 U.S. 249, 92 S.Ct. 407, 30 L.Ed.2d 418 (1971); Codispoti v. Howard, 589 F.2d 135 (3rd Cir. 1978); Galtieri v. Wainwright, 582 F.2d 348 (5th Cir. 1978); United States ex rel. Smith v. Jackson, 234 F.2d 742 (2d Cir. 1956). Thus, this circuit has stated in its en banc decision in Galtieri, supra, that "(e) xhaustion ought not be required when the 'state procedural snarls or obstacles preclude an effective state remedy.' " 582 F.2d at 354 n.12 (quoting Bartone v. United States, 375 U.S. 52, 54, 84 S.Ct. 21, 22, 11 L.Ed.2d 11 (1963)).20
Yet this argument proves too much. If the result of the Texas habeas abstention rule is as the State says it is-if the Court of Criminal Appeals has absolutely no choice in the matter but may not consider Carter's double jeopardy claim on the merits-the conclusion to be drawn from this is not that Carter has not exhausted but that he had no available state remedy at the time he filed No. 178,126-C. And if his application and its subsequent dismissal proves that he has no available state remedy, he must be considered to be exhausted. 42 U.S.C. § 2254(b) and (c).
The Supreme Court dismissed this possible interpretation of exhaustion doctrine in Peyton v. Rowe. Noting that Rowe had filed an application in Virginia state court which was denied under Virginia's version of the prematurity rule, the Supreme Court described Rowe as having exhausted state remedies. 391 U.S. at 56 & n.2, 88 S.Ct. at 1550 & n.2. Similarly, other federal courts had construed exhaustion doctrine as not requiring that the petitioner comport with a state's prematurity rule before seeking relief in federal court: Williams v. Peyton, 372 F.2d 216 (4th Cir. 1967); Pannell v. Peyton, 287 F.Supp. 866 (W.D.Va.1968); Tibbs v. Peyton, 287 F.Supp. 858 (W.D.Va.1968); see Via v. Peyton, 284 F.Supp. 961 (W.D.Va.1968) (state prisoners seeking to attack future sentences have no effective remedy in the courts of Virginia, and are not required to exhaust remedies where circumstances make remedies ineffective and futile). However, once Virginia changed its habeas corpus remedy to abolish the prematurity rule, the federal courts once again deferred to the state courts on the grounds of comity. See Strouth v. Peyton, 404 F.2d 537 (4th Cir. 1968) (Although at the time of filing of original habeas petition, no remedy existed in state court, abolishment of state prematurity doctrine, expansion of available remedies in state courts, doctrine of comity and fact that the petitioner presently had petition pending in state court made abstention by federal court the better course.).
We have spent a considerable amount of time earlier in this opinion explaining how the Texas habeas abstention rule creates a procedural logjam which delays potentially meritorious claims, burdens litigants who seek a federal forum for claims already dismissed by the States, acts as a snare for the unwary and wastes the judicial resources of the federal courts. All of these problems with the rule are present in this case. We think the choice which Texas seeks to put Carter to is untenable; it cannot be considered to present him with an adequate and effective state remedy, and exhaustion doctrine does not require us to hold otherwise. Instead, we hold that when Carter's petition No. 178,126-C was dismissed from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, there was at that point no available state remedy which was also an adequate remedy.21 Thus he has met the requirements of §§ 2254(b) and (c).22
Our holding is limited to the facts before us, and should not be read to encourage bad faith attempts by petitioners to place themselves in procedural snarls deliberately in a attempt to bypass state consideration of their claims on the merits.23 It seems clear to us that the expansive reading which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals gave to its state abstention doctrine in this case could not have been predicted by Carter, and it is not reasonable to suggest that he cleverly arranged matters so as to be in the position he now finds himself in.
As we recounted at the beginning of our opinion, Carter was indicted and convicted for embezzlement in 1972. This conviction was reversed in 1974 by the Court of Criminal Appeals because of a failure by the state to prove that the owner of the embezzled funds was the same as that alleged in the indictment. Carter v. State, 510 S.W.2d 323 (Tex.Cr.App.1974). Carter was subsequently reindicted, tried and convicted in 1974. It is this conviction he seeks to overturn.
