Opinion ID: 788549
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Doe's Federal Habeas Petition

Text: 14 Doe filed the instant petition on November 30, 2001, just over two years after AEDPA's limitations period had run. He conceded that his petition was untimely, but raised the three tolling arguments at issue here, although in a less developed form. With respect to the actual innocence issue, Doe proffered an affidavit in which Edwin stated that Doe never molested him and that he never told the DA's Office that Doe had attempted to have any sexual contact with him. The district court found, however, in an order dated February 2002, that a claim of actual innocence did not provide a basis for tolling AEDPA's limitations period, noting the clear intent of AEDPA to bring repose to state convictions in the federal courts, whatever the social cost. The court also denied Doe's tolling claim based on attorney incompetence, finding that our decision in Smaldone v. Senkowski, 273 F.3d 133 (2d Cir.2001) (per curiam), mandated the conclusion that Wall's lack of diligence was insufficient to constitute extraordinary circumstances meriting equitable tolling. Finally, the court implicitly held that Doe could have filed his petition pro se despite his incarceration. 15 On appeal, we declined to review the merits of the district court's rulings. We stated that this Court has not yet determined whether the Constitution requires an actual innocence exception to [AEDPA's] statute of limitations, but that we would decide this issue in the context of a case in which the petitioner's credible showing of actual innocence compels us to do so. Doe v. Menefee, 49 Fed.Appx. 340, 341-42 (2d Cir.2002) (unpublished opinion) (Doe I ) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Noting that Doe has presented evidence, the affidavit of his alleged victim, which might well lead a reasonable juror to find him not guilty, but that the respondent also has presented extensive evidence undermining the victim's affidavit, we remanded the case to the district court to determine whether Doe has presented a credible claim of actual innocence. Id. at 342. We also directed the court to consider whether a petitioner must demonstrate that he pursued his claim of actual innocence with reasonable diligence, as is required in asserting other grounds for equitable tolling. Id. Finally, we declined to consider Doe's arguments with respect to attorney incompetence and the inadequacy of the prison library. Id.
16 On remand, the district court conducted a hearing on the actual innocence issue, after which it determined that Doe had established his innocence by a preponderance of the credible evidence. The court heard testimony from Doe, Edwin, Richman, Cronin, Storino, and ADA Greg Bernhard on the issue of actual innocence, and from Peter Gould on the issue of Doe's reasonable diligence in pursuing his claim. The testimony that is relevant to the disposition of this appeal is summarized below.
17 Doe testified that he met Edwin through Edward R., one of the boys most closely connected with Bagarozy, early in the summer of 1993. Doe assertedly did not realize at the time, however, that Edward R. was sleeping with Bagarozy, and was used by Bagarozy and Federowicz to identify and attract new victims. Although Doe was not very close to Bagarozy and Federowicz and was not aware of the bulk of their activities, he associated with many of the same boys as did the two convicted pedophiles. Doe attributed this overlap in association to the fact that he routinely made himself available to underprivileged boys like Edward R. and Edwin, taking them to arcades, to Nathan's for hotdogs, and occasionally back to his apartment to watch movies and play video games. 18 On August 13, 1993, the date of the alleged assault, Doe picked up Edwin from the Bronx and drove him, alone, to Doe's apartment in Tarrytown. Doe had just finished work, and wanted to change into casual clothes before he took Edwin to Sportstime, an arcade. At Doe's apartment, Edwin waited while Doe changed, and the two were alone in the apartment for perhaps ten minutes. Doe denied having sex with Edwin or having attempted to force him into sexual contact. 19 Doe maintained that even after August 13, Edwin continued to call him and ask to be taken out. They appear to have met just once, though, in July 1994, when Doe, O'Rourke, and Edwin went to Playland Park in Westchester County. Doe stated that Edwin told him that the DA's Office had approached him with questions about Doe, but that Edwin had denied any improprieties. 20 When questioned as to why he pled guilty to second-degree sodomy when he was innocent of the offense, Doe asserted that he felt coerced into pleading because he was frightened that he would be charged with a more serious offense — and face prison time — if he did not plead. Moreover, Doe was anxious to help the federal government convict Bagarozy and Federowicz, because he had been completely unaware of their more unsavory activities — including having sex with Edward R. and others, and using the boys to make child pornography — and felt betrayed because he himself would not have countenanced such exploitation. Doe believed that if he did not plead guilty to the sodomy offense, the federal prosecutors running the Bagarozy/Federowicz trial would be angry, and that the possibility that he would have to invoke the Fifth Amendment while on the witness stand could jeopardize his ability to function as a cooperator. 21 Doe also attempted to explain his admission at the September 1993 proffer session that he had had sex with Edwin by stating that he had panicked when asked about Edwin. He stated that the proffer was held in a small, airless, windowless room at the end of the summer ... [and] it was extremely hot. Doe was worried that he was not going to be able to explain to these agents ... what [his] role in [the Boy Lovers] was, which was not a criminal role, and he therefore lied and stated that he had had sex with Edwin.
