Opinion ID: 202724
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Joint Venture Claim

Text: 15 One of Clements' three ALOFAR claims — the joint venture claim — was presented to the SJC solely in terms of state law. The portion of Clements' ALOFAR discussing this claim relied on no federal cases and did not label the claim as federal. It also made no arguments using vague (and possibly federal law based) phrases, such as due process. Clements argues, nonetheless, that this claim was exhausted because, under Barresi, 296 F.3d at 52, the exhaustion analysis should include a review of backdrop materials, such as the Appeals Court brief, wherein he says that the federal nature of his claim was made clear. In order to evaluate this claim, we must determine whether Barresi applies to a claim styled like Clements' joint venture claim.
16 In Barresi, we held that, where a claim has not been abandoned before the state's highest court, the exhaustion analysis includes an examination of the `backdrop against which [] later filings [must] be viewed,' 296 F.3d at 52 (second alteration in original) (quoting Scarpa v. DuBois, 38 F.3d 1, 7 (1st Cir.1994)), and that backdrop includes the pleadings and filings submitted . . . to lower state courts, id. 6 Barresi also recognized the continued validity of the four corners rule, see Mele, 850 F.2d at 821-23, and held that the backdrop materials could only be consulted under certain circumstances. 296 F.3d at 52. 17 At that time, we did not specify what those limited circumstances might be. However, in Barresi itself, the ALOFAR at issue included claims regarding the right to confront adverse witnesses and due process, both of which are claims that may be grounded either in state law or federal law or both, and cited state court cases that relied upon federal law. Id. at 53-54. Therefore, we found that Barresi's ALOFAR minimally satisfied the exhaustion requirement. As part of the explanation for that conclusion, we noted that the same claims had been raised in the intermediate appellate brief, where Barresi had directly cited federal precedents. Id. at 55-56. 18 We have subsequently said that the Barresi backdrop rule applies only in cases where the ALOFAR (or other petition to a state supreme court) was ambiguous about the federal nature of a claim, as it was in Barresi. See Josselyn v. Dennehy, 475 F.3d 1, 3-4 (1st Cir.2007) (noting that Barresi's backdrop principle applies when there is ambiguity in the ALOFAR regarding the federal nature of the claim); Goodrich, 448 F.3d at 48 (reviewing the petitioner's lower court briefs as part of the exhaustion analysis, because the ALOFAR relied primarily on state cases, but was somewhat ambiguous about the source of the legal claim). 19 Because this case involves an ALOFAR that was not ambiguous, the Barresi backdrop principle, assuming it is still valid, provides no assistance to Clements. We add that qualifier about the continuing validity of the backdrop principle because of the Supreme Court's decision in Baldwin v. Reese. 20 In Baldwin, 541 U.S. at 32, 124 S.Ct. 1347, the Court held that, where a federal claim was not included in a petition, the exhaustion analysis could not encompass materials beyond the petition or brief filed with the state's highest court. In that case, the defendant had filed a petition seeking discretionary appellate review by the Oregon Supreme Court and had argued some claims based on federal law and other claims based only on state law. The defendant later filed a habeas petition and argued that at least one of the claims which was presented on state law grounds could be deemed exhausted because a review of the intermediate appellate court opinion showed that he had made federal law arguments on that claim below. Pursuant to Oregon's procedural rules, Oregon's Supreme Court justices had access to the lower court opinions in cases for which a petition was filed, but their rules did not require them to review such opinions. Id. at 31, 124 S.Ct. 1347. Rather, the rules required a party seeking review to assert all claims in the appellate brief. 21 At the outset of its analysis, the Supreme Court noted its assumption that the defendant's petition by itself did not properly alert the Oregon Supreme Court to the federal nature of the claim. Id. at 30, 124 S.Ct. 1347. 7 The Court then reasoned that, in such a context, permitting the exhaustion inquiry to include a review of the lower court opinion simply because the state court judges had an opportunity to review it would effectively mean that those judges must read the lower court opinions — for otherwise they would forfeit the State's opportunity to decide that federal claim in the first instance. Id. at 31, 124 S.Ct. 1347. The Supreme Court found that burden incompatible with the considerations of federal-state comity that the exhaustion requirement seeks to promote. Id. at 32, 124 S.Ct. 1347. Therefore, the Court held that ordinarily a state prisoner does not `fairly present' a claim to a state court if that court must read beyond a petition or a brief ... that does not alert it to the presence of a federal claim in order to find material ... that does so. Id. 22 The Barresi approach to the exhaustion analysis may be incompatible with Baldwin. Barresi permits us to consider lower court pleadings or opinions where the state court did not (and was not required to) consider them itself. However, as we have explained, we subsequently limited the Barresi backdrop principle to cases in which there is an ambiguity in the ALOFAR about the federal nature of the claim. Whether Baldwin forecloses consideration of backdrop materials even in cases of ambiguous petitions is a question we need not decide here because Clements' joint venture claim is unmistakably couched only in state law terms. We therefore reserve the issue of the continuing validity of Barresi's backdrop principle for a case in which it is directly raised.
