Opinion ID: 775311
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Applying AEDPA to Petitioner's Ineffective Assistance of Appellate Counsel Claims

Text: 49 When, as in this case, a state court fails to explicate a coherent rationale for its rejection of a petitioner's claim, but that rejection nevertheless is clearly on the merits, the federal court must focus its review on whether the state court's ultimate decision was an 'unreasonable application' of clearly established Supreme Court precedent. Id. at 311-12 (citing Bell v. Jarvis, 236 F.3d 149 (4th Cir. 2000), cert. denied sub nom., Bell v. Beck, __ U.S.__, 122 S. Ct. 74, __ L.Ed.2d __ (2001)). 50 A state court decision slips into the unreasonable application zone if the state court identifies the correct governing legal principle from [the Supreme Court's] decisions but unreasonably applies that principle to the facts of the prisoner's case. Williams, 529 U.S. at 413. The Supreme Court has thus far offered little guidance as to the meaning of the term unreasonable application, somewhat tautologically instructing federal habeas courts to ask whether the state court's application of federal law was objectively unreasonable. Id. at 409, 120 S. Ct. 1495. 51 Significantly, however, the Supreme Court did caution that an unreasonable application of federal law is different from an incorrect or erroneous application of federal law. Id. at 412, 120 S. Ct. 1495 (emphasis in original). In short, a federal habeas court is not empowered to grant the writ just because, in its independent judgment, it would have decided the federal law question differently. The state court's application must reflect some additional increment of incorrectness such that it may be said to be unreasonable. Francis S. v. Stone, 221 F.3d 100, 111 (2d Cir. 2000). However, the increment need not be great; otherwise, habeas relief would be limited to state court decisions 'so far off the mark as to suggest judicial incompetence.' Id. (quoting Matteo v. Superintendent, SCI Albion, 171 F.3d 877, 889 (3d Cir. 1999) (en banc)).
52 The Sixth Amendment commands that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. U.S. Const. amend. VI. When an appeal is authorized, states must provide indigents with counsel for their first appeal as of right. Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353, 358, 9 L. Ed. 2d 811, 83 S. Ct. 814 (1963). This right to counsel requires more than ensuring that counsel appears on the defendant's behalf. The right to counsel is the right to the effective assistance of counsel. McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771 n.14, 25 L. Ed. 2d 763, 90 S. Ct. 1441 (1970). 53 Occasionally, the performance of defense counsel is so dismal that it ripens into the deprivation of counsel altogether and potentially violates the defendant's Sixth Amendment rights. To prevail on such a claim, Petitioner must show, not only that his counsel's representation was fundamentally defective, but also that, but for the counsel's errors, there is a reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 104 S. Ct. 2052 (1984). Although it was born in the context of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, Strickland's two-prong test applies equally to claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel on a defendant's first appeal as of right. Evitts v. Lucey, 469 U.S. 387, 396-97, 83 L. Ed. 2d 821, 105 S. Ct. 830 (1985). 54 The Strickland standard, then, is the relevant clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States in this case. We must ensure that it was not unreasonably applied by the Appellate Division. 28 U.S.C. 2254(d)(1). 8 55 As to the first prong of the Strickland test--deficient performance--it is not sufficient for the habeas petitioner to show merely that counsel omitted a nonfrivolous argument. Counsel is not obliged to advance every nonfrivolous argument that could be made. Evitts, 469 U.S. at 394; Jones, 463 U.S. at 754 (1983). Strickland installed no rigid requirements; it created only an objective standard of reasonableness for the assessment of attorney performance. 466 U.S. at 688. In making that assessment, we must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance, and be watchful to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689. 56 To satisfy the second, prejudice prong, the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for the deficiency, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694. A reasonable probability is one sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of the trial or appeal. Id. 57 Applying the objective[] standard promulgated by Williams, 529 U.S. at 409, we hold that the Appellate Division did not unreasonably apply the Strickland test to either of Petitioner's two ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims.
