Opinion ID: 807563
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Application of King Framework: “New Round”

Text: We must now determine whether Stancle limited his second superior court petition “to an elaboration of the facts relating to the claims in the first petition” and “simply attempted to correct the deficiencies” in the first petition. King, 340 F.3d at 823. Appellee contends that the following claims were alleged for the first time in Stancle’s second petition and thus it was not merely an elaboration of the facts in the first petiSTANCLE v. CLAY 9981 tion: (1) Stancle was prejudiced due to cumulative misconduct; (2) Stancle’s trial counsel erroneously did not declare a doubt as to his competence to stand trial; and (3) the superior court lacked jurisdiction over the case because the statute of limitations expired for the charged offenses. However, Stancle contends that the claims were alleged in the first petition. [3] Before addressing whether each of the alleged new claims is actually “new,” we must define a “claim.” “[T]he term ‘claim’ means ‘an asserted federal basis for relief from a state court’s judgment of conviction.’ ” West v. Ryan, 652 F.3d 1071, 1077 (9th Cir. 2011) (quoting Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 530 (2005)). In West, we found the following two assertions to be distinct claims: (1) the assertion that counsel was ineffective for not adequately investigating the defendant’s background and introducing evidence that would have invalidated aggravating factors; and (2) the assertion that defendant’s recent diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder rendered him ineligible for the death penalty. Id. With this background, we now assess whether Stancle’s alleged claims were new. The claim that Stancle was prejudiced by cumulative misconduct was part of the introduction of the second petition and not a formal new claim. In fact, the superior court did not consider it to be an asserted ground for relief. As for the claim that Stancle’s counsel erred by not declaring a doubt as to Stancle’s competence, some confusion exists initially in arriving at a conclusion as to whether it was a new claim. The confusion arises because Stancle’s excerpts of record include two pages in the materials related to the first petition that seem to be two pages missing from the second petition’s memorandum of points of authorities related to the claim that Stancle’s counsel failed to address his sanity before allowing him to plead guilty. In Stancle’s reply brief, he cites to a portion of these two pages to show that his first petition raised the claim, and thus, the claim is not new. We reject this 9982 STANCLE v. CLAY argument, because the pages are actually part of Stancle’s second petition. [4] After clearing up this confusion and after reviewing what was actually part of the first petition, we conclude that the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel due to a failure to raise a doubt regarding Stancle’s competence was a new claim. In the first petition, Stancle did not allege that his trial counsel was ineffective for any reason related to Stancle’s competence. The first petition did state that Stancle’s right to a “cogent defense” was violated, but it stated that the right was violated by the “state court,” not Stancle’s counsel. Lastly, although Stancle’s first petition asserted that his “ineffective counsel violated his [c]ivil rights,” this statement is too vague to allow us to find the second petition’s claim an elaboration of the facts of the statement in the first petition. See Hemmerle v. Schriro, 495 F.3d 1069, 1076 (9th Cir. 2007) (“[I]n order for us to apply the King framework and to conclude that the second petition is ‘limited to an elaboration of the facts relating to the claims in the first petition,’ we must know the nature of the original claims and at least some of the facts relating to those claims. The vague assertion of ineffective assistance in [petitioner’s] first [post-conviction relief] notice, where it was never further developed by a petition or substantive memorandum, is insufficient to raise a ‘claim’ to which the King framework can be applied.” (citation omitted)). [5] The claim that the superior court lacked jurisdiction over the case because of the statute of limitations (hereinafter the “jurisdiction claim”) was also a new claim. The jurisdiction claim does not simply elaborate the facts of an original claim. Stancle argues that, read in context, the jurisdiction claim was just another factual allegation supporting ineffective assistance of counsel. We disagree. In the second petition, each of the independent claims are presented in separate sections, and the jurisdiction claim is not part of Stancle’s section outlining his claim for ineffective assistance of counsel. The STANCLE v. CLAY 9983 second petition’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel section states that counsel was ineffective because counsel (1) failed to object to the continuation of the proceedings during the pendency of a competency evaluation, (2) failed to file a motion to withdraw the guilty plea based on Stancle’s insanity, and (3) failed to file a notice of appeal. Nowhere in the discussion of the ineffective assistance of counsel claim does Stancle state that counsel failed to assert that the court lacked jurisdiction because of the expiration of the statute of limitations for one of the charges. [6] The second petition sets out the jurisdiction claim in an independent section. In that section, Stancle makes the simple claim that one of the charges was untimely, and therefore the court did not have jurisdiction to accept his guilty