22 Edwin's testimony roughly corroborated Doe's, although the two accounts vary in some respects. Edwin stated that he was never alone with Doe in Doe's apartment, and had never had sexual contact, consensual or forcible, with Doe. 23 Edwin was approached by the DA's Office in early 1994, and went to one meeting with ADA Cronin. 13 He recalled that Cronin was the only person involved in the interview until a man came in towards the end, but he admitted that his recollection of the particulars of the interviews was unclear. Cronin asked Edwin if Doe ever gave [him] money for sexual favors or anything like that, and Edwin replied that no sexual contact had ever occurred. 24 With respect to his larger involvement with the circle of Boy Lovers, Edwin testified that he played on a basketball team organized by Bagarozy, and knew of O'Rourke through Bagarozy but had never met him. He further testified that Bagarozy invited him to a nude beach once, but he refused. None of the men ever gave Edwin money or other financial assistance. 25 Edwin learned that Doe had been convicted of an offense involving the August 1993 incident when Edwin was incarcerated at Rikers Island in 1998. There, Edwin was approached by Edward R.'s brother, Angel R., who had been closely associated with O'Rourke and was known as one of the Boy Lovers' main boys. Angel R. told Edwin that Doe was in jail because of Edwin, leading Edwin to attempt to contact Doe. Doe refused to speak with Edwin because of an order of protection arising from the 1995 conviction, but soon after Edwin attempted to initiate contact, Doe sent a private investigator to speak to Edwin. Doe's attorney then generated an affidavit that Edwin signed, asserting that he had never told the DA's Office that Doe assaulted him. Doe also retained an attorney for Edwin, ostensibly to protect Edwin against pressure from the DA's Office. Finally, Edwin maintained that he was not promised anything in exchange for his testimony at the hearing; he was willing to testify because the truth needs to be told.
26 Cronin recounted her interviews with Edwin after refreshing her recollection with the notes that she took during the interviews. Cronin testified that of seven pages of notes, the first four, dated March 18, 1994, were taken during her second interview with Edwin. The next two pages, undated, were taken during the first interview, and the last page of notes may have been taken later, when Cronin was preparing for a proceeding. The notes were then offered into evidence, and are included in the record. 27 According to Cronin, the DA's Office conducted two interviews with Edwin because it was standard practice to conduct at least two interviews when dealing with a child victim. ADA Greg Bernhard, who had handled the investigation until the DA's Office decided to transfer the prosecution to the Special Prosecutions Division, was also present for both interviews. During the first interview, Cronin elicited general information about Edwin's relationship with Doe and how the two had met. The second interview covered the alleged sexual contact and its aftermath. 28 Cronin stated that Edwin had met Doe through Edward R. in early summer, and that Doe would drive Edwin to various places. Sometimes Doe would attempt to touch Edwin's groin in the car. At some point before the alleged contact that formed the basis of the sodomy charge, Edwin, unaccompanied by any other boys, was playing on the computer in a back room in Doe's apartment when Doe came up behind him and attempted to put his hands down Edwin's pants. Doe told Edwin to stand up, and when Edwin struggled, Doe carried Edwin into the bedroom. When Edwin continued to struggle, Doe became angry and threatened not to drive Edwin home. 29 On August 13, 1993, Edwin again accompanied Doe back to his apartment. Doe's advances began as they had on the earlier occasion but went further this time; once Doe had maneuvered Edwin onto the bed, he pulled Edwin's pants down and put his mouth around Edwin's penis. Edwin pushed Doe's hands away and kicked him, and Doe retreated. Doe later accused Edwin of having provoked Doe into coming on to him, and gave Edwin $50 or $60. Cronin asked Edwin why he had accompanied Doe to his apartment after the first incident, which itself had involved an element of compulsion, and Edwin answered that he had thought that because he had made it clear to Doe that he did not like the advances, Doe would not come on to him again. 30 In accordance with standard practice, Cronin also asked Edwin to describe Doe's apartment in detail, in order to verify that Edwin had actually been there. Cronin was later able to verify Edwin's description with Storino's and Bernhard's knowledge of the apartment, based on their search of the property. 31 Based on the interviews with Edwin, the DA's Office decided to charge Doe with a sex offense, and Cronin contacted Doe's attorney, Murray Richman, to discuss the charges. Cronin told Richman that the DA's Office believed it had sufficient evidence to charge Doe with forcible sodomy, a Class B felony that would carry a sentence of prison time, but that because Doe was cooperating with the federal government in the Bagarozy and Federowicz trial, the DA's Office was willing to consider charging Doe with second-degree sodomy, a Class D felony that would probably result in a sentence of probation.
