Opinion ID: 166204
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: insufficient evidence to prove the continuing threat aggravating circumstance

Text: 67 Mr. Boltz next argues that he is entitled to habeas relief because the evidence was not sufficient to support the jury's finding of the aggravating circumstance that there was a probability he would commit criminal acts of violence constituting a continuing threat to society. See Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 701.12(7). In contrast to Mr. Boltz's first claim for relief, the OCCA decided this issue on the merits and rejected it. Therefore, under AEDPA, we review the OCCA's determination and may not issue a writ of habeas corpus unless that decision: 68 (1) ... was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or 69 (2) ... was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding. 70 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1)-(2). In addition, we presume that the OCCA's factual determinations are correct, and Mr. Boltz has the burden to rebut that presumption by clear and convincing evidence. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). 71 Our case law is unclear whether a sufficiency of the evidence claim presents a question of law that is reviewed under § 2254(d)(1) or a question of fact reviewable under § 2254(d)(2). See Turrentine v. Mullin, 390 F.3d 1181, 1197 (10th Cir. 2004); Hogan v. Gibson, 197 F.3d 1297, 1306 (10th Cir.1999); Moore v. Gibson, 195 F.3d 1152, 1176 (10th Cir.1999). Nonetheless, we need not decide this issue because the OCCA's determination is neither contrary to clearly established federal law nor based on an unreasonable determination of the facts.
72 In this case, the OCCA concluded that evidence showing that Mr. Boltz lured Mr. Kirby to his trailer, called Ms. Kirby and told her he was going to kill her son, told Ms. Kirby he would also kill her within the hour, entered Mr. Kirby's home looking for Ms. Kirby after he killed her son, and had bragged about killing before, combined with the sheer callousness in the manner the murder was committed, sufficiently supported the jury's finding of the continuing threat aggravator. See Boltz, 806 P.2d at 1125. Mr. Boltz does not argue that the OCCA's determination of these facts is unreasonable; therefore, we presume them to be correct. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). Hence, we find there is a clear basis for the OCCA's factual determinations; as such, habeas relief is not warranted under § 2254(d)(2). Therefore, we turn to Mr. Boltz's specific arguments and analyze whether the OCCA's upholding of the jury's finding is contrary to clearly established federal law.
73 First, Mr. Boltz contends that the introduction of an unadjudicated offense — namely, the burglary of Ms. Kirby's home — during the sentencing phase in a capital case is a violation of due process; he argues that due process is satisfied only when there is sufficient indicia of reliability supporting the claim that the defendant committed the offense. He argues that no such indicia of reliability exist here, pointing out that his appellate counsel's investigator drove the route between Mr. Boltz's trailer, Mr. Kirby's house, and the American Legion, and concluded that it would have been impossible for Mr. Boltz to have committed the burglary in the time frame alleged by the State. 74 The Supreme Court has emphasized the `need for reliability in the determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a specific case.' Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 340, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985) (vacating sentence where prosecution misled jury into believing that responsibility for determining the appropriateness of a death sentence lies with the appellate court which will review the jury's decision, rather than with the jury itself) (quoting Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 305, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 49 L.Ed.2d 944 (1976) (plurality opinion)). Nonetheless, the Supreme Court itself has never indicated, as is required for Mr. Boltz to obtain relief, see Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 411, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000), that only those unadjudicated offenses which are supported by sufficiently reliable evidence may be introduced in the sentencing phase of a capital case. To the contrary, in Williams v. New York, the Court held that due process is not implicated when the sentencing judge imposes death based in part on evidence of the defendant's unadjudicated offenses that were not introduced at trial and which were therefore not subject to cross-examination by the defendant. 337 U.S. 241, 250-52, 69 S.Ct. 1079, 93 L.Ed. 1337 (1949); see also Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. 738, 747-48, 114 S.Ct. 1921, 128 L.Ed.2d 745 (1994) (citing Williams and stating that [s]entencing courts have not only taken into consideration a defendant's prior convictions, but have also considered a defendant's past criminal behavior, even if no conviction resulted from that behavior.). And, following Williams, this Court has flatly held that the admission of evidence of unadjudicated offenses at a sentencing proceeding does not violate due process. Hatch v. Oklahoma, 58 F.3d 1447, 1465 (10th Cir.1995). Therefore, the OCCA did not act contrary to clearly established federal law when it determined that evidence that Mr. Boltz burglarized Mr. Kirby's home could properly be presented to the jury. 75 Mr. Boltz next argues that a nonviolent crime, such as the alleged burglary, is insufficient to support a finding of a probability of future criminal acts of violence. While it is true that under Oklahoma law, a nonviolent crime standing alone cannot be the basis for finding the continuing threat aggravator, see Torres v. State, 962 P.2d 3, 23 (Okla.Crim.App.1998), neither Oklahoma nor the United States Supreme Court has ever prohibited a jury from considering the defendant's nonviolent offenses in conjunction with other factors when determining whether the defendant poses a future risk to society. Because the OCCA affirmed the jury's finding based on facts other than simply the burglary — namely, that Mr. Boltz had talked about killing people and how it did not bother him to do so, and that he had threatened to kill Ms. Kirby later on in the evening (a threat that was directly linked to his forced entry of Mr. Kirby's home) — the OCCA did not act contrary to federal law when it accounted for the burglary in its analysis of the continuing threat aggravator. 