Opinion ID: 60298
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Judicial Bias Analysis

Text: Having determined that the district court improperly applied AEDPA, we now analyze Buntion's claim under the appropriate AEDPA standard. Defendants in the American judicial system have the right to a fair trial, and part of this right is fulfilled by a judicial officer who impartially presides over the trial. See, e.g., Bracy v. Gramley, 520 U.S. 899, 904-05, 117 S.Ct. 1793, 138 L.Ed.2d 97 (1997). However, most questions concerning a judge's qualifications to hear a case are not constitutional ones, because the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment establishes a constitutional floor, not a uniform standard. Id. at 904, 117 S.Ct. 1793. A judge will, however, violate a defendant's due process rights if he is biased against the defendant or has an interest in the outcome of the case. Id. at 905, 117 S.Ct. 1793. A likelihood or appearance of bias can disqualify a judge as well. Taylor v. Hayes, 418 U.S. 488, 501, 94 S.Ct. 2697, 41 L.Ed.2d 897 (1974). A criminal defendant tried by a partial judge is entitled to have his conviction set aside, no matter how strong the evidence against him. Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641, 647, 117 S.Ct. 1584, 137 L.Ed.2d 906 (1997) (citations omitted). Bias is a difficult claim to sustain under AEDPA because the Supreme Court's case law on bias has acknowledge[d] that what degree or kind of interest is sufficient to disqualify a judge from sitting `cannot be defined with precision.' Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Lavoie, 475 U.S. 813, 822, 106 S.Ct. 1580, 89 L.Ed.2d 823 (1986) (quoting In re Murchison, 349 U.S. 133, 136, 75 S.Ct. 623, 99 L.Ed. 942 (1955)); see also Ryan v. Clarke, 387 F.3d 785, 793-94 (8th Cir.2004) (Application of this vague standard, when viewed through the deferential lens of Williams v. Taylor and the AEDPA, necessarily leaves state courts considerable latitude to pronounce rulings that do not contradict, and are reasonable applications of, [relevant Supreme Court precedent]). Generally, the Supreme Court has recognized two kinds of judicial bias: actual bias and presumptive bias. See, e.g., Withrow v. Larkin, 421 U.S. 35, 47, 95 S.Ct. 1456, 43 L.Ed.2d 712 (1975) ([V]arious situations have been identified in which experience teaches that the probability of actual bias on the part of the judge or decisionmaker is too high to be constitutionally tolerable.); Bigby v. Dretke, 402 F.3d 551, 560 (5th Cir.2005) (evaluating a judicial bias claim and noting that because there was no presumption of bias from the defendant's attack on the judge, it was necessary to examine the record for indications of actual bias on the part of the trial judge) (emphasis added). Almost every bias case before the Supreme Court that has found a due process violation has done so based on presumptive bias. There are three situations in which the Supreme Court has found presumptive bias: (1) the decision maker has a direct personal, substantial, and pecuniary interest in the outcome of the case; (2) an adjudicator has been the target of personal abuse or criticism from the party before him; and (3) a judicial or quasi judicial decision maker has the dual role of investigating and adjudicating disputes and complaints. Bigby, 402 F.3d at 559 (citing Supreme Court cases). [4] Buntion posits that the following behaviors show bias on the part of the trial judge: the display of the Roy Bean postcard; the God's work comment; the comment that sooner or later Buntion would be convicted and executed; Judge Harmon's multiple contacts with the media; his ex parte communications with the DA's office; his removal and reinstatement of defense counsel; refusal to remove jurors exposed to media reports; laughing at a defense witness; not questioning a juror about the sheriff's comment that the juror was dressed to kill; the grant and withdrawal of peremptory challenges; and the ex parte interactions with defense counsel. Judge Harmon's comments and actions are certainly inappropriate and indeed atypical for a trial proceeding. However, none of these comments or actions demonstrate that the judge has any of the established bases for presumptive bias. Therefore, in order for Buntion to show a due process violation and obtain habeas relief, he must demonstrate that the state court unreasonably determined that Judge Harmon was not actually biased in his case based on clearly established Supreme Court law. In cases where the defendant is alleging actual bias, opinions formed based on the facts at trial are rarely a basis for recusal unless they show a deep-seated, extreme favoritism or antagonism. Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555, 114 S.Ct. 1147, 127 L.Ed.2d 474 (1994). Judges do not have to be naive; the evidence at trial may reveal the defendant to be a thoroughly reprehensible person. Id. at 550-51, 114 S.Ct. 1147. However, judicial opinions will support an actual bias claim if they reveal favoritism or antagonism such that fair judgment is impossible. Id. at 555, 114 S.Ct. 1147; see also Berger v. United States, 255 U.S. 22, 28, 41 S.Ct. 230, 65 L.Ed. 481 (1921). Many of Judge Harmon's actions, while revealing lapses in Judge Harmon's judicial temperament, tend to show generalized impertinence and do not provide the kind of evidentiary support needed for an actual bias allegation. See Bracy, 520 U.S. at 909, 117 S.Ct. 1793 (stating that the petitioner needs evidence that the trial judge was actually biased in petitioner's own case (emphasis in original)). The Supreme Court, in Aetna, recognized that only in the most extreme cases would disqualification on the basis of bias be constitutionally required. 