Opinion ID: 662464
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the delay prejudiced the petitioner by

Text: 87
88 ii. causing the petitioner to suffer constitutionally cognizable anxiety and concern awaiting the outcome of his or her appeal; or 89 iii. impairing the petitioner's grounds for appeal or his or her defenses in the event of a reversal and retrial. 90 We will address each of these factors in turn. 91 a. The length of the delay 92 The first factor in the balancing test is the length of the appellate delay. Only passage of an inordinate amount of time triggers due process concern[s]. Hill v. Reynolds, 942 F.2d at 1497 (emphasis added). Therefore, if a petitioner cannot establish at least some degree of inordinate delay, the court need not inquire into the other factors. Cf. Doggett v. United States, --- U.S. ----, ---- - ----, 112 S.Ct. 2686, 2690-91, 120 L.Ed.2d 520 (1992) (holding that because no speedy trial violation occurs if the government prosecutes a defendant with customary promptness, to trigger a speedy trial analysis, an accused must allege that the interval between accusation and trial has crossed the threshold dividing ordinary from 'presumptively prejudicial' delay). 93 We cannot set an inflexible length of time that will constitute inordinate delay in every case. See Barker, 407 U.S. at 521, 92 S.Ct. at 2187 (We cannot definitely say how long is too long in a system where justice is supposed to be swift but deliberate.); Coe v. Thurman, 922 F.2d at 531 ([T]here is no talismanic number of years or months, after which due process is automatically violated.). Nonetheless, it seems appropriate to judge appellate delay by the same two-year presumptive standard that we used earlier to excuse exhaustion. See supra at p. 1556. Therefore, a two-year delay in finally adjudicating a direct criminal appeal ordinarily will give rise to a presumption of inordinate delay that will satisfy this first factor in the balancing test. 94 Creating a presumption that a two-year delay in adjudicating an appeal is inordinate comports with the district court's ruling that a two-year period, from the notice of appeal or order permitting same, be established as the time period for resolution of a direct criminal appeal in Oklahoma beyond which any delay will be presumed to be unconstitutional, ... absent a showing of good and sufficient cause or special circumstances. R., Doc. 255 at 8 (footnote omitted). 10 Respondents do not challenge the district court's two-year presumptive period. Although petitioners argue for a shorter period, the only basis for their argument is that in 1991, the Tenth Circuit's median time for deciding direct criminal appeals was 11.7 months. See Appellant's Principal Br. (No. 93-5123) at 57; Appellant's Principal Br. (No. 93-5209) at 18-19. We are not sufficiently persuaded by this single statistic to conclude that the district court erred in establishing a two-year presumptive period. See United States v. Pratt, 645 F.2d at 91 (declining to hold nine-month appellate delay unconstitutional in absence of exacerbating factors); United States ex rel. Harris v. Reed, 608 F.Supp. 1369, 1376 (N.D.Ill.1985) (holding that a seven-and-one-half-month delay in adjudicating a motion for post-conviction relief was not so egregious as to violate petitioner's due process rights); Doescher v. Estelle, 454 F.Supp. 943, 952 (N.D.Tex.1978) (determining as a matter of law that a one-year delay in processing petitioner's appeal was not unjustified), appeal dismissed, 597 F.2d 281 (5th Cir.1979) (table). 95 The district court concluded that two years to adjudicate an appeal in Oklahoma is both customary and feasible. 11 Furthermore, a two-year delay is within the time frame that other courts have found to raise due process concerns. For example, in United States ex rel. Hankins, 582 F.Supp. at 184-85, the court held that the pendency of an appeal for two years with no decision by the state appellate court, coupled with a nine-month delay by the trial court in ruling on post-trial motions, gave rise to a prima facie due process violation. See also Dozie v. Cady, 430 F.2d at 638 (holding that seventeen-month delay in filing opening brief warranted inquiry into possible due process violation); Burkett II, 951 F.2d at 1445-46 (holding that eighteen-month delay between sentencing and decision on appeal gave rise to due process violation); United States v. Antoine, 906 F.2d 1379, 1382-83 (9th Cir.) (holding that three-year delay in adjudicating federal appeal was substantial and remanding for further findings regarding prejudice), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 963, 111 S.Ct. 398, 112 L.Ed.2d 407 (1990); Snyder v. Kelly, 769 F.Supp. 108, 111 (W.D.N.Y.1991) (holding that three years is an excessive amount of time to await the resolution of an appeal), aff'd 972 F.2d 1328 (2d Cir.1992) (table); cf. Jones v. Crouse, 360 F.2d at 158 (holding that delay of more than eighteen months in processing appeal of collateral attack warranted inquiry into possible due process violation). 