Opinion ID: 1058336
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Waiver of Post-Conviction Review

Text: We first consider Pike's argument that post-conviction review of death sentences should be mandatory, regardless of a competent death-sentenced inmate's desire to waive post-conviction review. Pike argues that mandatory review is necessary to ensure the reliability of the process by which death sentences are imposed. We have previously recognized that post-conviction procedures are not constitutionally required. Serrano v. State, 133 S.W.3d 599, 604 (Tenn.2004) (citing cases). The Post-Conviction Procedures Act [5] is a statutory remedy, and the nature and availability of post-conviction relief lies within the discretion of the legislature. Id.; see also Blair v. State, 969 S.W.2d 423, 425 (Tenn.Crim.App.1997); Oliphant v. State, 806 S.W.2d 215, 217 (Tenn.Crim.App.1991). When there is no constitutional or statutory mandate, and no public policy prohibiting, an accused may waive any privilege which he is given the right to enjoy. Serrano, 133 S.W.3d at 604 (quoting Schick v. United States, 195 U.S. 65, 72, 24 S.Ct. 826, 49 L.Ed. 99 (1904)). Although the Tennessee General Assembly has mandated limited appellate review of a sentence of death, even if a defendant chooses not to appeal the conviction of first degree murder, [6] no similar statute mandates post-conviction review of a death sentence. Like all other inmates, death-sentenced inmates must initiate post-conviction proceedings by filing within the statutorily prescribed time period a petition seeking post-conviction relief. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-30-102(a) (2003) (Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), a person in custody under a sentence of a court of this state must petition for post-conviction relief under this part within one (1) year of the date of the final action of the highest state appellate court to which an appeal is taken or, if no appeal is taken, within one (1) year of the date on which the judgment became final, or consideration of such petition shall be barred.). Although the legislature has provided death-sentenced inmates an opportunity to seek post-conviction relief, the legislature has not mandated post-conviction review. Pike nonetheless asserts that this Court should mandate post-conviction review of death sentences. We decline to do so. Courts have long recognized the right of competent defendants to make decisions concerning their available legal remedies. See, e.g., Jones v. Barnes, 463 U.S. 745, 751, 103 S.Ct. 3308, 77 L.Ed.2d 987 (1983) (recognizing that competent defendants may choose whether to plead guilty, waive a jury, testify in his or her own behalf, or take an appeal); Serrano, 133 S.W.3d at 604 (holding that an inmate in a non-capital case may waive post-conviction review); State v. Smith, 993 S.W.2d 6, 13-16 (Tenn.1999); Momon v. State, 18 S.W.3d 152, 161 (Tenn.1999) (recognizing the right of a defendant to waive personally the fundamental right to testify); Zagorski v. State, 983 S.W.2d 654, 658-59 (Tenn.1998) (recognizing the right of a competent defendant to forego the presentation of mitigating evidence at a capital sentencing hearing); Collins v. State, 670 S.W.2d 219, 221 (Tenn.1984) (holding that a defendant may waive the right of direct appeal). Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court has recognized the right of a mentally competent death-sentenced inmate to waive further appellate review. Demosthenes v. Baal, 495 U.S. 731, 735, 110 S.Ct. 2223, 109 L.Ed.2d 762 (1990); Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 165, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990); Gilmore v. Utah, 429 U.S. 1012, 1016, 97 S.Ct. 436, 50 L.Ed.2d 632 (1976). In addition, this Court has implicitly recognized the right of a competent death-sentenced inmate to forgo post-conviction review. On November 26, 2002, this Court affirmed the convictions and death sentences of Paul Dennis Reid and, in accordance with a statutory directive, scheduled Reid's execution for April 29, 2003. [7] State v. Paul Dennis Reid, Jr., 91 S.W.3d 247, 260 (Tenn.2003) (memorandum opinion and order). On March 26, 2003, Reid filed pro se in this Court a notice indicating that he did not intend to pursue available post-conviction remedies. Id. Nineteen days before Reid's scheduled execution, the assistant public defender who had represented Reid on direct appeal filed a motion seeking a stay of execution and a remand to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing to determine Reid's competence. Id. at 261. In denying the motion, this Court stated: Mr. Reid has clearly indicated that he has no desire to pursue any post-conviction remedies. The reasons given for this choice  that he has lost confidence in the judicial system, and that he has been convicted of seven egregious homicides  are certainly not irrational. As the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has observed: We must not assume that it is impossible for even a death-sentenced prisoner to recognize the justice of his sentence and to acquiesce in it. Id. at 262 (quoting West v. Bell, 242 F.3d 338, 343 (6th Cir.2001)). Although we noted that Reid could initiate post-conviction proceedings prior to the scheduled execution date, should he so choose, we refused to grant Reid a stay or to order further proceedings in the absence of any new factual assertions calling Reid's competency into question. Id. at 262. Our adoption of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 28, section 11, which sets out procedures trial courts must follow when a death-sentenced inmate seeks to withdraw a post-conviction petition, also implicitly recognizes the right of a competent death-sentenced inmate to waive post-conviction review. Nevertheless, as support for her assertion that death-sentenced inmates should not be permitted to waive post-conviction review, Pike relies upon State v. Martini, 144 N.J. 603, 677 A.2d 1106 (1996). In Martini , a death-sentenced inmate sought to waive post-conviction review by dismissing the application for post-conviction