Opinion ID: 28790
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Texas appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence.

Text: 24 Woods contends that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals violates constitutional due process using the standard under which it reviews evidence of future dangerousness for sufficiency and by refusing to review the sufficiency of mitigating evidence. He also makes the unsupported contention that such reviews are a violation of constitutional equal protection, but did not brief that assertion and does not seriously argue it. We will address the due process issue and treat the equal protection issue as abandoned. 25 Woods first argues that the Texas appellate court applies the standard of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) to the determination of the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's finding of his future dangerousness. He contends that the more stringent standard of Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d 126 (Tex.Crim.App.1996) should be applied instead. 26 The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that the Texas constitution imposes a requirement for an appellate court to review the factual sufficiency of the elements of an offense that is more stringent than that imposed under the United States Constitution's due process clause. Id. at 129-30. In that regard, a Texas court of appeals views all the evidence without the prism of `in the light most favorable to the prosecution' ... [and] sets aside the verdict only if it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence as to be clearly wrong and unjust. Id. at 129. In so doing, the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the use of Jackson as the appropriate standard in noncapital cases. Id. Jackson requires only whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781. 27 The Court of Criminal Appeals does not, however, apply the Clewis standard to determining whether a finding of future dangerousness in a capital murder case has met federal constitutional due process. See, e.g., Chamberlain v. State, 998 S.W.2d 230, 232-33 (Tex.Crim.App.1999). Instead, it explicitly applies the Jackson standard. Woods attempts to convince us that the Clewis standard should have been used by the state and that the Texas state standard should be that adopted on federal review. We refuse. 28 The Clewis standard is rooted in the Texas constitution. Clewis, 922 S.W.2d at 130. It applies to the power to review questions of fact when proving the elements of an offense in criminal cases. Id. Jackson, on the other hand, reflects the federal constitutional due process standard. We apply that standard in our review of federal habeas petitions. See, e.g., Santellan v. Cockrell, 271 F.3d 190, 193 (2001). We note that the state appellate court observed the federal standard of review on the question of future dangerousness — as distinct from a finding on the elements of an offense — in a capital murder case. It did so knowing that we would do so on federal habeas review. We cannot impose a Texas constitutional standard for the factual review of the elements of a crime on the state's courts of appeals when reviewing the issue of a defendant's future dangerousness. Neither do we adopt other than the federal standard. 29 During the punishment phase of the trial, the jury was presented with evidence of Woods's future dangerousness, including toxicology evidence rebutting Woods's claims that he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the murder and witnesses who testified regarding Woods's affinity for knives and his propensity to taunt people with them. There was psychiatric testimony that Woods had an antisocial personality disorder. When combined with his violent tendencies, he posed a continuing threat to commit future acts of criminal violence. Additionally, there was evidence regarding the opportunities that life-sentenced capital offenders had to commit violence in a prison environment. Woods countered with evidence from jailers that he had not caused any problems while incarcerated before and during the trial and that he had become suicidal after his conviction. He also presented evidence of borderline mental retardation and the ability of the Texas penal system to control such prisoners. A defense psychologist disagreed that Woods had an antisocial personality disorder and that Woods would probably not commit criminal acts of violence in a prison environment. A family physician also offered testimony challenging whether Woods was the source of the HPV infection found in Sarah. On the balance, the jury returned a finding of future dangerousness. On review under Jackson, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals's decision to deny relief was not unreasonable and we will not disturb it. 30 Woods next argues that the Texas appellate court's refusal to review the jury's determination of whether special mitigating factors existed to sentence a criminal otherwise fully qualified for death instead to life in prison, is a violation of due process. This is precisely the issue we answered in Moore v. Johnson as a pure question of law. See Moore, 225 F.3d at 505. 31 A capital murder trial in Texas proceeds in a bifurcated process. In the first, or guilt-innocence, phase, a defendant's eligibility for consideration of the death penalty is determined. Once that eligibility is determined, the trial proceeds to the second, or punishment, phase, wherein the defendant is either selected for death or for the alternative sentence of life imprisonment. In that phase, the state presents the jury with evidence of certain aggravating factors, including the manner of the offense and future dangerousness. The defendant also presents the jury with mitigating evidence. The jury is then asked to determine whether the aggravating factors have been shown beyond a reasonable doubt, thus qualifying the defendant for selection for the death penalty. If so, the jury is then asked whether the defendant's mitigating evidence is sufficient to warrant the imposition of a life sentence rather than the death penalty. