Opinion ID: 767895
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Perillo's Direct Appeal and State Habeas Proceeding and Skelton's Continuing Relationship with Fletcher

Text: 65 Perillo's conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. See Perillo v. State, 758 S.W.2d 567. In November 1991, Perillo filed a state habeas corpus action in the convicting court. Skelton continued to represent Fletcher during the course of Perillo's state habeas proceeding. In 1992, Perillo's habeas counsel attempted to contact Fletcher to investigate the facts surrounding Skelton's representation of Fletcher. Fletcher initially agreed to an interview, but then canceled on the advice of her counsel, Skelton. Fletcher told Perillo's habeas counsel that all future communications had to go through Skelton, and that if necessary, Skelton would fly to California to resist any subpoena for Fletcher's testimony. Skelton never responded to Perillo's habeas counsel's attempts to contact him directly. 66 In January 1994, the state court judge, who was not the judge who presided at Perillo's trial, entered written findings of fact and conclusions of law, recommending denial of Perillo's writ. The state habeas court's disposition relied heavily upon the credibility of Skelton's affidavit testimony. Perillo's state habeas petition was later denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in an unpublished per curiam opinion. See Ex parte Perillo, No. 26,367-01 (Tex. Ct. Crim. App. 1994). 67 The state habeas court did not conduct an evidentiary hearing, and decided the case instead on the basis of the affidavits and other documents submitted to the court. See Perillo I, 79 F.3d at 445-47. We have already determined that Perillo did not receive a full and fair hearing on her Sixth Amendment claim in the state habeas court. See id. at 445-46 & n.7 (explaining the significance of the paper hearing in Perillo's case with respect to the presumption of correctness to be accorded the state court fact findings). The evidence received on remand, particularly the evidence relating to Skelton's credibility, strongly supports that legal conclusion. Further, the procedural posture of this present appeal does not affect our prior resolution of that legal issue. We therefore adhere to our earlier holding that, on the particular facts of this case, the state habeas court's fact findings are not entitled to the presumption of correctness provided for in the pre-AEDPA version of 28 U.S.C. 2254(d). 68