Opinion ID: 794068
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Does AEDPA Apply to the District Court's Determination to Grant Habeas Relief?

Text: 20 To determine whether AEDPA, 28 U.S.C. § 2241 et seq., applies to Rolan's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, it is necessary to assess whether the Pennsylvania state courts adjudicated the claim on the merits. Everett v. Beard, 290 F.3d 500, 507-08 (3d Cir.2002). On appellate review of Rolan's PCRA petition, the Pennsylvania Superior Court concluded that Rolan was not prejudiced by his attorney's failure to interview Vargas, a possible self-defense witness, because Rolan could not establish that Vargas was willing to testify on Rolan's behalf at trial. A court can choose to address the prejudice prong before the ineffectiveness prong and reject an ineffectiveness claim solely on the ground that the defendant was not prejudiced. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Here, because the PCRA appellate court found that Vargas was not willing to testify at the guilt phase of Rolan's trial, its decision to deny habeas relief on that basis constituted an adjudication on the merits. See Rompilla v. Horn, 355 F.3d 233, 247 (3d Cir.2004), rev'd on other grounds, Rompilla v. Beard, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 2456, 162 L.Ed.2d 360 (2005). Therefore, AEDPA applies to Rolan's habeas petition. 21 AEDPA limits a federal court's authority to grant habeas relief when a state court has previously considered and rejected the federal claim on the merits. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). If the petitioner's legal claims were presented but not addressed by the state courts, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) does not apply, and federal courts undertake a de novo review of the claim. Everett, 290 F.3d at 507-08. 22 If AEDPA does apply, however, the writ cannot be granted unless the adjudication: 23 (1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or 24 (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding. 25 28 U.S.C. §§ 2254(d)(1)-(2). 26 AEDPA also has a provision relating specifically to a federal court's review of state court factual findings: 27 In a proceeding instituted by an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court, a determination of a factual issue made by a state court shall be presumed to be correct. The applicant shall have the burden of rebutting the presumption of correctness by clear and convincing evidence. 28 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). 29 These limitations on review of the state courts' factual findings applied to the District Court's consideration of Rolan's petition and also to our review here. 30 B. The District Court Erred in Failing to Defer to the Pennsylvania PCRA Appellate Court's Findings of Fact. 31 The District Court declined to defer to the Pennsylvania Superior Court's factual determination at the appellate level that Vargas was not willing to testify on Rolan's behalf at the guilt stage of Rolan's criminal trial. The District Court, citing Campbell v. Vaughn, 209 F.3d 280, 287-88 (3d Cir.2000), first determined that, according to Pennsylvania post-conviction review procedure, an appellate court should remand a case to the PCRA trial court for factual determinations rather than make them in the first instance. Because the Superior Court made its decision upon review of the cold record from the PCRA trial court, rather than remanding, the District Court did not believe that it was bound to defer. 32 When earlier presented with this issue of deference to appellate factual findings in Campbell, we specifically declined to rule on whether a federal court must defer to a Pennsylvania PCRA appellate court's finding of fact made on a cold appellate record. 209 F.3d at 288. 33 Generally, federal courts defer to state appellate court determinations of fact. In Sumner v. Mata, the Supreme Court addressed whether a federal court should defer to state appellate court determinations of fact. 449 U.S. 539, 545-46, 101 S.Ct. 764, 66 L.Ed.2d 722 (1981). In that pre-AEDPA case, the California Court of Appeal made the factual determinations at issue after review of the trial court record. Id. at 546, 101 S.Ct. 764. The Supreme Court held that state appellate court fact finding should receive deference on habeas review because [§ 2254(d) ] makes no distinction between the factual determinations of a state trial court and those of a state appellate court. Id. Moreover, important interests in comity and federalism require deference to factual determinations made by all state courts. Id. 34 Similarly, in Dickerson v. Vaughn, we reviewed a habeas petition following a Pennsylvania PCRA proceeding. 90 F.3d 87 (3d Cir.1996). In that case, the PCRA trial court made findings of fact following an evidentiary hearing. Id. at 90. On review, the PCRA appellate court specifically rejected these findings based on the same record. Id. Dickerson cited both Sumner and Parke v. Raley, 506 U.S. 20, 36, 113 S.Ct. 517, 121 L.Ed.2d 391 (1993), for the proposition that § 2254 draws no distinction between state trial and appellate court factual determinations. 