plea. Stancle does not argue that his counsel should have raised this issue. Moreover, in the second petition’s summary of the issue section, the jurisdiction claim is listed as a separate claim, and the superior court treated the jurisdiction claim as a separate claim in its denial of the petition. As such, the jurisdiction claim is not an elaboration of the facts supporting ineffective assistance of counsel, but rather a new claim attempting to do more than elaborate facts related to claims in the first petition. See West, 652 F.3d at 1077. Lastly, even assuming that the jurisdiction claim was just another factual allegation supporting ineffective assistance of counsel, it would be a new ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. Cf. Moormann v. Schriro, 426 F.3d 1044, 1056 (9th Cir. 2005); Riascos-Prado v. United States, 66 F.3d 30, 35 (2d Cir. 1995). Therefore, because Stancle did not limit his second petition to an elaboration of the facts and his second petition started a “new round,”2 he is not entitled to statutory gap tolling for the 2 Stancle cites Gaston v. Palmer (Gaston I), 417 F.3d 1030 (9th Cir. 2005), as a case supporting his arguments. However, Gaston I is not controlling precedent in this circumstance, because the panel in Gaston I granted a panel rehearing in light of Evans v. Chavis, 546 U.S. 189 (2006). Gaston v. Palmer (Gaston II), 447 F.3d 1165 (9th Cir. 2006) (order). In Gaston II, the panel revised its prior opinion and held that the petitioner was not entitled to gap tolling between his first and second petitions because the fifteen month delay was unreasonable—i.e., untimely. Id. at 1166-67. 9984 STANCLE v. CLAY forty-four days between his first and second superior court petitions. 2. Tolling is Inappropriate Between the First And Third Petitions: Untimely [7] We stated in Biggs that “an application for post conviction relief is pending during the ‘intervals between a lower court decision and a filing of a new petition in a higher court.’ ” 339 F.3d at 1048 (quoting Saffold, 536 U.S. at 223). “This is true even if the contents of the petitions change.” Delhomme v. Ramirez, 340 F.3d 817, 819-20 (9th Cir. 2003) (per curiam) (citing Biggs, 339 F.3d at 1048 n.1), abrogated on other grounds by Evans, 546 U.S. 189. Further, in Delhomme, we held that “Delhomme’s first round of review was [not] affected by Delhomme’s filing overlapping petitions during the pendency of that round.” Id. at 820. “[E]ach time a petitioner files a new habeas petition at the same or a lower level . . . the subsequent petition has no effect on the already pending application, but triggers an entirely separate round of review.” Id. “Thus, the first round of review remains pending, and tolling does not end until that round is completed at the California Supreme Court, as long as the petitioner does not delay unreasonably, even if the petitioner begins a new round while that round is still pending.” Id. Therefore, because Stancle’s second petition started a new round and assuming (without deciding) that his first and third petitions are part of the same round, Stancle could be entitled to statutory tolling between the first and third petitions unless the delay in filing the third petition was unreasonable. See King, 340 F.3d at 823 (prong two); Delhomme, 340 F.3d at 820 n.3. [8] Here, the eighty-two day delay between the denial of Stancle’s first petition on November 13, 2007, and the filing of the third petition on February 3, 2008, was unreasonable. In Velasquez v. Kirkland, the court found time lapses of eighty-one days and ninety-one days were “ ‘unreasonable’ in California.” 639 F.3d 964, 968 (9th Cir. 2011). But the VelasSTANCLE v. CLAY 9985 quez court inquired as to whether there was an adequate justification for the delays. See id. Here, Stancle has not proffered a justification for the delay. Presumably, the justification is that a second petition was filed in the California Superior Court. It was filed forty-four days after the denial of the first petition, and the third petition was filed ten days after the denial of the second petition (with the second petition being denied twenty-eight days after it was filed). The second petition was considered on the merits. However, Delhomme stands for the principle that overlapping or additional petitions have “no effect on the already pending application.” 340 F.3d at 820. Therefore, assuming the first and third petitions were part of the same round, the reasonableness of the delay between Stancle’s first and third petitions is unaffected by the second petition, and the delay was unreasonable. 3. Stancle’s First Petition Was Decided On the Merits Stancle asserts that California courts do not allow successive petitions. According to Stancle, because the superior court denied his second petition on the merits rather than denying it as successive, the first petition must have been denied for procedural deficiencies and the second petition thus merely cured such deficiencies. As such, Stancle argues that he is entitled to statutory tolling. [9] We agree that California courts do not generally review unjustified successive petitions. See In re Morgan, 237 P.3d 993, 1001 (Cal. 2010) (Corrigan, J., concurring and dissenting); In re Clark, 855 P.2d 729, 740-42 (Cal. 1993). However, a summary denial of a state habeas petition by a California superior court “does not mean that the court has not considered the merits of the claims.” Clark, 855 P.2d at 741 n.9. “Unless a procedural bar is apparent, the [California superior] court will determine whether the petition states a prima facie case for relief . . . .” Id. Furthermore, the Ninth Circuit deems a summary denial of a writ of habeas