58 In his amended coram nobis petition, Aparicio claimed that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that his indictment was multiplicitous and thus violated the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy because second-degree possession of a firearm is a lesser included offense of first-degree robbery. This was the only double jeopardy claim properly before the district court. 9 Thus, under AEDPA, we must now decide whether the Appellate Division unreasonably applied the Strickland standard by ruling that the failure of Aparicio's counsel to raise the double jeopardy argument on direct appeal did not rise to the level of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. We hold that it did not. 59 It is well-settled constitutional law that the constitutional protection against double jeopardy is a personal right and, like other constitutional rights, can be waived if it is not timely interposed at trial. United States v. Papadakis, 802 F.2d 618, 621 (2d Cir. 1986); Paul v. Henderson, 698 F.2d 589, 592 (2d Cir. 1983); United States v. Perez, 565 F.2d 1227, 1232 (2d Cir. 1977). Thus, in New York, a defendant generally cannot assert a constitutional double jeopardy argument on appeal unless it was raised prior to the entry of the judgment of conviction. People v. LaRuffa, 37 N.Y.2d 58, 60-61, 371 N.Y.S.2d 434, 332 N.E.2d 312 (1976) (The constitutional immunity from double jeopardy is a personal right which if not timely interposed at trial may be waived.); cf. People v. Addison, 73 A.D.2d 790, 423 N.Y.S.2d 707, 708 (4th Dep't 1979) (holding that defendant had preserved constitutional double jeopardy argument for appeal by raising the objection prior to sentencing, although after the verdict); see also N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law 210.20(2) (requiring that motions to dismiss or reduce an indictment because the prosecution is barred by New York's statutory protection against double jeopardy be brought within forty-five days of arraignment); People v. Dean, 74 N.Y.2d 643, 644, 542 N.Y.S.2d 512, 540 N.E.2d 707 (1989) (failure to move for relief authorized by 210.20 within specified time frame constitutes waiver of any ground that could have been raised under that section). 60 Aparicio did not raise his double jeopardy argument at his trial in 1994. Therefore, any efforts by Petitioner's appellate counsel to make this argument would have been futile because the argument had already been waived by trial counsel's failure to raise the objection. 61 The Fifth Amendment's prohibition on double jeopardy protects persons from being punished twice for a single criminal offense. U.S. Const. amend. V.; Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 165, 53 L. Ed. 2d 187, 97 S. Ct. 2221 (1977). When a defendant has violated two separate criminal statutes, the protection against double jeopardy is implicated when both statutes prohibit the same offense or when one offense is a lesser included offense of the other. Rutledge v. United States, 517 U.S. 292, 297, 134 L. Ed. 2d 419, 116 S. Ct. 1241 (1996). In making this assessment, the touchstone is whether the legislature intended to authorize separate punishments for the offensive conduct under separate statutes. United States v. Chacko, 169 F.3d 140, 146 (2d Cir. 1999). The fact that both offenses arise out of a single criminal transaction is not dispositive. The critical question is whether the 'offense'--in the legal sense, as defined by [the legislature]--complained of in one count is the same as that charged in another. Id. (citing Hudson v. United States, 522 U.S. 93, 107, 139 L. Ed. 2d 450, 118 S. Ct. 488 (1997) (Stevens, J., concurring in the judgment); United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688, 704, 125 L. Ed. 2d 556, 113 S. Ct. 2849 (1993)). 62 For almost seventy years, we have applied the test set out in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 76 L. Ed. 306, 52 S. Ct. 180 (1932), to determine whether two statutes proscribe the same offense: Where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of a fact which the other does not. Id. at 304, 52 S. Ct. 180. We also employ the Blockburger analysis to determine when one offense is a lesser included offense of another. Rutledge, 517 U.S. at 297. To be same offense under Blockburger, the relationship of the two offenses [must be] like that of concentric circles rather than overlapping circles. 4 Wayne R. LaFave et al., Criminal Procedure 17.4(b) (2d ed. 1999). If the two statutes each require proof of a fact that the other does not, then there are two offenses, and it is presumed that the legislature intended to authorize prosecution and punishment under both. United States v. Khalil, 214 F.3d 111, 118 (2d Cir. 2000). 