Opinion ID: 475827
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Review of the State Court Findings

Text: 6 As the district court noted, our mandate in the earlier appeal could have been read to preclude any district court review of the state court findings. See Evans v. Raines, 705 F.2d at 1481. The district court was correct in concluding that we had no such intention. The right to federal habeas relief embodied in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254 would be severely impaired if the state court's resolution of issues with constitutional implications were conclusive. 7 Evans argues that the district court, while properly deciding to review the state court's findings, applied an incorrect standard in doing so. He contends that, because the state court's findings were very general and addressed the ultimate issues of competence and intelligent waiver, they should be reviewed de novo as conclusions of law. We disagree. 8 A state court's factual findings that are fairly supported by the record are entitled to a presumption of correctness. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(d). The Supreme Court has emphasized the limited scope of our review of factual issues once determined by the state courts. See, e.g., Sumner v. Mata, 449 U.S. 539, 101 S.Ct. 764, 66 L.Ed.2d 722 (1981). At the same time, the Court has made clear that no presumption of correctness attaches to a state court's legal conclusions, even though the underlying factual findings are presumed correct. Id. at 543-44, 101 S.Ct. at 767; Moore v. Wyrick, 766 F.2d 1253, 1255 (8th Cir.1985). 9 Here we are faced with mixed questions of fact and law. 1 The line between freely reviewable legal conclusions and presumptively correct factual findings is an elusive one. The Supreme Court, however, has recently provided guidance on this problem. See Miller v. Fenton, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 445, 451-52, 88 L.Ed.2d 405 (1985) (holding voluntariness of a confession freely reviewable in habeas proceedings). 10 The mere fact that a finding determines an ultimate issue of mental capacity does not turn it into a conclusion of law. Moreover, an issue does not lose its factual character merely because its resolution is dispositive of the ultimate constitutional question. Id. 106 S.Ct. at 451. Instead, the fact-law distinction often turns on a determination that, as a matter of sound administration of justice, one judicial actor is better positioned than another to decide the issue in question. Id. at 452. When an issue involves credibility of witnesses and an evaluation of demeanor, there are compelling and familiar justifications for leaving the process of applying law to fact to the trial court and according its determination presumptive weight. Id.
11 Applying these principles to the case at bar, we conclude that the district court used the proper standard in its review of the state court findings. State court determinations of competency to stand trial are entitled to a presumption of correctness in a federal habeas proceeding. See Maggio v. Fulford, 462 U.S. 111, 103 S.Ct. 2261, 76 L.Ed.2d 794 (1983) (per curiam). 2 Competency determinations necessarily involve assessments of credibility and demeanor. Fenton, 106 S.Ct. at 453. Further, competency may itself be examined in open court on a full record. Competency is, therefore, the sort of determination that should be accorded deference despite the fact that it may be a mixed question of fact and law. Id. (contrasting competency determinations with voluntariness of confessions). 12 Although competency to stand trial and to waive counsel are different determinations, the rationale of Maggio and Fenton applies equally well to both. We therefore conclude that the state court's determination of competency was entitled to a presumption of correctness in this federal habeas proceeding. 3 13 Evans asserts that, in any event, the state court was wrong; he was not competent to waive counsel. The state court on remand conducted a full hearing into this issue, albeit with limitations inherent in attempting to recreate a factual record on such an issue five years after the event. Despite the conclusionary nature of its written findings, the state court necessarily determined that, at the time Evans waived his right to counsel, he was sufficiently lucid and rational to make a knowing and intelligent waiver. There was conflicting testimony on this issue, but the state court resolved the conflicts in the state's favor. Its resolution is fairly supported by the record. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(d).
14 We likewise defer to the state court's determination that Evans was aware of the severity of his crimes and of the possible sentences that could be imposed. Again, this finding derived from the state court's evidentiary hearing in which there was conflicting testimony. No evidence contravened the testimony that Evans knew he was facing heavy time of at least twenty years without possibility of parole. Two lawyers who represented Evans before he waived counsel testified that, while they could not specifically recall advising him of the maximum penalty, it was their regular practice to do so. 4 On this record, the state court could have found that Evans knew he faced a possible life sentence.