Opinion ID: 755880
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Due Process at the Sentencing Hearing

Text: 55 According to Ortiz, he was denied due process at sentencing in four different ways: He was not permitted to confront a witness whose testimony was considered at sentencing; he was sentenced by the same judge who presided over his wife's trial; he was not notified of the statute under which he would be sentenced; and he was not given sufficient notice of the aggravating circumstances on which the prosecution relied in seeking the death penalty. We will address the merits of each claim in turn.
56 Ortiz first claims that he was deprived of his constitutional right to confront a witness during the sentencing proceeding because the sentencing judge considered testimony that Ortiz's wife gave at her own conspiracy trial. Mrs. Ortiz's testimony was used to rebut the mitigation evidence proffered by Ortiz, establishing that he was of good character, had been a good father, and had no prior criminal record. His wife had testified at her own trial that Ortiz had beaten her a dozen times, had pointed a gun at her, and had had an affair with Manuelita McCormack. The Arizona Supreme Court decided that under Arizona law, the transcript was admissible as rebuttal evidence at sentencing. The Court held that any relevant evidence may be used to rebut the defendant's mitigating circumstances regardless of its admissibility at trial. 639 P.2d at 1033. 57 On appeal, Ortiz claims that admission of his wife's testimony violated his right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment. We reject this argument. We hold that Ortiz's wife's testimony is admissible under Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241, 69 S.Ct. 1079, 93 L.Ed. 1337 (1949), where the Supreme Court approved a sentencing judge's use of information contained within a presentence report. The Williams Court explained that most of the information now relied upon by judges to guide them in the intelligent imposition of sentences would be unavailable if information were restricted to that given in open court by witnesses subject to cross-examination. Id. at 250, 69 S.Ct. 1079. In Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349, 97 S.Ct. 1197, 51 L.Ed.2d 393 (1977), the Supreme Court distinguished Williams, holding that a sentencing court cannot impose a death sentence on the basis of information that was not disclosed to the defense in advance of the sentencing proceeding. See id. at 362, 97 S.Ct. 1197. Ortiz maintains that Gardner questioned the continued validity of Williams. Ortiz's position, however, is flatly contradicted by the law of this circuit. See Creech v. Arave, 947 F.2d 873, 880 n. 7 (9th Cir.1991) (Although Gardner stated that standards of procedural fairness had evolved since Williams was decided, it distinguished rather than overruled Williams 's holding.), rev'd on other grounds, 507 U.S. 463, 113 S.Ct. 1534, 123 L.Ed.2d 188 (1993). In fact, this Court regularly cites Williams for the proposition that a sentencing judge can rely on information provided by witnesses that the defendant has not had the chance to cross-examine, as long as the defendant has had the opportunity to rebut, deny, or explain the information used. See, e.g., Creech, 947 F.2d at 880 (Because Creech had the opportunity to rebut, deny or explain the information contained in the presentence report, this case is distinguishable from Gardner v. Florida ... and is in line with Williams v. New York.); United States v. Wondrack, 578 F.2d 808, 809 n. 1 (9th Cir.1978) (By carefully distinguishing Williams v. New York ... the plurality made it clear that the vice in Gardner was the confidential nature of the information rather than its possible hearsay nature.). 58 As the district court below correctly observed, Ortiz could have called witnesses at his sentencing hearing to rebut Mrs. Ortiz's testimony, and also could have called Mrs. Ortiz herself. By Ortiz's counsel's own admission at oral argument, defense counsel in this case did nothing to secure Mrs. Ortiz's attendance at the sentencing hearing. The State, however, did subpoena Mrs. Ortiz and, after a defense motion for a continuance of the hearing was granted, requested that the subpoena remain in full force. Despite the State's efforts to secure Mrs. Ortiz's presence, she did not appear at the sentencing hearing. B. Bias of Sentencing Judge 59 Next, Ortiz argues that he was deprived of his right to due process of law at sentencing because Judge Birdsall, who also presided over Mrs. Ortiz's conspiracy trial, was biased against him. In the middle of Mrs. Ortiz's trial, the State moved to dismiss the charges against her, explaining that it had a reasonable doubt as to her guilt. Judge Birdsall agreed with the State, stating that he, too, had a reasonable doubt as to Mrs. Ortiz's guilt. At Ortiz's sentencing, Judge Birdsall informed the parties that he intended to consider Mrs. Ortiz's testimony in rebuttal of proffered mitigating circumstances. Ortiz subsequently filed a motion to disqualify Judge Birdsall. A hearing on the disqualification motion was held by a different state judge, who found no evidence of bias. The Arizona Supreme Court agreed. See Ortiz, 639 P.2d at 1034. After an independent review of the record, the district court determined that Judge Birdsall was not biased. 