Having alleged ownership of the money to be in Andrew Dolce, the State was required to prove that essential allegation, Easley v. State, 167 Tex.Cr.R. 156, 319 S.W.2d 325 (1959), ...
510 S.W.2d at 325-26. The Court of Criminal Appeals added that the State could, had it chosen, have requested an instruction that Dolce could be held to be a special owner of the funds and upon proof of special ownership, there would be no variance under the doctrine of Lawhon v. State, 429 S.W.2d 147 (Tex.Cr.App.1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 989, 89 S.Ct. 1475, 22 L.Ed.2d 764 (1969). However, the court found that not only had the State not requested a special ownership instruction, but even had the instruction been given there was insufficient evidence of special ownership.
In Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 57 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978), the Supreme Court held that reversal of a conviction by an appellate court for evidentiary insufficiency creates a bar to reprosecution under the double jeopardy clause. This interpretation was applied to the states in the companion case of Greene v. Massey, 437 U.S. 19, 98 S.Ct. 2151, 57 L.Ed.2d 15 (1978). Carter asserts that Burks and Greene apply to the reversal in Carter v. State, and that the subsequent 1974 conviction violated the double jeopardy clause.24
The ownership of the funds Carter embezzled was an essential element of the offense charged. Carter v. State, supra. In Easley v. State, 167 Tex.Cr.R. 156, 319 S.W.2d 325 (1959), relied on in Carter, the Court of Criminal Appeals explained that "(i)t was the province of the state to so allege ownership, but in doing so it assumed the burden of establishing and proving ownership as alleged." Id. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that the State failed to offer evidence of the ownership as alleged. It therefore reversed. This action by the Court of Criminal Appeals was a ruling by that court " 'whatever its label, (which) actually represents a resolution (in the defendant's favor), correct or not, of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged.' " United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 97, 98 S.Ct. 2187, 2197, 57 L.Ed.2d 65 (1978) (quoting United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 571, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 1354, 51 L.Ed.2d 642 (1977) (bracketed material added in Scott )). Because the State failed in its proof of the ownership of the funds, the case should never have gone to the jury. Hence, under Burks, the reversal is the equivalent to a directed verdict of acquittal by the trial judge. 437 U.S. at 16-18, 98 S.Ct. at 2149-2150. Accord, Bullard v. Estelle, 665 F.2d 1347, 1354 (5th Cir. 1982). Double jeopardy thus applies; the 1974 retrial and conviction was constitutionally impermissible.
The State of Texas attempts to avoid this conclusion by claiming that the reversal of the 1972 conviction was for trial error. Under the doctrine of Burks, a reversal of a conviction because of insufficiency of the evidence is to be treated as an acquittal, but there is no double jeopardy bar if the reversal is for trial error. Examples given in Burks of such trial errors are reversal for incorrect receipt or rejection of evidence, incorrect or prejudicial instructions and prosecutorial misconduct. 437 U.S. at 14-15 & n.8, 98 S.Ct. at 2148-2149 & n.8.
(R)eversal for trial error, as distinguished from evidentiary insufficiency, does not constitute a decision to the effect that the government has failed to prove its case. As such, it implies nothing with respect to the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Rather, it is a determination that a defendant has been convicted through a judicial process which is defective in some fundamental respect ...
Texas seeks to characterize the error in Carter's 1972 trial as one not of failure of proof of an essential element but merely as failure as to the manner of proper proof. This argument is based upon an interpretation of Compton v. State, 607 S.W.2d 246, 249 (Tex.Cr.App.1980) (en banc) (on motion for rehearing), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 997, 101 S.Ct. 1701, 68 L.Ed.2d 197 (1981). In Compton, the defendant had been indicted for theft of $10,000.25 The indictment alleged that the money was owned by a J. Howard Coonen. Coonen was a regional manager for International Harvester Corporation, and the proof at trial showed that the funds taken were those of International Harvester. The conviction was originally reversed by the Court of Criminal Appeals and a judgment of acquittal was entered, with the Court citing to Burks and Greene, 607 S.W.2d at 249. On rehearing, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed its earlier decision and affirmed the conviction. It did so on the basis of a reinterpretation of the meaning of the word "owner" as generally defined in the Texas Penal Code. Under Tex.Pen.Code Ann. § 1.07(a)(24) (West), the owner of property is one who has (1) title, (2) possession, or (3) a greater right to possession than the defendant. Prior case law had held that alternative (3) only applied in cases of joint interest in the property between the "owner" and the defendant. E.g., McGee v. State, 572 S.W.2d 723 (Tex.Cr.App.1978). This meant that in most cases the ownership alleged in the indictment could only be demonstrated by showing title or possession, or else relying on a theory of special ownership. None of these demonstrated in the 1972 conviction. In Compton, however, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overruled McGee and held that ownership could be established by showing a greater right to possession even though there was no showing of a joint interest.