90 F.3d at 90. 35 When there are conflicting findings by state courts, we believe that according proper deference requires us to accept the version reached by the higher court. To rule otherwise would be to insert our Court into the state appellate system and take onto ourselves the role entrusted to the state Superior Court. 36 Id. As we felt bound in Dickerson to defer to the state appellate court's determination of fact that was contrary to the state trial court's determination, the District Court here was bound to defer to the PCRA appellate court's factual determination, even though the PCRA appellate court made that determination in the first instance. 37 Our discussion of deference to state court factual determinations in Lambert v. Blackwell, 387 F.3d 210 (3d Cir.2004), also supports the conclusion that the District Court should have deferred to the PCRA appellate court's determination that Vargas was not willing to testify at Rolan's trial. The habeas petitioner in Lambert argued that the factual findings of the PCRA trial court and the PCRA appellate court were not entitled to deference because those courts lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition. Id. at 236. 38 We began our analysis in Lambert by noting that AEDPA does not provide that a federal habeas court should, before affording deference to state court determinations, evaluate the procedural adequacy of state court proceedings or whether the state court properly exercised its jurisdiction. Id. at 237. AEDPA, unlike prior law, has no requirement that the state court hold a hearing or comply with other prerequisites to deference listed in the previous habeas statute. Id. at 238-39. Thus, after AEDPA, state fact-finding procedures may be relevant when deciding whether the determination was reasonable or whether a petitioner has adequately rebutted a fact, but the procedures are not relevant in assessing whether deference applies to those facts. Id. at 239. In Lambert, we deferred to the findings of fact from state proceedings even though the District Court found that the Pennsylvania courts lacked jurisdiction under Pennsylvania law. Id. Whatever our residual ability to examine state court jurisdiction in other instances, the exercise of jurisdiction by the state court in this instance does not call into question the adequacy of the state court proceeding under section 2254(d) and (e). Id. 39 Even though Lambert focused on the question of jurisdictional adequacy, its reasoning is informative in this case. Here, the District Court declined to defer to the PCRA appellate court's factual determinations based on the PCRA trial court's record because, under Pennsylvania law, the PCRA appellate court should have remanded the case. While this may be an accurate assessment of Pennsylvania law, the District Court should have deferred, despite the apparent procedural mistake, unless the District Court was prepared to find that the failure went so far as to impugn the integrity of the entire proceeding — something it clearly was not prepared to do, given its decision to apply AEDPA. Therefore, conforming with our sister circuits that have addressed the issue, see, e.g., Mason v. Mitchell, 320 F.3d 604, 614 (6th Cir.2003) (citing Sumner, 449 U.S. at 546-47, 101 S.Ct. 764); Turner v. Crosby, 339 F.3d 1247, 1273 (11th Cir. 2003); Avila v. Roe, 298 F.3d 750, 753 (9th Cir.2002), we hold that a district court judge must defer to state appellate court fact-finding. 40 The fact that the District Court erred in declining to defer to the PCRA appellate court's factual determination does not, however, warrant reversal in and of itself. But as we proceed to the next step, we confront the fact that it was the District Court's determination that it need not defer to the Superior Court's fact finding that allowed the District Court, under AEDPA, to hold an evidentiary hearing; the testimony by Daniel Vargas at that hearing, consistent with his testimony and affidavit at the PCRA hearing, was cited by the District Court in determining that Vargas would have been willing to testify. 41 The ability of a federal district court to hold an evidentiary hearing in habeas review is limited under AEDPA. The Commonwealth argues that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(2), the District Court should not have undertaken an evidentiary hearing and that the PCRA appellate court's determination of facts was reasonable based on the evidence before it. Section 2254(e)(2) would apply, however, only if Rolan had failed to develop the factual basis for his claim in his state court PCRA proceedings. 3 Section 2254(e)(2) simply does not apply to this case because Rolan did develop the factual basis for his claim in the state court. 42 The District Court held an evidentiary hearing because, under its incorrect reading of the record, there were no legitimate state court findings of fact concerning Vargas' willingness to testify. As discussed above, the District Court wrongly determined that the Superior Court factual findings could not be recognized because they were made in contravention of Pennsylvania law. Thus, we cannot support the holding of the hearing on the basis relied on by the District Court. 