relief filed on his behalf by the Office of the Public Defender. Id. at 1108. Following a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation and a competency hearing, the trial court found Martini to be competent and determined that Martini had voluntarily chosen to forgo further appeals. Id. The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's findings but nonetheless refused to permit Martini to waive post-conviction review, citing the Court's state constitutional duty to ensure the integrity of death sentences in New Jersey. Id. at 1112. The Court reviewed New Jersey precedent which precluded competent capital defendants from waiving either the presentation of mitigation evidence or the direct appeal of their convictions and sentences. Id. at 1109. Characterizing post-conviction review as a continuation of meaningful appellate review and as a safeguard essential to ensuring the reliability of capital sentencing, the Court refused to permit competent inmates to waive post-conviction review. Id. at 1112-13. The Court explained its ruling as follows: Under our form of government it is not the inmate on death row or the accused who determines when and whether the State shall execute a prisoner; rather, the law itself makes that determination. The public has an interest in the reliability and integrity of a death sentencing decision that transcends the preferences of individual defendants. Id. at 1107. In urging this Court to follow Martini , Pike asserts that allowing a death-sentenced inmate to waive post-conviction review denies the people of the State of Tennessee the right to ensure that only individuals who have received a death sentence through a constitutional process are executed. Pike maintains that the public's interest in ensuring the fair, reliable, and consistent administration of the death penalty in Tennessee outweighs a death-sentenced inmate's interest in discontinuing litigation. We decline to mandate post-conviction review of a death sentence over the objection of a competent death-sentenced inmate. As the State points out, New Jersey is the only jurisdiction to adopt such a rule, and such a rule is not mandated by United States Supreme Court precedent. Furthermore, as one commentator has explained: A defendant seeking to waive proceedings for the first time at the post-conviction relief stage is more likely to have been appropriately convicted and sentenced than a defendant seeking to waive proceedings at the early stages. Such a defendant has received a full trial, full sentencing hearing and full appellate review. Every stage serves as a checkpoint, an additional safeguard filtering out the impurities. A defendant is less likely to be wrongfully sentenced to death after each stage. Information is gained at the completion of each stage. Any other conclusion would suggest that each proceeding serves no valuable purpose and would degrade the entire capital proceeding to nothing more than a random game of chance. Therefore, because each stage reduces the chance that a defendant has been inappropriately sentenced to death, the risk of arbitrary application of the death penalty is much lower at the post-conviction relief stage than at previous stages. Anthony J. Casey, Maintaining the Integrity of Death: An Argument for Restricting a Defendant's Right to Volunteer for Execution at Certain Stages in Capital Proceedings, 30 Am. J.Crim. L. 75, 103 (2002). Mandatory post-conviction review could possibly ensure a greater degree of reliability in the process by which death sentences are imposed. Without question, mandatory post-conviction review would eliminate the delay [8] and expense occasioned by hearings and litigation to determine whether a death-sentenced inmate is competent to waive post-conviction review and whether a death-sentenced inmate may revoke a waiver of post-conviction review. See O'Rourke v. State, 300 Ark. 323, 778 S.W.2d 938, 939 (1989) (Glaze, J., dissenting) (opining that justice would be better served and delays avoided were the Arkansas Supreme Court to mandate post-conviction review in capital cases and to refuse to permit waiver of post-conviction review by competent death-sentenced inmates). These are policy considerations that are more appropriately directed to the legislature. State v. Godsey, 60 S.W.3d 759, 772 (Tenn.2001). Upon weighing the competing policy considerations, the legislature may choose to mandate post-conviction review in death penalty cases, just as it has mandated limited direct appellate review of death sentences. Nevertheless, in the absence of a constitutional or statutory imperative, we decline to mandate post-conviction review, and we hold that such review may be waived by a competent death-sentenced inmate. Our holding is consistent with the rule applied in numerous other jurisdictions. See, e.g., Sanchez-Velasco v. Sec'y of Dept. of Corr., 287 F.3d 1015, 1033 (11th Cir.2002); Smith v. Armontrout, 812 F.2d 1050, 1059 (8th Cir.1987); Rumbaugh v. Procunier, 753 F.2d 395, 398-99 (5th Cir.1985); Groseclose ex rel. Harries v. Dutton, 594 F.Supp. 949, 959 (M.D.Tenn.1984); O'Rourke, 778 S.W.2d at 938-39; In Re Ross, 272 Conn. 676, 866 A.2d 554, 562 (2005); Durocher v. Singletary, 623 So.2d 482, 483 (Fla.1993); Corcoran v. State, 820 N.E.2d 655, 664 (Ind.2005); State v. Ashworth, 85 Ohio St.3d 56, 706 N.E.2d 1231, 1236 (1999); Bryant v. Thompson, 324 Or. 141, 922 P.2d 1219, 1223 (1996); Commonwealth v. Bronshtein, 556 Pa. 545, 729 A.2d 1102, 1106 (1999); cf. Serrano, 133 S.W.3d at 604 (holding that, in the absence of a constitutional or statutory mandate, inmates in non-capital cases may waive post-conviction review); Murray v. Giarratano, 492 U.S. 1, 10, 109 S.Ct. 2765, 106 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989) (refusing to hold that the Eighth Amendment requires that appointed counsel be provided death-sentenced inmates in state post-conviction proceedings and commenting that [t]he additional safeguards imposed by the Eighth Amendment at the trial stage of a capital case are, we think, sufficient to assure the reliability of the process by which the death penalty is imposed).