The State of Texas has not argued that because the law regarding the definition of ownership changed with Compton, Compton should be given retroactive application, that the decision in Carter v. State was in error, and double jeopardy should not attach. Nor would such an argument succeed. Double jeopardy barred reprosecution immediately after reversal by the appellate court, this being equivalent to an acquittal by the trial judge. As stated above the requirement for double jeopardy to attach is that there be a "resolution (in the defendant's favor), correct or not, of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged." Scott, supra, 437 U.S. at 97, 98 S.Ct. at 2197 (quoting Martin Linen, supra, 430 U.S. at 571, 97 S.Ct. at 1354) (emphasis added). Thus even were the appellate court's decision based upon a wrong view of the law as understood at the time of the decision, double jeopardy would attach if the reversal were based on a perceived insufficiency of the evidence. See Bullard v. Estelle, supra, at 1355 n.17 (acquittal by jury, trial judge, or appellate court have all been given same effect by Supreme Court). See also Sanabria v. United States, 437 U.S. 54, 64, 98 S.Ct. 2170, 2178, 57 L.Ed.2d 43 (1977) (fundamental nature of the double jeopardy rule is manifested by its explicit extension to situations where an acquittal is based upon a egregiously erroneous foundation); Scott, supra, 437 U.S. at 98, 98 S.Ct. at 2197 (fact that acquittal may result from erroneous evidentiary rulings or erroneous interpretations of governing legal principles affects accuracy of determination but not its essential character as an acquittal).
We think that the State's argument is based upon a distinction without a difference. It is true that since Compton it is easier to prove a case of theft in a corporate context than it was previously. But the reason for this is that the substantive scope of the offense has been enlarged. As the Court in Compton made clear, it was basing its decision on the view that "the Legislature intended to expand the class of individuals to be protected from theft." 607 S.W.2d at 250-51. (emphasis added). "Manner of proof" is expanded only insofar as the elements of the offense are also expanded though statutory interpretation. Because the element of ownership now comprehends more potential persons who may be mentioned in the indictment, the State now has an increased number of ways to prove its case. But prove it it must; having alleged an owner, it must offer testimony of particular facts to support its allegations. In other words, we deal here not with a question of evidentiary admissibility or of a defect in the trial procedures, but a question of whether "certain facts existed and ... an appellate determination of insufficient evidence at (the) proceeding to establish those facts." Bullard, supra, at 1354.
We are confirmed in this view by the action of the Texas Court Criminal Appeals in Compton itself. Before rehearing, the Court of Criminal Appeals, using the older interpretation of ownership (and the one applied in Carter v. State), had held that the State had failed in its proof of ownership and had dismissed the case for evidentiary insufficiency. The court then held that Burks and Greene were a bar to reprosecution. Had the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals viewed the case as involving only trial error, it would not have invoked Burks and Greene to reverse the judgment to one of acquittal. We are of course not required to accept without question the state court's own characterization of what constitutes trial error as opposed to evidentiary sufficiency, Bullard, supra, at 1359-60; however in this case the characterization conforms with our own view and is moreover consistent with language in Carter v. State, supra, and Easley v. State, supra. We thus are able to defer to this characterization with some confidence. Compare Bullard, id. & n.25 with Tapp v. Lucas, 658 F.2d 383, 385 (5th Cir. 1981) (federal court could and would defer to a state court's view of error as trial error which was clearly a correct characterization).