60 We accord a presumption of correctness to state court findings of fact. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d); Villafuerte v. Stewart, 111 F.3d 616, 632 (9th Cir.1997) (holding that state court finding of absence of bias is entitled to a presumption of correctness). Moreover, we abide by the general presumption that judges are unbiased and honest. See Withrow v. Larkin, 421 U.S. 35, 47, 95 S.Ct. 1456, 43 L.Ed.2d 712 (1975); Stivers v. Pierce, 71 F.3d 732, 741 (9th Cir.1995). In addition, we have specifically held that the mere fact that a judge presided over the separate trial of a codefendant does not constitute reasonable grounds for questioning his or her impartiality. See Paradis v. Arave, 20 F.3d 950, 958 (9th Cir.1994). In Paradis, we reasoned that simple exposure to facts presented at the trial of a different person does not amount to bias, which has been defined by the Supreme Court as a direct personal interest in the outcome of a proceeding. Id. (citing Ungar v. Sarafite, 376 U.S. 575, 584, 84 S.Ct. 841, 11 L.Ed.2d 921 (1964)). Ortiz's argument that Judge Birdsall was biased at sentencing merely because he presided over Ortiz's wife's trial has no merit in light of our decision in Paradis. 61 Ortiz further argues that bias is evident in the instant case because Judge Birdsall granted the State's motion to dismiss the charges against Mrs. Ortiz, agreeing with the State that there was a reasonable doubt as to her guilt. We disagree with Ortiz's claim. The fact that Judge Birdsall granted the dismissal motion does not in any way suggest that he believed every word of Mrs. Ortiz's testimony. Moreover, by Ortiz's logic, Judge Birdsall would only have been able to display a lack of bias by finding Mrs. Ortiz guilty on the conspiracy charges. There is clearly no sense to this argument. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's determination that there is no evidence of bias at sentencing. 62 C. Failure to Notify as to Sentencing Statute 63 Ortiz next contends that he was denied due process because he was not notified of the statute under which he would be sentenced. In May 1979, approximately six months after Ortiz committed the offense, the Arizona death penalty statute was amended to conform with the Arizona Supreme Court's holding in State v. Watson, 120 Ariz. 441, 586 P.2d 1253 (1978). The 1979 amendment enlarged the scope of admissible mitigating factors to include any factors proffered by the defendant or the state which are relevant in determining whether to impose a sentence less than death, including any aspect of the defendant's character, propensities or record and any of the circumstances of the offense. Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703(G). At Ortiz's sentencing, the state trial court indicated that the sentencing procedure would be identical under either statute, without specifying which statute it used. The Arizona Supreme Court agreed that Ortiz faced the same penalty and procedure under either statute, but clarified that Ortiz had been sentenced under the amended statute. 639 P.2d at 1032. 64 In the first place, as the district court correctly found, the record reflects that Ortiz in fact was given clear notice by the trial court of the statute under which he would be sentenced. On July 10, 1979, approximately eight months prior to sentencing, the state trial court issued a minute entry indicating that it would sentence Ortiz pursuant to Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703, as amended, and effective May 1, 1979. Although at sentencing, the judge's language was less explicit and straightforward than in the minute entry, the court did state that it was relying on the Arizona Supreme Court's decision in Watson, that being the same, so far as the Court is concerned, as the new statute ... which I thought gave the defendant every possibility of presenting any mitigating circumstances. Together, the court's minute entry and the court's arguably opaque reference at sentencing to its use of the amended statute, afforded Ortiz adequate notice of the statute under which he would be sentenced. 