43 This conclusion sends us back to the review that the District Court should then have undertaken. After concluding that there were state court findings of fact, the District Court should have reviewed those findings to ascertain whether or not they were reasonable. Because the District Court did not do so, we will, based on the PCRA record before the District Court. 44 C. Were the Superior Court's Factual Findings on Vargas's Unwillingness to Testify Unreasonable? 45 Our reading of the PCRA court records convinces us that the Superior Court made an unreasonable finding of fact. The Superior Court's finding that Vargas was not willing to testify on behalf of Rolan was objectively unreasonable because it was not supported by the record. The Superior Court concluded that Vargas was unwilling to testify on behalf of Rolan based on Vargas's unwillingness to cooperate with a detective. The court conflated Vargas's unwillingness to cooperate with the police with a purported unwillingness to testify for the defendant. The court then discredited Vargas's testimony and affidavit that he would have testified for Rolan had Goldstein called him. 46 Contrary, however, to the Superior Court's conclusion, the exchange between Vargas and the detective is not probative of whether Vargas would have testified on Rolan's behalf in 1984 if asked to do so by Goldstein. It demonstrates only that he would not testify for the prosecution. The sole evidence before the PCRA courts on the issue of testifying for Rolan is Vargas's testimony and affidavit that he would do so. Therefore, the Superior Court's finding of fact that Vargas would not have testified for Rolan was not supported by the record. Indeed, because Vargas's testimony and affidavit establishes that Vargas would testify for Rolan and there is no evidence that Vargas would not testify for Rolan, it was unreasonable for the Superior Court to find that Vargas was unwilling to testify for Rolan. From our examination of the record, we find that Rolan rebutted the conclusion of the Superior Court by clear and convincing evidence. The PCRA record was sufficient to support this finding of unreasonableness and the District Court hearing was superfluous. 47 D. Was Trial Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Investigate Potential Self-Defense Witnesses? 48 Because we are not bound by the unreasonable factual finding that led the Superior Court to determine that Rolan was not prejudiced by Goldstein's failure to investigate Vargas and Aponte as witnesses in support of Rolan's self-defense claim, we can proceed with the review of whether Goldstein was ineffective in his representation of Rolan. In Strickland, the Supreme Court articulated a two-pronged test for ineffective assistance of counsel claims. 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674. A habeas petitioner must show (1) that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness; and (2) that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's error, the result would have been different. United States v. Nino, 878 F.2d 101, 103 (3d Cir.1989).
49 Strickland and its progeny make clear that counsel's strategic choices will not be second-guessed by post-hoc determinations that a different trial strategy would have fared better. 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. However, there is a prerequisite to this rule's application. Only choices made after a reasonable investigation of the factual scenario are entitled to a presumption of validity. Id. at 690-91, 104 S.Ct. 2052. [S]trategic choices made after less than complete investigation are reasonable precisely to the extent that reasonable professional judgments support the limitations on investigation. Id. Thus, our inquiry must begin by assessing the objective reasonableness of Goldstein's failure to interview both Vargas and Aponte. 50 Failure to conduct any pretrial investigation is objectively unreasonable. E.g., United States v. Gray, 878 F.2d 702, 711 (3d Cir.1989). The District Court noted that Goldstein never attempted to contact either Vargas or Aponte after Rolan gave Goldstein their names. Goldstein did turn their names over to the prosecution as potential alibi witnesses, as required by Pennsylvania law, but after the prosecution told Goldstein that they were not alibi witness, Goldstein made no attempt to determine whether they might have other information potentially valuable to the defense. Although the decision to forgo a self-defense claim is of the type that may be entitled to a presumption of validity, Goldstein's decision not to present the defense cannot be according the normal deference to strategic choices because it was uninformed. See United States v. Kauffman, 109 F.3d 186, 190 (3d Cir.1997). Thus, we conclude that Goldstein's representation of Rolan fell below the objective standard of reasonableness.