475 U.S. at 820-21, 106 S.Ct. 1580. In that case, the Court considered whether an Alabama Supreme Court Justice should have recused himself from a bad-faith failure-to-pay case against an insurance company because of comments he made indicating a general hostility toward insurance companies that were dilatory in paying claims. Id. at 820, 106 S.Ct. 1580. Notwithstanding the Justice's undisputed statements of disdain for insurance companies, the Court concluded that such generalized bias was insufficient to establish a constitutional violation. Id. at 821, 106 S.Ct. 1580. In Liteky, the Supreme Court considered not a Due Process violation, but the statutory effect of the federal recusal statutes and the reach of the extra-judicial source rule. 510 U.S. at 541, 114 S.Ct. 1147. The Court noted, however, that there may be grounds for a bias challenge if judicial remarks during the course of a trial ... reveal such a high degree of favoritism or antagonism as to make fair judgment impossible. Id. at 555, 114 S.Ct. 1147. As an example of the type of favoritism or antagonism that would support such a challenge, the Court pointed to the following comment made by a district court judge in a WWI espionage case against German-Americans: `One must have a very judicial mind, indeed, not [to be] prejudiced against the German Americans' [because their] `hearts are reeking with disloyalty.' Id. (quoting Berger, 255 U.S. at 28, 41 S.Ct. 230) (alterations in original). While Judge Harmon's comments here are similarly inimical, because Liteky and Berger both rely exclusively on statutory law (neither case even mentions the Due Process Clause), it is not clearly established by Supreme Court precedent that such judicial antagonism unrelated to one of the grounds of presumptive bias is a due process violation. In Taylor v. Hayes , the Supreme Court noted that a mounting display of an unfavorable personal attitude toward [the] petitioner could result in a due process violation. 418 U.S. 488, 501, 94 S.Ct. 2697, 41 L.Ed.2d 897 (1974). In that case, the Court considered whether a judge who had become embroiled in a running controversy with an attorney conducting a trial in his court could impartially preside over that attorney's contempt hearing. Id. While the Court concluded that it was improper for that judge to preside over the contempt hearing, id. at 499-500, 94 S.Ct. 2697, this holding was based on two grounds not present in the case before this Court. First, the Court concluded that the attorney had been denied due process because the judge denied the attorney the opportunity to defend himself in the contempt hearing. Id. at 498-500, 94 S.Ct. 2697. Second, Taylor noted that there were `marked personal feelings [] present on both sides' and that the marks of `unseemingly conduct (had) left personal stings.' Id. at 503, 94 S.Ct. 2697 (quoting Mayberry, 400 U.S. at 464, 91 S.Ct. 499). Because Taylor does not explicitly hold that the judge was actually biased and there was other evidence of bias beyond the court's remarks alone, including the judge's sentencing the petitioner to a very high sentence for contempt, this case also does not provide this Court with the support necessary for a finding that the state court's legal determinations were objectively unreasonable. Here, the postcard that Judge Harmon placed on the bench during jury selection, while displaying a lack of sound judgment on his part, does not demonstrate any actual bias directed at Buntion. Likewise, the comments by the sheriff, the attempted removal of defense counsel, the grant and withdrawal of peremptory challenges, and the media contact also lack any indicia of particularized bias towards Buntion; therefore, these allegations do not support a finding of actual bias under the relevant Supreme Court law. The most disturbing comments by Judge Harmon were his statements that he was doing God's work in seeing the defendant executed and that Buntion would eventually be found guilty. Buntion argues that this mindset unduly influenced the jury in his case. After reviewing the factual findings of the recusal judges as well as the state habeas judge, we are unable to conclude that their findings regarding the nature of these comments were an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented. [5] Moreover, Supreme Court case law does not clearly establish bias in a situation such as the one presently before this court; accordingly, it cannot be shown under AEDPA that the state court's determination was objectively unreasonable. In support of his claim, Buntion contends that the prospect of judicial bias is especially intolerable in death cases as compared to cases involving all other penalties. See Bracy v. Schomig, 286 F.3d 406, 415 (7th Cir.2002) (citing Spaziano v. Florida, 468 U.S. 447, 468, 104 S.Ct. 3154, 82 L.Ed.2d 340 (1984)). In light of this, he urges this Court to uphold the district court's determination that Judge Harmon's actions and statement are sufficient to constitute actual bias under the circumstances of this case. Citing Webb v. Texas, he argues that even a single instance of judicial impartiality can be sufficient to support a deprivation of due process claim. 409 U.S. 95, 97, 93 S.Ct. 351, 34 L.Ed.2d 330 (1972). The bedrock principle that death is different is always a consideration in the handling of death cases. With this in mind, however, this Court must still work within the framework of AEDPA, which requires federal courts to exercise deferential review of state court decisions. The Eighth Circuit, similarly bound by AEDPA, has also confronted death penalty cases that considered judicial bias claims asserted as part of federal habeas litigation. In Ryan, the Eighth Circuit held that under the highly deferential standards of AEDPA, it was not possible to conclude that the state court had unreasonably applied Supreme Court precedent in denying the defendant habeas relief where a judge engaged in an ex parte conference with family members of the murder victims prior to imposing the death penalty. 387 F.3d at 786-87. Similarly, in Jones v. Luebbers, the court declined to reverse the state court's denial of habeas relief where the judge engaged in an ongoing, hostile dispute with defense counsel. 359 F.3d 1005, 1014-15 (8th Cir.2004). The court explained that the state court's determination could not be considered objectively unreasonable in light of the relevant Supreme Court law. Id. To be clear, we find Judge Harmon's actions and statements at issue in this case to be very troubling and hardly reflective of the high standards that judges should strive to maintain. The district court's findings and rulings reflect a similar disdain for Judge Harmon's irreverent statements and actions both on and off the bench. Although we might decide this case differently if considering it on direct appeal, given our limited scope of review under AEDPA, we are limited to determining whether the state court's decision was objectively unreasonable. After a careful review of the record, we must therefore conclude that Buntion's allegations do not demonstrate actual bias under established Supreme Court precedent such that this court can hold that the state court decision was unreasonable.