Reliance on Jackson v. Virginia is misplaced. We rejected the same argument when it was made in Bullard. 665 F.2d at 1360 n.27.
This argument stands the double jeopardy clause on its head. If Carter has received a verdict of acquittal (or its equivalent under Burks : a finding of evidentiary insufficiency from a trial or appellate court), double jeopardy automatically attaches. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, this means that he may not be brought to trial again on the same charge. E.g., Burks, supra, 437 U.S. at 11, 98 S.Ct. at 2147; Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187, 78 S.Ct. 221, 223, 2 L.Ed.2d 199 (1957). The purported fairness of any second trial is wholly irrelevant. For the second trial is not the remedy-it is the violation itself.
Cause No. 74-H-1603 has an extremely complicated history which we have not discussed in the above text, as the facts essential to the legal issues before us are complicated enough. A brief description, however, will give the reader some idea of the procedural skirmishing on both sides and the considerable judicial resources which have been expended in the process. No. 74-H-1603 was originally styled Carter v. Heard ; later custody of Carter was transferred from the Harris County Jail to the Texas State Correctional System, and W. J. Estelle was substituted as Respondent. At this point, there were two habeas petitions styled Carter v. Estelle, the first one, No. 73-H-732, attacking the 1969 conviction, and the second, No. 74-H-1603, attacking the 1974 conviction. The attack on the 1969 conviction in No. 73-H-732 included an attack on the 1962 conviction used to enhance the 1969 conviction. A third Carter v. Estelle, Cause No. 76-H-19, sought restoration of lost prison "good time" credits. At one point, there were a total of eight habeas petitions filed by Carter against respondent Estelle pending in the federal courts. See Carter v. Telectron, Inc., 452 F.Supp. 944 (S.D.Tex.1977)
On November 22, 1976, District Judge Woodrow Seals issued an order in No. 74-H-1603. The District Judge stated that, as it had been "informed by the parties in open court that no Texas Court had yet addressed petitioner's contentions under the provisions of Section 11.07, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (the Texas habeas statute)," the proceedings in 74-H-1603 would be stayed until Carter had made a good faith effort to exhaust state remedies. This stay did not include the several attacks on the 1962 conviction also present in No. 74-H-1603, but this fact had no effect on subsequent proceedings. See, n.5, infra. On October 13, 1977, No. 74-H-1603 was transferred to the docket of Judge Finis E. Cowan.
The first habeas challenge, No. 178,126-A, had alleged many of the same claims as No. 74-H-1603. It was dismissed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on February 2, 1977, because No. 74-H-1603 was still pending in federal court. As we discuss more fully later on, Texas law prevents the Texas courts from passing on claims in a habeas case where an application for the same relief is pending in the federal courts. Ex parte Green, 548 S.W.2d 914 (Tex.Cr.App.1977)
The State of Texas argued that should this court decide that state remedies were not exhausted with respect to the double jeopardy claim, Carter would have to dismiss No. 74-H-1603-A in order to proceed in state court. To avoid waste of judicial resources in No. 74-H-1603-A, the court was asked to stay its hand to see whether Carter would in fact dismiss. This argument neglected the fact that swift consideration of No. 74-H-1603-A might also moot the issues in this case; however, the stay was granted and we must now attempt to clear up the resultant traffic jam
The completely different approach which the federal courts take with respect to the problem of concurrent state and federal habeas proceedings is well illustrated by our decision in Escobedo v. Estelle, 650 F.2d 70, modified on petition for rehearing, 655 F.2d 613 (5th Cir. 1981). In Escobedo, the petitioner exhausted his state habeas remedies with respect to an attack on his 1970 felony theft conviction, and then brought a federal habeas petition alleging the same claim as his state petition. However, in the meantime, the petitioner had been convicted of burglary in 1977 and the 1970 conviction had been used for enhancement purposes. The petitioner appealed his 1977 conviction in the state courts, raising once again his challenge to the 1970 conviction used for enhancement; this appeal was pending when the petitioner brought his federal habeas action attacking the 1970 conviction on the same grounds
