Opinion ID: 514627
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Prosecuting Attorney's Closing Argument in Punishment Phase.

Text: 8 As indicated, the State first contends that the district court erred in granting Gilmore habeas corpus relief upon the basis of his claim concerning the prosecuting attorney's closing argument because the claim is barred by a procedural default and does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation. A brief discussion of the procedural history of Gilmore's claim must precede our consideration of the State's contention that the claim suffers from a procedural default barring federal review. 9 As noted by the district court, despite the applicability of Missouri's contemporaneous objection rule, see State v. Hayes, 624 S.W.2d 16, 20 (Mo.1981), Gilmore's trial attorney did not object to the prosecutor's closing argument, nor did he raise the issue of the propriety of the closing argument on direct appeal. 6 In his Rule 27.26 motion Gilmore did present the claims that the prosecutor's closing argument was impermissible under Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985), and that his trial attorney rendered ineffective assistance in failing to lodge an objection. 7 Neither of these claims, however, was advanced on appeal from the denial of the motion. 8 10 Ordinarily, a federal court reviewing a state conviction in a 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254 proceeding may consider only those claims which the petitioner has presented to the state court in accordance with state procedural rules. See Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 125, 135, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 1570, 1575, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982). This requirement implicates consideration of both the question whether the petitioner has exhausted all remedies available in the courts of the state at the time the federal habeas corpus petition is filed, see Humphrey v. Cady, 405 U.S. 504, 516, 92 S.Ct. 1048, 1055, 31 L.Ed.2d 394 (1972), and whether he has preserved his claims for federal habeas corpus review by complying with state procedural rules governing their presentation. Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. at 125, 126 n. 28, 102 S.Ct. at 1570, 1571 n. 28. 11 In the instant case, the State does not contest the district court's conclusion that Gilmore has exhausted available state remedies with respect to his claim concerning the propriety of the prosecutor's closing argument. See Gilmore v. Armontrout, 681 F.Supp. at 637 (Because [Gilmore] no longer has any remedy available to exhaust this claim, the requirement of exhaustion should not be applied inflexibly to bar this Court's consideration of [the] claim.). This court has previously observed that Missouri courts strictly construe the provision in Missouri Supreme Court Rule 27.26 that a successive motion to vacate a sentence shall not be entertained when the grounds presented therein could have been raised in the original Rule 27.26 motion. Lindner v. Wyrick, 644 F.2d 724, 726-27 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 872, 102 S.Ct. 345, 70 L.Ed.2d 178 (1981). Because Gilmore advanced his claim concerning the prosecuting attorney's closing argument in his original Rule 27.26 motion, the record clearly indicates that the claim was available to him when the motion was filed. In these circumstances, we agree with the district court that the filing of a successive Rule 27.26 motion advancing this claim would be futile, and that Gilmore has exhausted state remedies with respect to this claim. Employing this same rationale, we also conclude that Gilmore has exhausted state remedies with regard to his claim that his trial attorney rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to the prosecutor's closing argument. 12 Gilmore did not comply with Missouri procedural rules, however, when he failed to advance these claims on appeal from the denial of his Rule 27.26 motion. 9 See Stokes v. Armontrout, 851 F.2d 1085, 1092 (8th Cir.1988) (Missouri petitioner's failure to raise claim on appeal from the denial of his state post-conviction motion erected a procedural bar to federal habeas review); see also Benson v. State, 611 S.W.2d 538, 541 (Mo.Ct.App.1980) (Missouri procedure requires presentation of a claim at each step of the judicial process in order to avoid default). Hence, federal habeas review of these claims is precluded unless Gilmore can demonstrate cause for his default and actual prejudice resulting from the alleged constitutional violation. Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. at 84, 97 S.Ct. at 2505. 13 The district court declined to undertake the cause and prejudice analysis in light of its determination that Wainwright was inapplicable. With due respect, we find the district court's reasoning in this regard contrary to existing Supreme Court precedent. In particular, we note that in Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 496, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 2650, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986), the Court indicated that the cause and prejudice showing must be made in order to surmount a procedural default except in an extraordinary case, where a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent.... See also Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. at 135, 102 S.Ct. at 1576 (in appropriate cases, the requirement of a showing of cause and prejudice must yield to the imperative of correcting a fundamentally unjust incarceration). To date, no extraordinary case of this nature has been found, 17A C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 4266.1 (1988), nor does Gilmore urge that this is such a case. In addition, in Engle v. Isaac, the Supreme Court explicitly declined to adopt a plain error inquiry in federal habeas review of state convictions, reasoning, [w]e remain convinced that the burden of justifying federal habeas relief for state prisoners is 'greater than the showing required to establish plain error on direct appeal.'  