Opinion ID: 3016291
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: T he trial court violated the E ighth

Text: Amendment by failing to inform the jury that a life sentence in Pennsylvania means life without the possibility of parole. The District Court handed down a decision without holding an evidentiary hearing. See Bronshtein v. Horn, 2001 WL 767593, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9310 (E.D. Pa. July 5, 2001). Before reaching the merits of Bronshtein’s claims, the District Court first addressed the issue of procedural default. Although some of Bronshtein’s claims had been raised in the state courts for the first time in the second PCRA petition, which the state supreme court had found to be untimely, the District Court held that these claims were not procedurally defaulted, “because the procedural rule that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania relied upon in rejecting his claims was not clearly established or regularly followed at the time of his alleged default, [and] therefore was not sufficiently ‘adequate’ to bar federal habeas review.” App. I at 3, 7-21. Turning to the merits, the District Court concluded that the trial court’s instructions on co-conspirator liability had violated Bronshtein’s due process rights by permitting the jury to convict 8 Bronshtein of first-degree murder without finding that he had the specific intent to kill, and the District Court found that this error was not harmless. See id. at 25-34. The District Court next concluded that the trial court had violated Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994), by failing to inform the jury that a Pennsylvania prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment may not be paroled. See id. at 35-41. Finally, the Court concluded that Bronshtein’s death sentence violated the Eighth Amendment because it was based in part on an invalid aggravating circumstance (42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9711(d)(6) (commission of the killing while in the perpetration of a felony)). The Court ordered that a writ of habeas corpus be issued if the Commonwealth did not retry Bronshtein within 180 days, and in light of this relief, the Court found it unnecessary to address the other claims raised in the petition. See App. I at 46 n.33. The Court stated that Bronshtein had not argued “that his convictions for robbery, theft, and conspiracy were constitutionally flawed,” and the Court therefore did “not consider those convictions[.]” Id. at 47 n.35. Bronshtein filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e). He argued that his § 2254 petition did in fact raise claims – specifically, Claims IV, V, VI and VII – challenging his robbery, theft, and conspiracy convictions. The District Court denied the motion and held that the “voluminous and carefully crafted submissions on [Claims IV, V and VI] can only be read to challenge the murder conviction.” Bronshtein v. Horn, 2001 WL 936702 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 16, 2001). However, the Court agreed with Bronshtein that Claim VII addressed the other convictions, but the Court rejected that claim on the merits. Id. The Commonwealth has appealed the District Court’s order granting relief on Claims I, III, and IX. Bronshtein has filed a cross-appeal, and he requests a certificate of appealability on Claims IV, V, VI and VII. His request was referred to this panel and is now before us along with the Commonwealth’s appeal. 9