Opinion ID: 779413
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Lopez' Confession to Habeas Counsel

Text: 43 Furthermore, the credibility of Lopez' confession is bolstered by corroborating evidence. Habeas counsel filed a declaration, stating that Lopez confessed to him and his investigator during a pre-evidentiary hearing interview. The declaration averred that: 44 Mr. Lopez stated that in May 1988, he robbed a man in Mountain View Park, in El Monte, California. 45 During the robbery, he hit the man several times in the face and body, and he stabbed the man in the back. Mr. Lopez stated that this occurred in the early morning hours, and he was with Ronnie [sic] Valencia. 46 The declaration also states that Lopez made similar statements to an investigator in the Deputy Attorney General's office. 47 Neither testimony nor other evidence of these confessions was allowed at the evidentiary hearing because that evidence had not been presented in the state courts below and thus exhaustion was lacking. However, the District Court misunderstood the purpose for which the evidence was proffered. 48 Section 2254(b) provides that habeas relief must be denied if the petitioner has not exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A). To properly exhaust a claim, petitioner must give the state supreme court a `fair opportunity to apply controlling legal principles to the facts bearing upon his [or her] constitutional claim.' A state prisoner must `have fairly presented to state courts the substance of his [or her] federal habeas claim.' Solis v. Garcia, 219 F.3d 922, 930 (9th Cir.2000) (per curiam) (alterations in original) (quoting Anderson v. Harless, 459 U.S. 4, 6, 103 S.Ct. 276, 74 L.Ed.2d 3 (1982) (per curiam)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 94, 151 L.Ed.2d 55 (2001). While federal-state comity concerns preclude our consideration of `new evidence that places[a] claim in a significantly different posture' on habeas review, we have previously considered additional evidence that does not alter the gravamen of the petitioner's claim. See Brown, 137 F.3d at 1157 n. 3 (alteration in original) (quoting Nevius v. Sumner, 852 F.2d 463, 470 (9th Cir.1988)). 49 In this case, Luna fairly presented his ineffective assistance of counsel claim to the state court. The gravamen of his claim was that he was prejudiced by trial counsel's failure to investigate Lopez' involvement in the crime because counsel could have obtained incriminating statements from Lopez had he done so. In presenting his ineffective assistance claim to the state court, Luna attached a copy of Lopez' declaration, which stated that he would have made inculpatory statements to trial counsel if he had been contacted by him. 50 At the evidentiary hearing, however, Lopez unexpectedly invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. In response, habeas counsel sought to admit Lopez' statements made in his declaration as declarations against penal interest. When the District Court refused on the basis that it was unreliable, habeas counsel then sought to admit corroborating evidence that Lopez had made prior confessions to him and to his investigator. 51 The purpose of offering the evidence of Lopez' prior confessions was not to admit new evidence, which would place Luna's claim in a qualitatively different posture than while before the state court. Rather, the purpose of the evidence was to restore the credibility of his evidence of prejudice resulting from trial counsel's errors, once Lopez' testimony was stricken by the court. Thus, the District Court abused its discretion in refusing to consider evidence of Lopez' statements to habeas counsel for purposes of ascertaining the credibility of Lopez' declaration and, thus, determining whether trial counsel would have obtained inculpatory statements from Lopez had he interviewed him. 52 The evidence of Lopez' declaration, as corroborated by evidence of his out-of-court confessions, provided substantial evidence that trial counsel would have obtained inculpatory statements from Lopez, similar to those made to habeas counsel during the pre-evidentiary hearing interview. Sanders, 21 F.3d at 1457; see also Avila v. Galaza, 297 F.3d 911, 921 (9th Cir.2002) (holding that trial counsel's failure to investigate and present evidence that the defendant's brother committed the crime was prejudicial because there is a reasonable probability that the brother would have made an inculpatory statement or testified at trial had [counsel] adequately investigated this case). This supports our conclusion that Luna was prejudiced by trial counsel's errors. 53