32 ADA Bernhard, who supervised the wiretaps and the search for Edwin and was present at Cronin's interviews, corroborated Cronin's testimony in its entirety. Bernhard testified that he had not reviewed Cronin's interview notes in preparation for his testimony, because he remembered the interviews vividly. Bernhard had not expected Edwin to describe the sexual contact as forcible, because the wiretapped conversations had created the impression that because Doe paid him, Edwin was a willing participant in the encounter. 33 When asked to describe what allegedly occurred during Edwin's second visit to Doe's apartment, 14 Bernhard stated that Edwin told him and Cronin that he was playing computer games and that, while he was on the computer, Doe began grabbing at his legs and trying to turn him from the computer. Eventually Doe pulled Edwin off of the chair, threw him onto the bed, pulled his pants down, and put his mouth on Edwin's penis. Edwin kicked Doe and told him to stop.
34 Finally, Storino testified as to his investigation into Edwin's whereabouts and the process by which the DA's Office learned of Edwin and the potential crime. Although the wiretaps were joint federal-state endeavors, no representative of the DA's Office was present at the September 15 proffer session in which Doe admitted to having sex with Edwin. The DA's Office's investigation into the incident was therefore conducted, at least at first, without knowledge of Doe's admission that he had sex with Edwin. Storino also testified that Special Agent Kyle contacted him in February and relayed Doe's statements that Edwin had been coached on what to say to the authorities, and had promised not to divulge any incriminating information. 35
36 Following the hearing, the district court issued an order detailing its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court analyzed the testimony in light of its conception of the standard for demonstrating actual innocence, stating that the standard of proof is at the lowest possible level. Innocence need only be demonstrated to be more likely than unlikely. 37 The district court found Edwin's testimony credible in its entirety, as Edwin was forthright ... and responsive in answering questions. The court concluded that although Edwin had socialized with Doe and other Boy Lovers, he had not personally engaged in any sexual activity with Doe or any other man. Because crediting Edwin's accounts of what he had said during his interviews with Cronin required that the court discount or discredit Cronin's and Bernhard's directly conflicting testimony, the court concluded that Cronin's recollection was based primarily on her notes, at least some of which are not contemporaneous records. Thus, although the court explicitly refused to make an adverse credibility determination with respect to Cronin, it found that Edwin's testimony was entitled to more weight. The court did not analyze or acknowledge the implications of Bernhard's testimony, however. 38 Turning to Doe's testimony, the court credited Doe's account of his relationship with Edwin and his explanations of his previous inconsistent statements. The court placed weight on the fact that although Edwin stated that he was never alone with Doe in his apartment, Doe admitted to having been alone with Edwin once, an inconsistency that the court believed suggested Doe's forthrightness. The court also concluded that Doe had pled guilty because he was genuinely afraid of receiving jail time if he did not plead, and that his sense of betrayal arising out of Bagarozy's and Federowicz's activities made him particularly reluctant to endanger his ability to testify against them by refusing to plead guilty. The court also found Doe's discharge of Richman just before he pled guilty consistent with Doe's innocence, because Doe may have been loath to accept Richman's advice that he plead. This reasoning in turn suggested that Doe's admission of guilt during his plea allocution was false. Finally, the court found Doe's statement that he panicked at the proffer session and felt compelled to lie about having sex with Edwin somewhat strained, but apparently did not feel that Doe's 1993 admission threw the veracity of his hearing testimony into doubt. 39 The court therefore concluded that Doe had established his innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. It next determined that Doe had exercised reasonable diligence in pursuing the claim of actual innocence, but reiterated its initial conclusion that AEDPA does not allow tolling for actual innocence, and the Suspension Clause does not require such an exception to AEDPA's limitations period.