Although No. 74-H-1603-A was primarily a challenge to the 1969 conviction, it included attacks on the 1962 conviction as well. Judge Seals had stayed consideration of all claims except those challenging the 1962 conviction pending Carter's attempt to exhaust state remedies. After the severance, which disposed of the challenges to the 1974 conviction, what remained in No. 74-H-1603-A were attacks on the 1969 conviction, which had previously been stayed, and attacks on the 1962 conviction, which had not been stayed but upon which no further proceedings had taken place
Moreover, the Court of Criminal Appeals' opinion in No. 178,126-B did state that it would dismiss because Carter was attacking the same conviction (No. 178,126) in state and federal court
As stated earlier, the identity of the claims raised in federal and state court is apparently irrelevant for the purposes of Ex parte Green. It is enough that both pending actions deal with the "same matter", i.e., the same conviction
That the requirement of exhaustion is not based on lack of jurisdictional power to issue the writ but rather is an accommodation of state interests has been reaffirmed many times. E.g., Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 420, 83 S.Ct. 822, 838, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963); Bowen v. Johnston, 306 U.S. 19, 27, 59 S.Ct. 442, 446, 83 L.Ed. 455 (1939); Galtieri v. Wainwright, 582 F.2d 348, 354 (5th Cir. 1978)
The exhaustion doctrine is a judicially-crafted instrument which reflects a careful balance between important interests of federalism and the need to preserve the writ of habeas corpus as a "swift and imperative remedy in all cases of illegal restraint or confinement." Secretary of State for Home Affairs v. O'Brien, (1923) A.C. 603, 609 (H.L.).
Another example of the compromise is the fact that while state judicial process is allowed to proceed without interference from the federal courts, the state process is not completely immune from federal supervision. After exhaustion of state remedies, a petitioner may still go into a federal forum to have his federal claims heard again, even if fully and fairly litigated by the state courts, Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443, 73 S.Ct. 397, 97 L.Ed. 469 (1953), and even though this denial of res judicata effect might in other contexts show an insufficient respect for state judgments. See Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980). It is interesting to note that this aspect of the compromise continues to be fine-tuned by succeeding decisions of the Court. See Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1976) (full and fair litigation of Fourth Amendment claims in the state courts will preclude later federal collateral attack)
E.g. Pitchess v. Davis, 421 U.S. 482, 488, 95 S.Ct. 1748, 1752, 44 L.Ed.2d 317 (1975) (per curiam) (application for writ of prohibition denied by California Supreme Court could not be fairly read as an adjudication on the merits of the claim presented; state remedies held not exhausted where claim could be raised on normal post-trial direct appeal); Ex parte Hawk, 321 U.S. 114, 116, 64 S.Ct. 448, 449, 88 L.Ed. 572 (1944) (application for extraordinary writ did not serve to exhaust state remedies where normal state channels for review were available); Tooten v. Shevin, 493 F.2d 173 (5th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 966, 95 S.Ct. 1957, 44 L.Ed.2d 454 (1975) (denial of writ of prohibition to the Florida Supreme Court prior to state trial was insufficient for purposes of exhaustion where trial and appellate courts in Florida had yet to consider merits of claim)
See also Lenza v. Wyrick, 665 F.2d 804 (8th Cir. 1981) (petitioner's point raised in brief did not state "wherein and why" trial court erred in conformity with state procedural rules; claim held exhausted since substance of the complaint was before the state court); Morrow v. Wyrick, 646 F.2d 1229 (8th Cir.) cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 401, 70 L.Ed.2d 216 (1981) (same); Tifford v. Wainwright, 588 F.2d 954 (5th Cir. 1976) (failure by petitioner to produce a trial transcript due to indigency did not rob Florida courts of a fair opportunity to consider his claims)