63 The elements of robbery in the first degree are: (1) forcible stealing of property; and (2) in the course of the commission of the crime or immediate flight therefrom, he . . . displays what appears to be a [firearm]. N.Y. Penal Law 160.15(4). However, it is a affirmative defense to first-degree robbery to show that the firearm was not loaded or was otherwise inoperable. Id. If the defendant proves this fact (by a preponderance of the evidence), the offense drops to robbery in the second degree. Id. 64 The elements of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree are: (1) possession of a firearm; (2) that is loaded and operable; and (3) with intent to use it unlawfully against another. N.Y. Penal Law 265.03(2); People v. Longshore, 86 N.Y.2d 851, 852, 633 N.Y.S.2d 475, 657 N.E.2d 496 (1995) (Although the statute is silent on the point, it is now accepted that to establish criminal possession of a handgun the People must prove that the weapon is operable); People v. Cavines, 70 N.Y.2d 882, 883, 524 N.Y.S.2d 178, 518 N.E.2d 1170 (1987) (holding evidence that gun and ammunition were operable was sufficient to support conviction under 265.03(2)); People v. Aponte, 249 A.D.2d 553, 673 N.Y.S.2d 148, 150 (2d Dep't 1998) (reversing conviction under 265.03(2) because trial court did not charge the jury on the element of operabililty). 65 Filtering these two statutes through the Blockburger sieve, it is plain that each offense requires proof of a fact that the other does not. Blockburger, 284 U.S. and 304. To convict a defendant of robbery, the State must prove forcible stealing, which obviously need not be established in a firearm possession case. Conversely, to convict on the firearm possession charge, the State must prove that the firearm was loaded and operable, while that is not required in a first degree robbery case. The circles overlap; one does not fit wholly within the other. Thus, Blockburger dictates that the two offenses are different and Petitioner's conviction under each statute does not subject him to double jeopardy. C.f. Chacko, 169 F.3d at 148 (holding making false statements on a loan application was not a lesser included offense of bank fraud even when both charges arose out a single loan application; bank fraud requires proof of a scheme or artifice, while false statement offense required proof that false statement be made to obtain a loan or advance); United States v. Bryant, 326 U.S. App. D.C. 114, 117 F.3d 1464, 1468-69 (D.C. Cir. 1997) (holding offense of making false statements to federal official was not a lesser included offense of impersonating a federal official even when both charges arose out of defendant's single utterance that he was a U.S. Marshall; impersonation statute required the defendant's misrepresentation be used for obtaining a benefit, while false statement offense requires the offending misrepresentation to be made within the jurisdiction of the United States Government). 66 Petitioner argues that this semantic analysis is too facile and loses the forest for the trees. Petitioner claims that because non-operability of the firearm is an affirmative defense to first-degree robbery, the State, must, as a practical matter, prove the all the elements of the firearm possession offense to get a first-degree robbery conviction. Thus, the argument goes, prosecutors can tack on a second-degree firearm possession charge to every first-degree robbery case, inflicting the evil that the Double Jeopardy clause prohibits: two punishments for a single criminal offense without explicit legislative authorization. 67 This argument, while it has some visceral appeal, overlooks some fundamental differences between elements of offenses and affirmative defenses thereto. Affirmative defenses are complete defenses that, once proven by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, negate criminal liability for an offense, notwithstanding that the State has otherwise proven all the elements of that offense beyond a reasonable doubt. 68 A few critical distinctions must be noted: First, the burden of proof for all affirmative defenses lies squarely with the defendant. N.Y. Penal Law 25.00(2). Second, affirmative defenses need be proven only by a preponderance of the evidence, id.; elements must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Third, and most importantly, unless the defendant asserts the affirmative defense, the State need not negate it to obtain a conviction; it is not one of the facts upon which criminal liability is predicated. Thus, Petitioner's argument that a second-degree firearm possession charge can be tacked on to every first-degree robbery case is demonstrably false: if, for example, the state possessed no evidence whatsoever that a gun used in a robbery was loaded, it could obtain a conviction on a first-degree robbery charge, but not on a second-degree firearm possession charge. 