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has explained that: 32 [i]n Texas, this mitigating evidence is admissible at the punishment phase of a capital murder trial. Once admitted, the jury may then give it weight, if in their individual minds it is appropriate, when answering the questions which determine sentence. However, [t]he amount of weight that the factfinder might give any particular piece of mitigating evidence is left to `the range of judgment and discretion' exercised by each juror. 33 See Colella v. State, 915 S.W.2d 834, 844 (Tex.Crim.App.1995) (quoting Banda v. State, 890 S.W.2d 42, 54 (Tex.Crim.App. 1994); Johnson v. State, 773 S.W.2d 322, 331 (Tex.Crim.App.1989), aff'd, Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 113 S.Ct. 2658, 125 L.Ed.2d 290 (1993)). No burden of proof exists for either the state or the defendant to disprove or prove the mitigating evidence. Colella, 915 S.W.2d at 844. Thus, each juror individually and subjectively determines what evidence, if any, is sufficient to mitigate against the imposition of the death penalty. 34 The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has consistently refused to review such a subjective determination on the part of individual jurors. See Colella, 915 S.W.2d at 845 ([b]ecause the weighing of `mitigating evidence' is a subjective determination undertaken by each individual juror, we decline to review the evidence for sufficiency). 35 We held in Moore that Texas is within the ambit of federal law as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court. See Moore, 225 F.3d at 507. We did so in view of Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 114 S.Ct. 2630, 129 L.Ed.2d 750 (1994), in which the Supreme Court distinguished between a jury's eligibility decision and its selection decision. It is the eligibility decision that must be made with maximum transparency to make rationally reviewable the process for imposing a sentence of death. Moore, 225 F.3d at 506 (quoting Tuilaepa, 512 U.S. at 973, 114 S.Ct. 2630). On the other hand, a jury is free to consider a myriad of factors to determine whether death is the appropriate punishment. Indeed, the sentencer may be given unbridled discretion in determining whether the death penalty should be imposed after it has found that the defendant is a member of the class made eligible for that penalty. 225 F.3d at 506 (quoting 512 U.S. at 979-80, 114 S.Ct. 2630). It is the jury's subjective and narrowly cabined but unbridled discretion to consider any mitigating factors, 225 F.3d at 507, that Texas refrains from independently reviewing. We continue to hold that Texas may correctly do so. 36 Woods argues that the approach taken by the Court of Criminal Appeals conflicts with the Supreme Court's ruling in Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 113 S.Ct. 2658, 125 L.Ed.2d 290 (1993). He characterizes Johnson as imposing a requirement on a reviewing court to balance a defendant's capacity for rehabilitation using the mitigating evidence of his character and background against the circumstances of the murder and any other violent acts to review the sufficiency of evidence. We disagree. Johnson was, at the time it was decided, the latest in [the Supreme Court's] series of decisions in which the Court has explained the requirements imposed by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments regarding consideration of mitigating circumstances by sentencers in capital cases. Id. at 359, 113 S.Ct. 2658 (emphasis added). The Court then reviewed its decisions on the role and availability of mitigating evidence to juries, from the earliest in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972), through Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976), Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 49 L.Ed.2d 913 (1976), Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976), Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 49 L.Ed.2d 944 (1976), Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325, 96 S.Ct. 3001, 49 L.Ed.2d 974 (1976), Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978), Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982), Franklin v. Lynaugh, 487 U.S. 164, 108 S.Ct. 2320, 101 L.Ed.2d 155 (1988), Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989), and Boyde v. California, 494 U.S. 370, 110 S.Ct. 1190, 108 L.Ed.2d 316 (1990), among others. 37 Some of those decisions specifically examined aspects of the Texas capital crime special issues as they applied to giving a jury a meaningful way to give effect to mitigating evidence. In particular, the Court distinguished the facts in Johnson, regarding the jury's ability to give effect to the defendant's youth at the time of the crime, from those in Penry v. Lynaugh, regarding the jury's ability to give effect to the defendant's evidence of mental retardation and childhood abuse. Johnson, 509 U.S. at 364-73, 113 S.Ct. 2658. The only apparent reference to the duty of a reviewing court is that the Court had held that a reviewing court must determine `whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the challenged instruction in a way that prevents the consideration of constitutionally relevant evidence.' Id. at 367, 113 S.Ct. 2658, quoting Boyde, 494 U.S. at 380, 110 S.Ct. 1190. 38 We decline to read Johnson as Woods propounds. We instead reiterate our previous holding on this issue in Moore and rule that Woods has not made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right and that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is not unreasonable in its refusal to review the sufficiency of mitigating evidence. 39 Finally, we note that if Woods had successfully argued on either of these two sufficiency-of-review issues, he still could not apply the result to his case. His reading of either Clewis or Johnson, or both, would impose a new rule of law not made retroactive by the Supreme Court. Therefore, he would be barred from its use under the non-retroactivity doctrine of Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 109 S.Ct. 1060, 103 L.Ed.2d 334 (1989). 40