Opinion ID: 1113311
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: California standard.

Text: (19b) Petitioner does not address the criteria to be applied by the court in considering whether the merits of an unjustified successive or untimely petition which does not fit within the limited exceptions we have identified should be considered. He argues instead that there should be no bar to consideration of a possibly meritorious habeas corpus petition, and that relief should be available whenever it appears that a miscarriage of justice within the meaning of article VI, section 13 of the California Constitution has occurred. [29] Article VI, section 13 has no application in this context. It precludes reversal of a judgment on the basis of a harmless error and thereby serves to limit the jurisdiction of the court in the exercise of its appellate powers, but does not create a right to relief or excuse procedural defaults. More importantly, it is inapplicable in habeas corpus proceedings. ( Ex parte Bathurst (1929) 98 Cal. App. 552 [277 P. 201].) The court does, as petitioner notes, apply a similar test in determining whether a habeas corpus petitioner has demonstrated that he suffered prejudice as a result of a matter of which he complains. (See In re Martin (1987) 44 Cal.3d 1, 51 [241 Cal. Rptr. 263, 744 P.2d 374].) That observation is irrelevant, however, since procedural bars preclude consideration of claims sought to be raised in a successive or untimely habeas corpus petition just as they bar claims made on appeal. The question to be decided is when, if ever, should the court reach the merits of an untimely or successive petition for writ of habeas corpus which has not been justified by the petitioner, [30] not what standard should be applied to determine if the claims afford a basis for relief on habeas corpus. Respondent argues that this court should adopt the standards applicable to federal habeas corpus review of successive petitions by state prisoners, including the limitation on petitions attacking the penalty phase of a capital trial announced in Sawyer v. Whitley, supra, 505 U.S. ___ [120 L.Ed.2d 269, 112 S.Ct. 2514]. No reason beyond the benefit of uniformity of analysis is proffered for adopting for state purposes the limitations which are imposed by statute on federal courts. We believe the Pennsylvania and federal approaches to unjustified successive applications for postconviction relief, looking to a fundamental miscarriage of justice, have much to commend them. They attempt to ensure that regardless of delay or procedural default relief will always be available to a petitioner who is innocent of the offense for which he was convicted. However, the federal rule, to date, applies only if error of constitutional magnitude contributed to his conviction. The high court has not yet allowed consideration of newly discovered evidence of innocence. Moreover, the Pennsylvania standard by which the right to relief is measured โ proceedings so unfair that no civilized society can tolerate the resulting miscarriage of justice โ does not articulate a rule capable of consistent application, and is not readily adaptable to penalty verdicts in capital cases. [31] A refusal to consider a claim of factual innocence based on newly discovered evidence would be constitutionally suspect in a capital case. A majority of the justices of the United States Supreme Court have expressed a belief that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments preclude execution of an innocent person. Their statements imply that in a capital case a claim of actual innocence of the crime of which the petitioner stands convicted must be considered regardless of when it is raised or if constitutional error affected the verdict. ( Herrera v. Collins (1993) 506 U.S. ___ [122 L.Ed.2d 203, 113 S.Ct. 853], opns. of O'Connor, J. [joined by Kennedy, J.], White, J., and Blackmun, J. [joined by Stevens and Souter, JJ.].) We are persuaded by those views that such claims should be considered regardless of delay or failure to include the claim in a prior petition and irrespective of whether constitutional error contributed to the verdict. Since this court is not limited, as the federal courts are, to granting relief only on the basis of constitutional error, we may also entertain claims that mitigating evidence that was not presented to the jury warrants relief from a judgment imposing the death penalty. Therefore, if the petitioner can demonstrate that the evidence would have so radically altered the profile of the petitioner that no reasonable judge or jury would have sentenced the petitioner to death, this claim too will be considered notwithstanding the petitioner's failure to justify delay or presentation in a successive petition.