456 U.S. at 134-35, 102 S.Ct. at 1575 (quoting Henderson v. Kibbe, 431 U.S. 145, 154, 97 S.Ct. 1730, 1736, 52 L.Ed.2d 203 (1977)). Finally, in Smith v. Murray, 477 U.S. 527, 538, 106 S.Ct. 2661, 2668, 91 L.Ed.2d 434 (1986), the Court rejected any suggestion that the principles of Wainwright v. Sykes apply differently depending on the nature of the penalty a State imposes for the violation of its criminal laws. 14 Turning now to a determination of whether Gilmore has met his burden of demonstrating cause and prejudice, we conclude after a careful review of the record that nothing therein purports to suggest a cause for Gilmore's failure to present, on appeal from the denial of his Rule 27.26 motion, either of the claims at issue. 10 Although Gilmore argues that the alleged ineffective assistance of the attorney representing him at trial and on direct appeal constitutes cause, we reiterate our earlier conclusion that Gilmore's failure to advance the claims in question in his post-conviction appeal functions as an adequate and independent procedural default. 15 Although our inquiry need continue no further, we note that Gilmore's underlying claims are without merit. Gilmore's reliance upon Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985), in support of his assertion that the prosecutor's remarks warrant habeas relief, is misplaced. Caldwell condemns state-induced comments that mislead the jury as to its role in the sentencing process in a way that allows the jury to feel less responsible than it should for the sentencing decision. Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 184 n. 15, 106 S.Ct. 2464, 2473 n. 15, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986). 11 The comments in the case at hand, supra n. 4, did not mislead the jury; rather, they accurately apprised it of the potential consequences of its sentencing alternatives. Moreover, the comments in no way tended to diminish the jury's role in the sentencing determination; on the contrary, a fair reading of the prosecutor's closing argument leads one to conclude that the remarks at issue underscored the importance of the jury's decision. 16 Furthermore, in California v. Ramos, 463 U.S. 992, 103 S.Ct. 3446, 77 L.Ed.2d 1171 (1983), the Supreme Court held that a California law which required a trial judge to inform the jury that a sentence to life imprisonment without parole may be commuted to a sentence including the possibility of parole, when given in the penalty phase of a capital murder trial, did not violate the eighth and fourteenth amendments. Id. at 1013, 103 S.Ct. at 3459. In so holding, the Court expressly rejected the arguments that such an instruction invited an unacceptable level of speculation and unreliability, that the instruction deflected the jury from its task of basing its sentencing decision upon the specific facts of the case, and that the instruction misled the jury by failing to inform it that a sentence of death may also be commuted. Id. at 1001-1012, 103 S.Ct. at 3453-3459. Although we recognize that Ramos concerned the constitutionality of a state statute, and we are aware of the Supreme Court's statement in Ramos that states remain free to prohibit a capital sentencing jury from considering the governor's power to commute, id. at 1013, 103 S.Ct. at 3459, we believe the Court's conclusion that the commutation instruction did not violate the federal Constitution is apropos and instructive in this federal habeas corpus proceeding. 12 17 Finally, an important component of the Court's decision in Caldwell was the fact that the trial judge not only failed to correct the prosecutor's remarks, but in fact openly agreed with them; he stated to the jury that the remarks were proper and necessary, strongly implying that the prosecutor's portrayal of the jury's role was correct. Caldwell, 472 U.S. at 339, 105 S.Ct. at 2644. By contrast here, the trial court submitted an instruction informing the jury that the arguments of counsel are not evidence, thus reducing any likelihood that the jury was substantially influenced by counsel's comments. While we make no comment as to whether the submission of such an instruction would have been sufficiently curative if a Caldwell violation had in fact occurred, we believe the instruction underscores our conclusion that no impropriety was committed in the matter sub judice. 18 In light of the foregoing, it is clear that Gilmore's ineffective assistance claim lacks merit. Gilmore has not established either that his trial attorney's failure to object or to raise the issue on direct appeal fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, nor has he demonstrated a reasonable probability that but for counsel's alleged error the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 688, 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 2068, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). 19