We hasten to point out that the question whether a petitioner has sufficiently complied with state procedures in raising his claims is a different one from the question of procedural default and waiver which was considered in Fay v. Noia and later in Wainwright v. Sykes. Engle v. Isaac, --- U.S. ---- at ---- n.28, 102 S.Ct. 1558, at 1570 n.28, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982); Wainwright, supra, 433 U.S. 72, 78-81, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 2502-2503, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (distinguishing the exhaustion requirement from the issue of procedural default). Wainwright v. Sykes deals with the problem of when the petitioner's failure to raise a timely objection at trial creates an adequate state ground which prevents consideration of the petitioner's federal constitutional questions. In fact, the rule in Sykes presupposes that at the time the petitioner files his habeas petition in federal court, he has no available state remedy, because the contemporaneous objection rule prevents further consideration of his claims by the state courts. Thus when Sykes applies, the petitioner's claims are likely to be exhausted within the meaning of § 2254(b). See Engle v. Isaac, supra, at ---- n.28, 102 S.Ct. at 1570 n.28. Conversely, in the procedural default situation with which exhaustion doctrine is concerned, the petitioner has preserved his claim through objection at trial or is otherwise able to present it in the state courts; it is his later failure to comply with other state procedures which raises the question of exhaustion. The federal courts must then consider whether despite the lack of compliance, the state has been given a fair opportunity to consider the constitutional claims
An early precursor of the statutory rule may be found in Ex parte Royall itself, where it was suggested that in cases of urgency, or cases involving foreign relations or where state process would be in conflict with special national interests, exhaustion was not required. 117 U.S. at 252, 6 S.Ct. at 740. An exception for this and other "special circumstances" has always existed. Darr v. Burford, 339 U.S. 200, 70 S.Ct. 587, 94 L.Ed. 761 (1950); White v. Ragen, 324 U.S. 760, 65 S.Ct. 978, 89 L.Ed. 1348 (1945); Ex parte Hawk, 321 U.S. 114, 117, 64 S.Ct. 448, 450, 88 L.Ed. 572 (1944). See e.g., Cunningham v. Neagle, 135 U.S. 1, 10 S.Ct. 658, 34 L.Ed. 55 (1890) (United States deputy marshal, held on charge of homicide committed in the performance of his duty to protect Justice Field, discharged on habeas corpus from state custody). See generally Annotation, 54 L.Ed.2d 873, 888-891 (1978); Hart and Wechsler, The Federal Courts and the Federal System 1491-1492 (2d ed. 1976). Moreover, Ex parte Hawk (decided at a time when re-litigation of federal claims was not permitted in habeas proceedings after a full and fair hearing in the state courts) had held that "where resort to state court remedies has failed to afford a full and fair adjudication of the federal contentions raised, either because the state affords no remedy, ... or because in the particular case the remedy afforded by state law proves in practice unavailable or seriously inadequate, ... a federal court should entertain (the prisoner's) petition for habeas corpus, else he would be remediless." 321 U.S. at 118, 64 S.Ct. at 450
E.g., Layton v. Carson, 479 F.2d 1275 (5th Cir. 1973), and cases cited therein at 1276 (state supreme court recently rendered an adverse decision in identical case and no reason exists to believe that state court will change its position); Galtieri, supra, at 354-55 n. 13; Reed v. Beto, 343 F.2d 723 (5th Cir. 1965), aff'd. on other grounds, Spencer v. Texas, 385 U.S. 554, 87 S.Ct. 648, 17 L.Ed.2d 606 (1967)
E.g., Rheuark v. Wade, 540 F.2d 1282 (5th Cir. 1976) (delay in preparation of trial transcript for appeal); Dixon v. Florida, 388 F.2d 424, 425 (5th Cir. 1968) ("(A)n inordinate and unjustified delay in the state corrective process may well result in the frustration of petitioner's rights and be such a circumstance to render that process ineffective"); Galtieri, supra, at 354 n. 12 and cases cited therein. See generally 17 Wright, Miller & Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure: Jurisdiction § 4264 at 645 & n. 52 (1978) and cases cited therein
See Dixon v. Florida, 388 F.2d 424, 426 (5th Cir. 1968)
The other cases were White v. Ragen, 324 U.S. 760, 65 S.Ct. 978, 89 L.Ed. 1348 (1945); Woods v. Nierstheimer, 328 U.S. 211, 66 S.Ct. 996, 90 L.Ed. 1177 (1946); Loftus v. Illinois, 334 U.S. 804, 68 S.Ct. 1212, 92 L.Ed. 1737 (1948); Young v. Ragen, 337 U.S. 235, 69 S.Ct. 1073, 93 L.Ed. 1333 (1949); and Jennings v. Illinois, 342 U.S. 104, 72 S.Ct. 123, 96 L.Ed. 119 (1951)
