Opinion ID: 161898
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Using the Same Evidence to Support Different Aggravators

Text: 70 Fields cites no cases to support the proposition that it is improper to use the same evidence to support different aggravators. So long as the aggravators are not duplicative, see supra, we see no problem with this. It is commonplace to use one piece of evidence to prove different aspects of a case. For example, a gun might be used to prove the identity of the defendant (because the gun was registered to the defendant or because it had his fingerprints), the mode of death of the victim (whether he was shot or beaten with the butt), and the existence of a sentencing enhancement (felon in possession of a firearm). There is no error. 71 IV. Was sufficient evidence presented to support the prior violent felony aggravator? 72 Fields argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the prior violent felony aggravator because the testimony detailing the prior crime snatching a purse from a 58-year-old woman contained no evidence of violence or threats of violence. Notably, Fields does not dispute that he was validly convicted of first degree robbery. Rather, he argues that there was insufficient evidence to show that the facts underlying his robbery conviction included violence or threats of violence. The OCCA rejected this challenge on direct review. See Fields I, 923 P.2d at 637. Given our deferential standard of review, we must affirm. A. Standard of Review 73 Fields's sufficiency of the evidence challenge 74 reduces, in essence, to a claim that the state court simply misapplied its own aggravating circumstance to the facts of this case. Because federal habeas corpus relief does not lie for errors of state law, federal habeas review of a state court's application of a constitutionally narrowed aggravating circumstance is limited, at most, to determining whether the state court's finding was so arbitrary or capricious as to constitute an independent due process or Eighth Amendment violation. 75 Lewis v. Jeffers, 497 U.S. 764, 780 (1990) (citations omitted). [I]n determining whether a state court's application of its constitutionally adequate aggravating circumstance was so erroneous as to raise an independent due process or Eighth Amendment violation, we think the . . . appropriate standard of review is the 'rational factfinder' standard established in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979). Id. at 781. Under the rational factfinder standard, a court asks whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the [presence of the aggravating circumstance] beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. (emphasis in original). 76 Jeffers was decided in 1990, before enactment of AEDPA. AEDPA adds another layer of deferential review and has engendered some confusion in Tenth Circuit case-law in this area: 77 Prior to AEDPA, we reviewed sufficiency of the evidence challenges de novo. See Moore v. Gibson, 195 F.3d 1152, 1176 (10th Cir. 1999). Under AEDPA, however, our standard of review is not as clear. There is precedent in the Tenth Circuit that a sufficiency of the evidence challenge is a legal question and other precedent suggesting it is a question of fact. See Moore, 195 F.3d at 1176-77 (collecting cases on both sides). If we treat the issue as a legal determination, we look to 28 U.S.C. 2254(d)(1) and determine whether the state court decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. If, on the other hand, it is a factual question, we look to 2254(d)(2) and decide whether the state court decision was an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented to the state court. Further, 2254(e)(1) requires us to afford a presumption of correctness to a state court's factual findings. 78 Hale v. Gibson, 227 F.3d 1298, 1335 n.17 (10th Cir. 2000); see also Thomas v. Gibson, 218 F.3d 1213, 1227 (10th Cir. 2000) (using same formulation and finding evidence insufficient to support aggravator); Medlock v. Ward, 200 F.3d 1314, 1321 & n.6 (10th Cir. 2000) (using same formulation and finding evidence sufficient to support aggravator); Moore v. Gibson, 195 F.3d 1152, 1176-77 (10th Cir. 1999) (same). Thus, if we treat the issue as a legal determination under 2254(d)(1) we ask whether the state court decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of the rational factfinder standard. On the other hand, if we treat the issue as a factual determination under 2254(d)(2) and (e)(1) we ask whether Fields has rebutted the presumption of correctness by showing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the state court's decision was an unreasonable determination of the facts. 79 We have held, however, that it is possible to avoid deciding what standard of review applies when the petitioner's claims are clearly meritless under either standard. See Hale, 227 F.3d at 1335 n.17 (In this case, however, we do not determine which is the more appropriate analysis because Hale's claim lacks merit under either standard of review.). Here, too, we follow this approach because we believe that under either of these highly deferential standards Fields's claim fails. B. Merits 80 Oklahoma defines the prior violent felony aggravator as a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, 701.12(1). The OCCA has established, [T]he State is required to go beyond simple proof that a defendant in a capital case had prior felony convictions to establish the aggravating circumstance. The State must additionally prove that the prior felonies involved the use or threat of violence to the person. The fact that the prior felonies were committed and that the defendant committed them are properly and most easily proven through the use of the judgment and sentence. However, the element that the felonies involved the use or threat of violence is not so easily and summarily proven. It is therefore necessary that the State present sufficient information concerning the prior felony convictions to support its contention. 81 Brewer v. State, 650 P.2d 54, 62 (Okla. Crim. App. 1982). The Brewer court offered rape and second-degree murder as two examples of prior felonies that courts and parties might assume involve the use or threat of violence to the person, but that conceivably might not the defendant might have committed statutory rape or second-degree murder by driving while intoxicated. See id. Thus, Brewer requires the State [to] carry the burden of proving that the circumstances concerning a defendant's prior felony convictions are appropriate to its contention that the defendant should suffer the ultimate penalty of death. Id. at 63. 82 In this case, police detective Robert Cannon testified that on March 20, 1986, Fields had snatched a purse from a 58-year-old woman in a parking lot. The victim's daughter, who was walking with the victim when the robbery occurred, chased and caught up with Fields, who knocked her down during the struggle to break free from her. Cannon described the crime as a robbery by force. In addition, the government introduced, without objection, a certified judgment and sentence stating Fields had been convicted of first degree robbery on April 9, 1986. First degree robbery is defined in Oklahoma as [r]obbery, when accomplished by the use of force, or of putting the person robbed in fear of some immediate injury to his person. Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, 797. On this record, we cannot state that the OCCA committed error under either AEDPA standard referred to above. 83 We affirm because we do not find that the OCCA unreasonably applied the reasonable factfinder standard nor do we find that Fields has rebutted the presumption of correctness by showing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the OCCA's factual determination was unreasonable.