69 For these reasons, we have never conflated an affirmative defense as the functional equivalent of an element of an offense, even when, as here, an element of the crime and the affirmative defense overlap in the sense that evidence to prove the latter will often tend to negate the former. Martin v. Ohio, 480 U.S. 228, 234, 94 L. Ed. 2d 267, 107 S. Ct. 1098 (1987) (holding that placement of burden of proof for self-defense affirmative defense to aggravated murder on defendant did not unconstitutionally shift the burden of proof of any element of the offense to defendant); United States v. Thompson, 76 F.3d 442, 453 (2d Cir. 1996) (holding same with regard to false testimony affirmative defense to federal witness tampering offense); United States v. Johnson, 968 F.2d 208, 213-14 (2d Cir. 1992) (same as Thompson). 70 We conclude, therefore, that Petitioner was not subjected to double jeopardy by his prosecution and conviction for both first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal weapon possession. And because Petitioner's double jeopardy claim was, at bottom, meritless, the Appellate Division did not unreasonably apply the Strickland standard in holding that Petitioner had not been denied the effective assistance of appellate counsel on this claim. The failure to include a meritless argument does not fall outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance to which Petitioner was entitled. 10 Jameson v. Coughlin, 22 F.3d 427, 429-30 (2d Cir. 1994) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690). 71
72 Finally, we turn to Petitioner's argument that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the argument that his trial counsel was ineffective for not requesting a cautionary instruction on eyewitness testimony. Under AEDPA, we inquire only whether the Appellate Division's rejection of this claim amounted to an unreasonable application of the Strickland standard. 28 U.S.C. 2254(d)(1). For reasons similar to those that support our rejection of Petitioner's double jeopardy claim, we hold that the Appellate Division's decision was not the product of an unreasonable application of Strickland. 73 Generally, this Court has concluded that counsel's failure to object to a jury instruction (or to request an additional instruction) constitutes unreasonably deficient performance only when the trial court's instruction contained clear and previously identified errors. Bloomer v. United States, 162 F.3d 187, 193 (2d Cir. 1998); see also McKee v. United States, 167 F.3d 103, 108 (2d Cir. 1999). Conversely, when a trial court's instruction is legally correct as given, the failure to request an additional instruction does not constitute deficient performance. United States v. Brooks, 82 F.3d 50, 54 (2d Cir. 1996); United States v. Javino, 960 F.2d 1137, 1145 (2d Cir. 1992). 74 The New York Court of Appeals has held that, although expanded identification instructions are preferable, especially when there is a close question of identity, the failure to give such an instruction does not constitute reversible error. People v. Whalen, 59 N.Y.2d 273, 278-279, 464 N.Y.S.2d 454, 451 N.E.2d 212 (1983); People v. Love, 244 A.D.2d 431, 664 N.Y.S.2d 91, 92 (2d Dep't 1997). A trial judge who gives a general instruction on weighing witnesses' credibility and who states that identification must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt has made an accurate statement of the law. Whalen, 59 N.Y.2d at 279. The decision whether or not to give an expanded instruction is left in the sound discretion of the trial judge.People v. Knight, 87 N.Y.2d 873, 874, 638 N.Y.S.2d 938, 662 N.E.2d 256 (1995). 75 Measured against these standards, the trial court's decision not to include an additional cautionary instruction on eyewitness testimony was not erroneous. The charge instructed the jury to assess the credibility of the witnesses. Furthermore, the trial judge repeatedly instructed the jury that they had to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was the perpetrator of every element of an offense before they could convict. Thus, the charge sufficed as an accurate statement of the law. Whalen, 59 N.Y.2d at 279. Because, under the circumstances, the jury instructions were not improper, the failure of Petitioner's trial counsel to object or request an additional instruction was not objectively unreasonable. Brooks, 82 F.3d at 54. And, just as in our disposition of Petitioner's double jeopardy claim, Petitioner's appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise the meritless argument. 11 Jameson, 22 F.3d at 429-30. Under AEDPA, the Appellate Division did not unreasonably apply the Strickland standard in rejecting this claim.