Opinion ID: 779400
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Scope of the Evidentiary Hearing on Shackling.

Text: 73 In denying the state's motion for summary judgment on Williams's shackling claim, the district court stated that the claim will be subject to the evidentiary hearing already scheduled in this case. Williams III, 48 F.Supp.2d at 995. Subsequently, the parties submitted exhibits and direct witness testimony via written declarations on the shackling claim, and the district court ordered the parties to brief the question of whether the claim's resolution required oral testimony in addition to the documents already in the record. After reviewing the record and the parties' briefs, the district court decided that the record did not require further supplementation with oral testimony. One of Williams's witnesses, however, refused to provide a written declaration. The district court allowed Williams to present oral testimony by this witness because it was not Williams's fault that he could not secure the declaration. 74 Williams argues that the district court abused its discretion when it restricted the evidence presented on his shackling claim to written declarations, for the most part, and limited oral testimony. Williams claims that the district court, in resolving his claim mostly on a written record, deprived him of a full evidentiary hearing, of the opportunity to present facts, and of the opportunity to cross-examine the state's witnesses. 75 We have previously held that a district court in a habeas corpus proceeding need not conduct full evidentiary hearings, but may instead expand the record ... with discovery and documentary evidence. Watts v. United States, 841 F.2d 275, 277 (9th Cir.1988) (per curiam) (denying a habeas corpus petitioner's contention that the district court erred in resolving a claim based on contradictory affidavits and interrogatories without an evidentiary hearing at which oral testimony could be provided). We stated that [d]ecisions to hold hearings and conduct discovery in [habeas corpus] cases are committed to the [district] court's discretion. Id. The district court must only give the prisoner's claim `careful consideration and plenary processing, including full opportunity for presentation of the relevant facts.' Id. (quoting Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63, 82-83, 97 S.Ct. 1621, 52 L.Ed.2d 136 (1977)). 76 Other circuits have similarly held that there is a permissible intermediate step that may avoid the necessity of an expensive and time consuming hearing in every [habeas corpus] case. It may instead be perfectly appropriate, depending upon the nature of the allegations, for the district court to proceed by requiring that the record be expanded to include letters, documentary evidence, and, in an appropriate case, even affidavits. Chang v. United States, 250 F.3d 79, 86 (2nd Cir.2001) (finding no abuse of discretion when the district court dismissed the petitioner's claim without an evidentiary hearing with live witnesses) (citing Raines v. United States, 423 F.2d 526, 529-30 (4th Cir.1970)); see also Blackledge, 431 U.S. at 81-82, 97 S.Ct. 1621 ([A]s is now expressly provided in the Rules Governing Habeas Corpus Cases, the district judge ... may employ a variety of measures in an effort to avoid the need for an evidentiary hearing.... In short, it may turn out ... that a full evidentiary hearing is not required.); Spreitzer v. Peters, 114 F.3d 1435, 1456 (7th Cir.1997) (same). In light of this case law, we conclude that it was within the district court's discretion to choose a middle path allowing the parties to present evidence through written declarations and limited oral testimony. 77 Williams, however, contends that the district court's denial of a full evidentiary hearing was an abuse of discretion because his cross-examination of the state's witnesses might have brought out defects in their written affidavits. Williams cites the Supreme Court's statement in Blackledge that [w]hen the issue is one of credibility, resolution on the basis of affidavits can rarely be conclusive. Blackledge, 431 U.S. at 82 n. 25, 97 S.Ct. 1621 (internal quotations omitted). However, in construing Blackledge, our circuit and the Second Circuit have found no abuse of discretion when the district court conclude[d] that [a full evidentiary] hearing would not offer any reasonable chance of altering its view of the facts. Chang, 250 F.3d at 86; Watts, 841 F.2d at 277 (finding that, in the case at hand, the issue of credibility could be conclusively decided on the basis of documentary testimony and evidence in the record). Such was the case here: the district court reviewed the declarations and exhibits already present in the record, considered the parties' arguments regarding the need for oral testimony and cross-examination, and concluded that this evidence would not alter the court's view of the record. The district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that oral testimony and cross-examination were not necessary because the documentary evidence submitted fully presented the relevant facts of Williams's shackling claim. 78