Opinion ID: 402158
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prejudice to the state

Text: 22 Rule 9(a) permits dismissal of a habeas petition where the state shows that it has been prejudiced by the delay. Ellis v. Mabry, supra, 601 F.2d at 364; Bouchillon v. Estelle, supra, 628 F.2d at 929. The state filed affidavits with the court to support its contention that it had been prejudiced by the 10 year delay. 23 The affidavits state that Cotton's attorney in the 1969 proceeding has no recollection of representing Cotton in 1969 and had not retained his files of the case. The court reporter recalled the 1969 trial but stated that she did not make a transcript and that she destroyed all of her notes, with permission of the court, in 1978. 3 Affidavits from the attorneys, police and witnesses involved in the 1969 proceeding reveal that none of them had sufficient recollection of the 1969 events upon which the state could rely in responding to the habeas petition. We hold that the state has made a showing of prejudice. 24 We do not presume prejudice to the state merely from the absence of a transcript or witnesses. See Mayola v. Alabama, 623 F.2d 992, 1000 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 913, 101 S.Ct. 1986, 68 L.Ed.2d 303 (1981). We find that the state has shown actual prejudice from petitioner's delay because the lack of a transcript and witnesses here deprived the state of any opportunity to demonstrate that the guilty plea had been voluntarily made. We can conceive of no other means for the state to rebut petitioner's claim that his 1969 guilty plea was involuntary than by reference to the transcript and witnesses' recollection. 4