65 D. Insufficient Notice of Aggravating Circumstances 66 Finally, Ortiz maintains that the state failed to give adequate notice of the aggravating factors on which it intended to rely in seeking the death penalty. We find no support in the record for this position. On September 10, 1979, over a month before the sentencing hearing, the State filed a statement indicating that it intended to present at sentencing evidence regarding aggravating factors listed in Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703(F)(3) and (6). On October 2, 1979, thirteen days before the sentencing hearing (which was continued from its original date of October 5), the State filed a supplemental statement indicating that it would introduce evidence of Ortiz's conviction for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in order to establish an aggravating circumstance under § 13-703(F)(1). We hold that thirteen days gave Ortiz an effective opportunity to defend against the use of his concurrent conspiracy conviction as a prior conviction under Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703(F)(1). See Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 268, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970) (explaining that due process requires adequate notice so as to provide an effective opportunity to defend by confronting any adverse witnesses and by presenting ... arguments and evidence orally). VI. Bias of Post-Conviction Relief Judge 67 Ortiz argues that the post-conviction relief judge's failure to appoint him counsel in his second post-conviction proceeding is evidence that the judge was biased against him. Although the judge's refusal to appoint counsel might constitute a violation of Arizona law, see Ariz. R.Crim. P. 32.4(c) (mandating appointment of counsel for indigent petitioners in post-conviction proceedings), it does not constitute ground for a federal habeas claim. There is simply no constitutional right to an attorney in a state post-conviction proceeding. See Coleman, 501 U.S. at 752, 111 S.Ct. 2546; Moran, 80 F.3d at 1271. Moreover, this court has specifically stated that federal habeas relief is not available to redress alleged procedural errors in state post-conviction proceedings. See Carriger v. Stewart, 95 F.3d 755, 763 (9th Cir.1996), vacated on other grounds, 132 F.3d 463 (1997); Franzen v. Brinkman, 877 F.2d 26, 26 (9th Cir.1989). The post-conviction relief judge's refusal to appoint counsel for Ortiz therefore cannot form the basis for federal habeas relief. 68 Ortiz argues in the alternative that the language in the post-conviction judge's minute entry denying his motion for counsel manifests unconstitutional bias. The problematic section of the minute entry reads as follows: 69 THE COURT FURTHER FINDS that this argument and claim is another corollary of Zeno's paradox.... The game here is first, to accuse trial counsel of ineffective assistance, when that fails accuse appellate counsel of being ineffective for not showing trial counsel ineffective; then when that fails, (you presumably) accuse Rule 32 counsel of ineffective assistance for not showing that appellate counsel was ineffective for not showing trial counsel was ineffective ... ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Meanwhile, the trial court should, one supposes, with knee-jerk regularity, appoint good, diligent counsel to carefully research the constantly burgeoning record for any semblance of error in each of these infinitely discreet [sic] games. Well perhaps--but not here! 70 The Supreme Court has held that judicial rulings alone almost never constitute a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion. Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555, 114 S.Ct. 1147, 127 L.Ed.2d 474 (1994); see also United States v. Bauer, 84 F.3d 1549, 1560 (9th Cir.1996) (noting that a judge's views on legal issues may not serve as the basis for motions to disqualify). The Liteky Court's words resonate well in view of the circumstances in the present case: 71 The judge who presides at a trial may, upon completion of the evidence, be exceedingly ill disposed towards the defendant, who has been shown to be a thoroughly reprehensible person. But the judge is not thereby recusable for bias or prejudice, since his knowledge and the opinion it produced were properly and necessarily acquired in the course of the proceedings.... 72 Id. at 550-51, 114 S.Ct. 1147. The Liteky Court concluded that opinions formed by the judge on the basis of facts introduced or events occurring in the course of the current proceedings ... do not constitute a basis for a bias or partiality motion unless they display a deep-seated favoritism or antagonism that would make fair judgment impossible. Id. at 555, 114 S.Ct. 1147. Here, there is no suggestion of deep-seated favoritism or antagonism that would make fair judgment impossible. The state judge was simply responding to a legal claim that is frequently raised by petitioners in post-conviction proceedings. The present case is analogous to Noli v. Commissioner, 860 F.2d 1521 (9th Cir.1988), where we held that comments made by the judge after the court had examined the pleadings and stipulations simply reflect[ed] that the judge was appropriately upset with petitioners' conduct aimed at further stalling the trial. Id. at 1528. Here, too, the comments made by the judge simply reflect the judge's frustration with the number of petitioners who attempt to manipulate the criminal justice system to serve their own ends. Accordingly, we conclude that Ortiz cannot base his claim of unconstitutional bias on either the post-conviction relief judge's remarks or on his failure to appoint counsel for Ortiz at the post-conviction proceeding.