corpus by a state court (also called a postcard denial) denied on the merits. See Har9986 STANCLE v. CLAY ris v. Superior Ct. of Cal., L.A. Cnty., 500 F.2d 1124, 1125, 1128-29 (9th Cir. 1974) (en banc) (finding that the statement “Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus denied” is a postcard denial and deemed denied on the merits); see also Lewis v. Borg, 879 F.2d 697, 698 (9th Cir. 1989). “[U]nless a court expressly (not implicitly) states that it is relying upon a procedural bar, we must construe an ambiguous state court response as acting on the merits of a claim, if such a construction is plausible.”3 Chambers v. McDaniel, 549 F.3d 1191, 1197 (9th Cir. 2008) (construing Harris, 500 F.2d at 1125). Here, the California superior court denied the first petition without expressly relying on a procedural bar, so we deem the first petition denied on the merits. By deeming Stancle’s first petition as denied on the merits, his argument (that the second petition merely corrected deficiencies because the first petition was denied for procedural deficiencies) fails. Even if we were not to assume that the superior court denied Stancle’s first petition on the merits, Stancle’s argument would still fail. The King test applies when determining whether tolling is appropriate between the two petitions regardless whether the previous petition was denied for procedural deficiencies or denied on the merits. See Banjo, 614 F.3d at 969 (applying the King framework to two petitions filed in California Superior Court, even though the first was denied on the merits and the second was denied as successive); King, 340 F.3d at 823 (first petition was denied for procedural deficiencies). 3 Stancle argues that Evans, 546 U.S. at 197, overturns the presumption that a denial without comment or citation is on the merits. However, Evans held that a denial on the merits or the presumption that the denial was on the merits “does not automatically warrant a holding that the filing was timely . . . .” Evans, 546 U.S. at 197 (emphasis in original). The Supreme Court did not overturn the Ninth Circuit’s presumption that a denial without comment or citation is on the merits. STANCLE v. CLAY 9987 4. Asserting New Claims Is Not Limiting The Subsequent Petition To an Elaboration of the Facts or Correcting Deficiencies Stancle lastly argues that the King test does not prevent gap tolling of a subsequent petition that raises new claims as long as the petition corrects deficiencies. This faulty argument may originate from the language in King. King first states that “subsequent petitions are limited to an elaboration of the facts relating to the claims in the first petition,” but then states that “if the petitioner simply attempted to correct the deficiencies, then the petitioner is still making proper use of state court procedures.” King, 340 F.3d at 823 (internal quotation marks omitted). [10] Our case law requires that the second petition be “limited to an elaboration of the facts relating to the claims in the first petition,” King, 340 F.3d at 823, and any attempt to correct deficiencies must not add new claims. In King, the first petition was denied based on the failure to allege facts with sufficient particularity as required by In re Swain, 209 P.2d 793 (Cal. 1949), and People v. Duvall, 886 P.2d 1252 (Cal. 1995). King, 340 F.3d at 823. King’s second series of petitions “made no attempt to correct his prior petition, and therefore were not offered simply to remediate deficiencies, see Swain, . . . [209 P.2d 793], Duvall, . . . 886 P.2d 1252 . . . .” Id. Because King cites to Swain and Duvall (which require that facts be alleged with sufficient particularity) when discussing the need to correct deficiencies, the deficiencies to be corrected were presumably the need to elaborate the facts related to the claims in the first petition. [11] Further, our case of Hemmerle v. Schriro indicates that the second petition may not bring new claims, but rather must only elaborate facts relating to claims of the first petition. See 495 F.3d at 1076. We stated that we would have to conclude “that the second petition is ‘limited to an elaboration of the facts relating to the claims in the first petition,’ ” if we 9988 STANCLE v. CLAY were to apply the King framework. Id. (quoting King, 340 F.3d at 823). We did not mention the correction of deficiencies in this explanation. See id. In fact, we noted that an extremely vague assertion of ineffective assistance “is insufficient to raise a ‘claim’ to which the King framework can be applied.” Id. This language indicates that the King framework applies only to claims in the first petition; thus, correction of deficiencies means an elaboration of the factual grounds for claims raised in the first petition. Thereafter, we recognized that under King the first petition “will often involve an incomplete or insufficient first petition that is corrected or embellished” by a subsequent petition. Id. We found that the alleged first petition was not even a petition at all. Id. “Therefore, the second petition did not ‘correct’ or ‘remediate deficiencies’ in the first petition; rather it stated the claims for the first time.” Id. (citation omitted). [12] Based on King and Hemmerle, King’s requirement that a second petition must attempt to correct deficiencies means that the second petition must be “limited to an elaboration of the facts relating to the claims in the first petition.” King, 340 F.3d at 823. Stancle did not so limit his second petition to elaborations of facts relating to the claims in his first petition. Therefore, he is not entitled to gap tolling for the forty-four days between his first and second petitions.