12 96 The passage of two years creates only a presumption of inordinate delay on appeal. The particular circumstances of a case may warrant a finding that the passage of less than two years constitutes inordinate delay or that the passage of more than two years does not. For example, although the length of the sentence cannot be a controlling factor in light of the time requirements inherent in processing an appeal, a case in which a very short sentence was imposed may warrant more expedited treatment. See Wheeler v. Kelly, 639 F.Supp. 1374, 1379 (E.D.N.Y.1986) (holding that the length of the sentence is a factor in determining whether post-conviction delay is excessive), aff'd, 811 F.2d 133 (2d Cir.1987). On the other hand, a particularly complex case may warrant a more lengthy appellate process. Cf. Geames v. Henderson, 725 F.Supp. 681, 685 (E.D.N.Y.1989) (holding that delay of three-and-one-half years was excessive because issues on appeal were no more complex than in most criminal appeals). 97 Because it is a balancing test that we employ, however, delay substantially beyond two years, at least in a case that does not warrant a lengthier appellate process, will reduce the burden of proof on the other three factors necessary to establish a due process violation. See Doggett, --- U.S. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2693 (holding that the more protracted the delay, the more prejudice may be presumed from the delay). 98 b. The reason for the delay 99 The second part of the balancing test is the reason for the delay. In Harris I, we laid to rest any argument that delays by the Public Defender in filing briefs could be attributed to petitioners on the ground that the Public Defender requested the continuances on petitioners' behalf. 938 F.2d at 1065. The record indicated that the delay in preparing petitioner's brief on appeal [was] caused by the inability of [the Public Defender] to address petitioner's case in a timely fashion. Id. Because this delay was forced upon an unwilling petitioner by reason of his indigency, we held it should not be attributed to the petitioner. Id. The parties do not dispute that the delays in adjudicating petitioners' direct criminal appeals are attributable to the State of Oklahoma and not to petitioners. 13 See R., Doc. 29 at 9 (Attorney General); Addendum to Br. of OIDS Defs. at 17 (Public Defender); R., Doc. 27, Ex. 3(c), Attachment 1 (Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals); see also Hankins v. Fulcomer, 941 F.2d at 252 (holding that court had numerous opportunities to rule on pending matters and its delay in doing so was not attributable to petitioner); Wojtczak v. Fulcomer, 800 F.2d at 356 (holding that delay in adjudicating motion for post-conviction relief was not attributable to petitioner, but to disinterest on the part of court appointed counsel and to a failure on the part of the court to require them to provide minimally effective representation). 100 The State has offered no constitutionally sufficient justification for the delays, such as that the cases are unusually complex or that they involve the death penalty. The only reasons offered by the State were the lack of funding and, possibly, the mismanagement of resources by the Public Defender. See R., Doc. 29 at 9; Addendum to Br. of OIDS Defs. at 17; R., Doc. 27, Ex. 3(c), Attachment 1. 14 Neither of these reasons constitutes an acceptable excuse for delay. See United States ex rel. Smith, 486 F.2d at 739 (The rights announced in Griffin v. Illinois and Douglas v. California cannot be allowed to become meaningless through understaffing of the state offices responsible for assuring those rights.) (citations omitted); Snyder, 769 F.Supp. at 111 (holding that the brobdingnagian case load of assigned counsel is not an acceptable reason for delay); Rheuark v. Shaw, 477 F.Supp. 897, 912 n. 17 (N.D.Tex.1979) ([T]he constitutional requirements of due process on appeal may not be abridged by failing to fund substitute court reporters.), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 628 F.2d 297 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 931, 101 S.Ct. 1392, 67 L.Ed.2d 365 (1981); cf. Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 825, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 1496, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977) ([T]he cost of protecting a constitutional right cannot justify its total denial.); Todaro v. Ward, 565 F.2d 48, 54 n. 8 (2d Cir.1977) (Inadequate resources no longer can excuse the denial of constitutional rights.). 101 c. Petitioner's assertion of his or her right to a timely 102 appeal 103 The third factor we must balance in determining whether a due process violation has occurred is the petitioner's assertion of his or her right to a timely appeal. The Supreme Court rejected in Barker the rule that a defendant who fails to demand a speedy trial forever waives his right. 407 U.S. at 528, 92 S.Ct. at 2191. Instead, the Court held that whether and how strongly a defendant asserts his or her right to a speedy trial should be balanced with the other factors. Id. at 528-29, 92 S.Ct. at 2191. 104 We will not require petitioners to have made an affirmative assertion of their right to a timely appeal in state court for this factor to weigh in their favor. Under the circumstances, the filing of these federal habeas petitions constitutes a sufficient assertion of petitioners' respective rights to a timely appeal. See Snyder, 769 F.Supp. at 111. 