76 Finally, Mr. Boltz contends that allowing the continuing threat aggravator to be supported only by the callous nature of the murder violates the Eighth Amendment under clearly established law because every first-degree murder is callous. See Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 972, 114 S.Ct. 2630, 129 L.Ed.2d 750 (1994) (explaining that an aggravating circumstance must apply only to a subclass of defendants convicted of murder.); Arave v. Creech, 507 U.S. 463, 474, 113 S.Ct. 1534, 123 L.Ed.2d 188 (1993) (If the sentencer fairly could conclude that an aggravating circumstance applies to every defendant eligible for the death penalty, the circumstance is constitutionally infirm.). We disagree. 77 First, and most important, Mr. Boltz mischaracterizes the OCCA opinion. It did not rest its determination on callousness alone. As that court held: 78 The record reveals that appellant lured the victim to his trailer, and while he was en route, appellant called Ms. Kirby to tell her that he was going to kill Doug and threatened to kill her within the hour. There was further evidence that appellant had attempted to enter Doug's house in an attempt to find her. Other testimony revealed that appellant had bragged about killing before. These facts combined with the sheer callousness in which this murder was committed amply support the jury's finding of this aggravating circumstance. 79 Boltz, 806 P.2d at 1125. Moreover, Mr. Boltz fails to satisfy the demanding § 2254(d)(1) standard here. It is far from clearly established that every first-degree murder is callous, thereby making callousness an impermissible basis for the imposition of the death penalty. Therefore, because we cannot conclude that the OCCA's conclusion is contrary to clearly established federal law as established by the Supreme Court or an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent, we must deny habeas relief on this ground as well.
80 Having determined that the OCCA did not act contrary to clearly established federal law when it relied on the foregoing evidence in considering the jury's finding of the continuing threat aggravating factor, we turn now to whether it acted contrary to clearly established federal law when it concluded that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the jury's finding. Sufficiency of the evidence claims are reviewed under the rational fact-finder standard announced in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), and require appellate courts to determine, after reviewing the evidence presented at trial in the light most favorable to the government, whether any rational trier of fact could have found the aggravating circumstance existed beyond a reasonable doubt. This standard is based on our system's longstanding principle that it is the province of the jury to evaluate the evidence and to draw reasonable inferences from trial testimony. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781. Our review under Jackson is sharply limited, and a court faced with a record of historical facts that supports conflicting inferences must presume — even if it does not affirmatively appear in the record — that the trier of fact resolved any such conflicts in favor of the prosecution, and must defer to that resolution. Turrentine, 390 F.3d at 1197 (quotations and alterations omitted). We must accept the jury's determination as long as it is within the bounds of reason. Messer v. Roberts, 74 F.3d 1009, 1013 (10th Cir.1996). Our review is even more limited given that AEDPA governs this issue. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). 81 In this case, evidence of Mr. Boltz's comments to Mr. Morrison about killing people and cutting off their heads, in conjunction with Mr. Boltz's threat to Ms. Kirby that he would kill her after he finished killing her son, and evidence that Mr. Boltz entered Mr. Kirby's home looking for Ms. Kirby after the killing, is more than sufficient for a rational factfinder to find that there was a probability that Mr. Boltz would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society. Mr. Boltz contends that these statements were only false braggadocio. He points out that he had no prior criminal record at the time and many character witnesses testified that he was a peaceful and law-abiding citizen. Even if Mr. Boltz's implied threats were empty, however, a rational juror could conclude that he was telling the truth and was threatening similar action in the future. This is all that is necessary under Jackson, and Mr. Boltz's argument that he had not in fact killed anyone in Korea does not prevent the jury from coming to its own reasonable conclusion about Mr. Boltz's intent in making the statements. Therefore, the OCCA did not act contrary to Jackson or other clearly established federal law in upholding the jury's finding of this aggravating circumstance. Accordingly, habeas relief is not warranted on this issue. 82