23 Clements offers an alternative to his Barresi argument in support of his claim that he fairly presented his joint venture claim to the SJC. He argues that Massachusetts Rule of Appellate Procedure (MRAP) 27.1 permits him to rely on the brief that he filed with the Massachusetts Appeals Court to demonstrate the exhaustion of his claim. 24 MRAP Rule 27.1 says that the full Appeals Court record should be transferred to the SJC after further appellate review is granted. At the time of Clements' appeal, the rule also stated that the SJC appeal would be conducted on the basis of the Appeals Court briefs. 8 See infra note 11 (explaining subsequent alteration of this rule). Clements contends that after further appellate review is granted (regardless of whether it is a limited or general grant 9 ), the entire Appeals Court brief is properly before the SJC, in the same way that the arguments contained in the ALOFAR were before the SJC. He contends that MRAP 27.1 has the effect, therefore, of rendering all the arguments he presented to the lower court exhausted because the SJC was in possession of the full Appeals Court record, including his Appeals Court brief. Citing this possession, and the provision regarding reliance on the Appeals Court brief, Clements claims that the SJC is actually required by state rules to review the lower court papers. Consequently, he argues, his Appeals Court brief should be treated as a part of the SJC's evaluation of his claim, just as the ALOFAR is so treated, and not as additional or independent backdrop material. 25 Clements' argument mis-understands the significance of a limited grant of further appellate review. Clements relies on the provision which allows an appeal, after further review has been granted, to be argued on the basis of the Appeals Court brief for his contention that the entire brief (not just the portion relevant to a limited grant) must be reviewed by the SJC. See Mele, 850 F.2d at 822 (noting that MRAP 27.1 requires the lower court record to be forwarded to the SJC only if — and after — it grants an ALOFAR). As we have noted, the SJC in this case granted further review on only one issue (the sufficiency claim). Under Massachusetts rules, when the SJC issues a limited grant, it does not decide any issues beyond the one (or ones) granted review. 10 For this reason, the formal transfer of the Appeals Court record to the SJC does not require the SJC to review briefing or other materials relating to issues beyond the one(s) for which review was granted. Here, the SJC's receipt of the lower court record, including the Appeals Court brief, is relevant only to the one issue (sufficiency of the evidence) on which it exercised its appellate jurisdiction. On the issues for which review was denied, such as the joint venture claim, the physical transfer of the record and the use of the Appeals Court brief for argument on the sufficiency claim are irrelevant to the exhaustion inquiry. 26 We find further support for this conclusion in the general principles articulated in Baldwin, 541 U.S. at 31-32, 124 S.Ct. 1347. Clements' interpretation of MRAP 27.1 would effectively require the SJC to read and evaluate all of the arguments presented to the lower court after even a limited grant of further review, which is precisely what Baldwin sought to preclude. In claiming that a limited grant of further review places the full record (including both the trial court and appeals court proceedings) before the SJC, and that the exhaustion analysis should encompass that full record, Clements invites the federal habeas court to ignore the state's procedural rules. However, disregarding the difference between a limited grant and a general grant would contravene Baldwin. Baldwin clearly limits the exhaustion analysis to the materials that a state's highest court reviewed while deciding whether to grant a discretionary appeal or evaluating such an appeal on its merits. Id. at 32, 124 S.Ct. 1347. Materials that are merely accessible to that court are not to be reviewed in an exhaustion inquiry. 27 Under MRAP 27.1, the portion of the Appeals Court brief relating to the joint venture claim was not before the SJC when it reviewed Clements' appeal on the merits. Therefore, our review of the district court's finding that the joint venture claim was not exhausted must be based solely on the contents of the ALOFAR.
28 Clements has not sought to persuade us that his ALOFAR described, or even hinted at, a federal basis for his joint venture claim. The ALOFAR's discussion of this claim refers only to state law, and none of the cited state cases relied on federal law. The federal basis for the claim was not presented fairly and recognizably, Casella, 207 F.3d at 20, nor did Clements articulate a federal law argument in such a way as to make it probable that a reasonable jurist would have been alerted to the existence of the federal question, Scarpa, 38 F.3d at 6. Without any references, explicit or implicit, to federal law or principles, the ALOFAR's presentation of the joint venture claim did not apprise the SJC of a possible federal error in the state court's decision. Therefore, we agree with the district court's conclusion that the joint venture claim was not exhausted.