51 In order to show Strickland prejudice, Rolan must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. We have defined a reasonable probability as a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. Hull v. Kyler, 190 F.3d 88, 110 (3d Cir. 1999). Rolan's showing may not be based on mere speculation about what the witnesses [that counsel] failed to locate might have said. Gray, 878 F.2d at 712. Rather, it must be made based on the potential witness's testimony to the habeas court. Id. Furthermore, in considering whether a petitioner suffered prejudice, [t]he effect of counsel's inadequate performance must be evaluated in light of the totality of the evidence at trial: `a verdict or conclusion only weakly supported by the record is more likely to have been affected by errors than one with overwhelming record support.' Id. at 710-711 (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 696, 104 S.Ct. 2052). 52 The PCRA appellate court relied upon a lack of prejudice in dismissing Rolan's state post-conviction claim of ineffective assistance. The court found that Rolan was not prejudiced because he could not establish that Vargas was willing to testify on his behalf at trial. Moreover, it found that Rolan was not prejudiced by the failure of Goldstein to call Aponte because Aponte's testimony was not relevant to Rolan's self-defense claim. 53 As discussed above, the PCRA appellate court's finding that Vargas was not willing to testify at trial is not supported by the record and is in contradiction to Vargas's affidavit. Had Goldstein called Vargas to testify at trial, Vargas stated he would have given the testimony on behalf of Rolan that he did before the PCRA trial court: There was a dispute over drug money between Aponte, Rolan, and the Santiago brothers; in the course of the dispute, Rolan followed Francisco into the abandoned building; Rolan was carrying only a quart of beer; Paulino came around the corner wielding a kitchen knife and ran up the steps of the abandoned building after Rolan, screaming I'm going to kill you, motherfucker!; Vargas then heard a shot and when he and Aponte entered the building they saw Paulino lying alone on the ground with a knife at his feet. 54 Vargas's testimony would have bolstered Rolan's affirmative defense and undermined the prosecution's claims of a premeditated murder during a robbery. As the District Court noted, [t]hese facts were crucial to refute the prosecution's theory that Rolan entered the house intending to kill Paulino during the commission of a robbery. 55 Vargas's testimony also shows the relevance of Aponte's testimony, had he been called by Goldstein. We do not and cannot know what Aponte would have stated had he lived to testify before a habeas court; his statement to the detective is not admissible itself as double hearsay. See FED.R.EVID. 805. Nonetheless, we note that Aponte's statement to the police bolsters Vargas's testimony to the PCRA trial court and indicates that Aponte believed that Paulino Santiago was armed with a knife and that Paulino attempted to assault Rolan. Had Aponte testified to this, it would have conformed with Vargas' testimony and supported Rolan's self-defense claim as well as undermined the prosecution's theory of the case. 56 Vargas's testimony alone, much less in conjunction with Aponte's, would have substantiated Rolan's self-defense claim and undermined the Commonwealth's witnesses. Goldstein's failure to investigate Vargas and Aponte as witnesses precluded him from calling them to testify, and thus prejudiced Rolan because the jury never heard evidence that supported this alternative account of the killing. While we marvel at Rolan's serendipitous rifle, we note that there were significant contradictions among the Commonwealth's witnesses. We believe that Rolan's conviction was only weakly supported by the record and that the testimony of Vargas (and Aponte) is sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. Gray, 878 F.2d at 710-11, 712. Therefore, it is manifest that the Superior Court's decision was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the PCRA trial court proceeding. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2).