105 Unlike a criminal defendant who stands accused and may not wish to have any trial, much less a speedy one, e.g., Barker, 407 U.S. at 535, 92 S.Ct. at 2194, a criminal defendant who has already been convicted usually wants a speedy appeal and has little or no incentive to delay the outcome. Cody v. Henderson, 936 F.2d at 719; cf. Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. at 520, 102 S.Ct. at 1204 (The prisoner's principal interest, of course, is in obtaining speedy federal relief on his claims.). Therefore, we presume every petitioner desired a timely appeal. 106 Furthermore, petitioners were hampered by the fact that they had to speak through their counsel in the state court appellate process and, in most instances, it was that very counsel who was responsible for the delay. Under these circumstances, we cannot fairly expect petitioners to have raised the issue of delay in state court. See Gaines v. Manson, 194 Conn. 510, 481 A.2d 1084, 1093 (1984) (The petitioners have been handicapped in asserting rights through their counsel when it is the counsel itself that has been the source of the challenged delays.). 107 Moreover, because the Public Defender had a policy of briefing cases on a first in, first out basis and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals was unwilling to expedite the briefing of one Public Defender's case over another, see Manous v. State, 797 P.2d at 1005-06, even if petitioners had complained vigorously about delays in prosecuting their appeals, those complaints probably would have been unavailing. See Gaines, 481 A.2d at 1093. Therefore, absent evidence that a petitioner affirmatively sought or caused delay in the adjudication of his or her appeal, this third factor should weigh in favor of finding a due process violation. 108 d. Prejudice to the petitioner as a result of delay 109 The fourth factor we must consider when determining whether a petitioner's due process rights have been violated is whether the petitioner has suffered any prejudice due to delay in adjudicating his or her appeal. As we stated earlier, prejudice may result from any of the following: (i) oppressive incarceration pending appeal; or (ii) constitutionally cognizable anxiety awaiting resolution of the appeal; or (iii) impairment of a defendant's grounds for appeal or a defendant's defenses in the event of a retrial. DeLancy, 741 F.2d at 1248; Rheuark v. Shaw, 628 F.2d at 303 n. 8. 110 We have not previously had occasion to discuss the meaning of prejudice in the context of appellate delay. We take this opportunity to do so, beginning with the last and most serious form of prejudice: impairment of the grounds for appeal or the grounds for defense in the event of a retrial. 15 [T]he most serious [form of prejudice] is the last, because the inability of a defendant adequately to prepare his case skews the fairness of the entire system. If witnesses die or disappear during a delay, the prejudice is obvious. There is also prejudice if defense witnesses are unable to recall accurately events of the distant past. 111 Barker, 407 U.S. at 532, 92 S.Ct. at 2193. 112 Impairment of one's grounds for defense in the event of a retrial is the most difficult form of ... prejudice to prove because time's erosion of exculpatory evidence and testimony 'can rarely be shown.'  Doggett, --- U.S. at ---- - ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2692-93 (quoting Barker, 407 U.S. at 532, 92 S.Ct. at 2193). The Supreme Court has recognized that excessive delay presumptively compromises the reliability of a trial in ways that neither party can prove or, for that matter, identify, id. --- U.S. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2693, and the likelihood of injury increases with the length of the delay, id. To support such a finding of prejudice, unjustified delay unaccompanied by particularized trial prejudice must have lasted longer than [unjustified delay] demonstrably causing such prejudice. Id. --- U.S. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2694. 113 That delay has impaired a petitioner's ability to mount a defense on retrial is irrelevant, however, if a petitioner has no credible grounds for reversal and retrial. See Tucker, 8 F.3d at 676. Therefore, in addition to establishing that excessive delay has impaired his or her defense on retrial, a petitioner also must assert a colorable state or federal claim that would warrant reversal of his or her conviction. 16 See id. But see Harris v. Kuhlman, 601 F.Supp. 987, 994 (E.D.N.Y.1985) (finding that seven-year delay might impair petitioner's defense if he were retried, even though review of petitioner's claims suggested very little chance of reversal). Thus, if a petitioner's conviction has been affirmed by the time the petitioner's claims are heard in the federal habeas proceeding, the petitioner will not be able to show prejudice on retrial because the state appellate court has finally decided there will be no retrial. 