Cf. Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 435, 83 S.Ct. 822, 847, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963) which overturned the rule of Darr v. Burford that exhaustion of state remedies required petition to the United States Supreme Court after an adverse decision in the State Supreme Court: "(O)ur decision today affects all procedural hurdles to the achievement of swift and imperative justice on habeas corpus." The doctrine of Darr v. Burford was seen as an unnecessary and burdensome complication of the exhaustion requirement and hence was overruled
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Carter's double jeopardy claim even though the claim did not involve an attack on a prior conviction being challenged in federal court. As discussed earlier, we have no reason to assume that the double jeopardy claim raised alone now would be heard by the Texas courts while No. 74-H-1603-A is pending. Moreover Texas' policy of discouraging piecemeal litigation and the abuse of the writ doctrines developed to enforce that policy suggest the opposite. See Ex parte Dora, 548 S.W.2d 392 (Tex.Cr.App.1977); Ex parte Carr, 511 S.W.2d 523 (Tex.Cr.App.1974). Nor has either party even suggested that the double jeopardy claim could be raised by itself while the federal action is pending. In view of these factors, we think it would be unjust to remand Carter to the state courts on the basis of a theoretical possibility that an adequate state remedy exists for his double jeopardy claim
Carter urges upon this court an additional reason why he should not be put to the choice of dismissing his federal suit or delaying his state suit. The sentences for his 1969 and 1962 convictions, which he attacks in No. 74-H-1603-A, have already been served. Carter argues that if he dismisses the federal action and has his 1974 conviction overturned by the state courts, he will be unable to raise the claims in No. 74-H-1603-A in another federal habeas action. This is because, he claims, the custody requirements of § 2254 would no longer be satisfied. Carter is apparently relying on the statement in Carter v. Hardy, 526 F.2d 314, 315 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 838, 97 S.Ct. 108, 50 L.Ed.2d 105 (1976), that "(h)abeas corpus lies essentially to challenge illegal restraint; the writ is not available where the sentence challenged has been fully served and is not being used for enhancement purposes." Accord, Escobedo v. Estelle, 650 F.2d 70, modified on petition for rehearing, 655 F.2d 613 (5th Cir. 1981)
We are fully aware that a rule as complicated as the one Texas has created would present opportunities for such bad faith maneuvering. For example, a petitioner might attempt to "leapfrog" his claims into the federal courts as follows: first he brings A1 in state court, then, without exhausting it first, brings B2 in federal court. The state courts dismiss A1 and he then brings A1 in federal court claiming exhaustion because he has no available remedy in state court. However where such bad faith can be shown there is no reason to extend to these petitioners the same aid we would give to petitioners who are, through no fault of their own, caught in the quagmire of the Texas habeas abstention rule. Moreover the federal courts have already developed a considerable caselaw beginning with Fay v. Noia which specifically deals with the identification of bad faith attempts by habeas petitioners to circumvent available state remedies. We have no doubt that this jurisprudence can be successfully adapted to the problems of bad faith in this context as well
Since the overturning of Carter's 1972 conviction occurred prior to the decisions in Burks and Greene, the retroactivity of these decisions is a threshold question. However, we held recently in Bullard v. Estelle, 665 F.2d 1347 (5th Cir. 1982), that Burks does apply retroactively, and applied it to a habeas attack on the sentencing phase of a state trial. Thus our decision in Bullard, involving a challenge to a state trial, necessarily involved not only retroactive application of Burks but also retroactive application of Greene, which applied the rationale of Burks to the states through the fourteenth amendment. See Bullard, supra, at 1354 n.14. Texas has also applied Burks retroactively to its own decisions. Ex parte Reynolds, 588 S.W.2d 900 (Tex.Cr.App.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 920, 100 S.Ct. 1284, 63 L.Ed.2d 605 (1980)
After the 1973 revision of the Texas Penal Code, the offense of embezzlement was consolidated with various other offenses into the single offense of theft. Tex.Pen.Code Ann. § 31.02 (West)