114 Likewise, because the only prejudice with which we are concerned is that which arises from excessive delay, for a petitioner to make a particularized showing of prejudice, the prejudicial event, such as the death of a key witness, must have occurred, or have been exacerbated, during the period of delay that is found to be excessive. Therefore, in most cases, particularized prejudice that occurs during the first two years that an appeal is pending will not support a due process violation because the prejudice would have occurred even in the absence of any excessive delay in adjudicating the appeal. 115 We turn then to the second type of prejudice: constitutionally cognizable anxiety awaiting resolution of the appeal. Once again, we are concerned only with anxiety arising out of excessive delay. Therefore, that a petitioner is anxious about the outcome of the appeal from the day the notice of appeal is filed is of no consequence; the anxiety must relate to the period of time that the appeal was excessively delayed. 116 The courts appear split on the showing of anxiety that a petitioner must make. The Ninth Circuit, for example, requires a showing of particular anxiety distinguishable from that of any other prisoner awaiting the outcome of an appeal. Antoine, 906 F.2d at 1383; see also Tucker, 8 F.3d at 676; Coe, 922 F.2d at 532. In Burkett II, the Third Circuit concluded that the petitioner had established prejudice in part because he was able to detail anxiety related to the processing of his case post-conviction. 951 F.2d at 1447. The Second Circuit, on the other hand, has affirmed findings of prejudice based solely on the district court's assumption hat the delay of four or more years worried the petitioner, who awaited hopefully the outcome of the appeal. Yourdon v. Kelly, 969 F.2d 1042 (2d Cir.1992) (table), aff'g, 769 F.Supp. 112, 115 (W.D.N.Y.1991); Snyder v. Kelly, 972 F.2d 1328 (2d Cir.1992) (table), aff'g 769 F.Supp. 108, 111 (W.D.N.Y.1991). We think the better approach is to require the petitioner to make some particularized and substantial showing of anxiety and concern, absent a delay so excessive as to trigger the Doggett presumption of prejudice. 117 A petitioner has no reason to be anxious or concerned about the time it takes to adjudicate an appeal that is without merit. Therefore, to establish prejudice resulting from anxiety, a petitioner must once again assert a colorable state or federal claim that would warrant reversal of the petitioner's conviction or reduction of sentence to an amount of time less than that taken to adjudicate the appeal. 17 118 The third form of prejudice a petitioner may suffer is oppressive incarceration pending appeal. In many respects this form of prejudice merely duplicates the prejudice of anxiety discussed above. In both cases, the petitioner must make some showing that his or her incarceration is wrongful. In addition, the petitioner must make a particularized showing that the incarceration is oppressive beyond that experienced by others awaiting the outcome of their appeals. That is, the petitioner must show some oppressiveness unique to his or her situation that is directly attributable to the excessive delay in adjudicating the petitioner's appeal. 119 While we recognize that a habeas petitioner has a right to assert a properly exhausted habeas claim even if incarcerated under another, unchallenged sentence, Sciberras v. United States, 404 F.2d 247, 249 (10th Cir.1968) (Sec. 2255); Rhodus v. Patterson, 404 F.2d 890, 891 (10th Cir.1968) (Sec. 2254), incarceration under an unchallenged sentence substantially negates a claim of prejudice arising from incarceration under the challenged sentence. Because the quality of a petitioner's incarceration may be affected by the very multiplicity of his or her convictions or the seriousness of the offense that is being challenged, however, a petitioner's incarceration under another, unchallenged sentence may not always negate the claim of prejudice altogether. 120 Recognizing that proving any of the three forms of prejudice is difficult, we will not require a level of proof that would necessitate a full blown trial simply to determine whether a petitioner suffered actual prejudice as a result of excessive appellate delay. Instead, the petitioner need make only a colorable and particularized showing of prejudice. As we stated earlier, however, regardless of the form the prejudice takes, it must arise during the period of appellate delay that the court finds to be excessive if it is to factor into the Barker balancing test. 121 The district court determined that it could not evaluate petitioners' due process claims without examining each petitioner's case individually. We agree. While one or more of the factors in the balancing test may weigh the same for every petitioner, not all the factors will. Prejudice, in particular, will vary with the individual. Because the district court has not yet conducted the individual inquiries necessary to resolve petitioners' due process claims, the record is not sufficiently developed for us to review those claims at this time. We therefore remand the action for the district court to conduct the necessary inquiry and make an appropriate record for review. 18