Opinion ID: 155680
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: a dequate n otice of s tate ’ s e vidence

Text: In his last claim, Mr. Duvall argues that he is entitled to habeas relief because the district attorney’s office failed to give his trial counsel adequate notice of the State’s evidence in support of the “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” aggravator. Mr. Duvall asserts that the Bill of Particulars did not list the particular acts that fell within this aggravator or identify the witnesses which the State intended to use to establish this aggravating circumstance. Mr. Duvall contends that the State’s failure to provide him with significant critical facts resulted in trial by ambush in violation of due process. In response, the State argues that Mr. Duvall is procedurally barred from raising this claim. Mr. Duvall did not raise this issue in his direct appeal. Although he attempted to raise the issue in his state post-conviction appeal, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals held that it lacked jurisdiction to reach the - 59 - merits because Mr. Duvall failed to file a Petition in Error and a copy of the district court’s order with the court pursuant to Rule 5.2(C) of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. 11 Duvall, 869 P.2d at 334. At the time of Mr. Duvall’s appeal, Rule 5.2(C) provided: The applicant, or the state, desiring to appeal from the final order of the district court under [the rules governing post-conviction appeals], must file a petition in error WITH A COPY OF THE ORDER ATTACHED with the Clerk of this Court within thirty (30) days from the date of the final order of the district court; and at the 11 Before the federal district court, the State argued that the procedural default rule applied to Mr. Duvall’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim and his inadequate notice claim. In denying Mr. Duvall habeas relief, the district court did not address the procedural default rule. On appeal, the State argues only that the procedural default rule applies to Mr. Duvall’s inadequate notice claim. Given these circumstances, we hold that the procedural default rule is applicable only to Mr. Duvall’s inadequate notice claim. We emphasize that the State may waive the procedural default defense by failing to timely raise the issue. See Jenkins v. Anderson, 447 U.S. 231, 234 n.1 (1980) (“[T]he respondent failed to raise the [procedural default] question in either the District Court or the Court of Appeals. Ordinarily, we will not consider a claim that was not presented to the courts below.”); Bailey v. Cowley, 914 F.2d 1438, 1439 (10th Cir. 1990) (per curiam) (“Respondents did not raise petitioner’s procedural default as a defense below, however, nor have they raised it on appeal. Therefore, we will deem the defense waived and will proceed to consider the petition on the merits.”). Moreover, we decline to raise the question sua sponte with respect to any other issue. See United States v. Hernandez, 94 F.3d 606, 612 (10th Cir. 1996) (declining to apply the procedural default rule when the petitioner had not had the opportunity to demonstrate cause and prejudice); United States v. Allen, 16 F.3d 377, 378-79 (10th Cir. 1994) (“[I]f the government does not raise procedural bar, either the district court or court of appeals may raise and enforce it sua sponte, if doing so furthers the interests of judicial efficiency, conservation of scarce judicial resources, and orderly and prompt administration of justice.” (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); Manlove v. Tansy, 981 F.2d 473, 476 n.4 (10th Cir. 1992) (“A court can raise the state procedural bar defense sua sponte, but is not required to do so. We choose not to raise the issue sua sponte because of the late stage of the proceedings.” (citation omitted)). - 60 - same time the applicant, or the State, must file any brief to be submitted. . . . . Failure to file a petition in error, with or without a brief, within the time provided, shall bar this Court from considering the appeal. Id. at 333 (quoting Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 22 ch. 77, sec. V, Rule 5.2(C) of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals). “In all cases in which a state prisoner has defaulted his federal claims in state court pursuant to an independent and adequate state procedural rule, federal habeas review of the claims is barred unless the prisoner can demonstrate cause for the default and actual prejudice as a result of the alleged violation of federal law, or demonstrate that failure to consider the claims will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice.” Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 750 (1991); see also Smith v. Murray, 477 U.S. 527 (1986) (applying the procedural default rule in a death penalty case). A state court finding of procedural default is independent if it is separate and distinct from federal law. See Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 75 (1985). In this case, the procedural bar was an “independent” state ground because “it was the exclusive basis for the state court’s holding.” Maes v. Thomas, 46 F.3d 979, 985 (10th Cir. 1995). A state court finding of procedural default is adequate if it is “strictly or regularly followed” and applied “evenhandedly to all similar claims.” Hathorn v. - 61 - Lovorn, 457 U.S. 255, 263 (1982). In other words, a state procedural bar “must have been ‘firmly established and regularly followed’ by the time as of which it is to be applied.” Ford v. Georgia, 498 U.S. 411, 424 (1991). After reviewing the relevant case law, we have found no other case in which a petitioner seeking to appeal the denial of post-conviction relief has failed to file a Petition in Error and the district court’s order denying relief. Thus, such a procedural bar is not “firmly established” in a technical sense under Oklahoma case law. Nevertheless, Rule 5.2(C) clearly requires compliance with such procedures. The need for an appellate court “to determine in what way the district court addressed [a defendant’s or petitioner’s] claims below, or if those claims were addressed at all,” Duvall, 871 P.2d at 1388, is firmly established in the procedures for appellate review, see, e.g., Yingst v. State, 480 P.2d 276, 277 (Okla. Crim. App. 1971). A copy of the district court’s order filed with the reviewing court is necessary for proper evaluation of the judgment below. Thus, we also conclude that the state court’s procedural rule was “adequate.” Because Mr. Duvall has defaulted his federal claims in state court under an adequate and independent state procedural rule, habeas review of the petitioner’s federal claim is barred unless he demonstrates “cause for the default and actual prejudice as a result of the alleged violation of federal law, or . . . that failure to consider the claims will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice.” Hoxsie v. - 62 - Kerby, 108 F.3d 1239, 1243 (10th Cir. 1997). We conclude that Mr. Duvall failed to demonstrate, or even argue, either cause and prejudice for his procedural default or that failure to consider his claim will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Accordingly, we hold that Mr. Duvall is not entitled to relief on this ground because his claim is barred. Even if we were to conclude that Mr. Duvall is not barred from raising this claim, Mr. Duvall would still not be entitled to habeas relief on the merits of the claim. The Due Process Clause mandates that a defendant receive adequate notice that he could receive the death penalty. See Lankford v. Idaho, 500 U.S. 110, 127 (1991). Similarly, a defendant must have a meaningful opportunity to deny or explain the State’s evidence used to procure a death sentence. See Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349, 362 (1977). We find nothing in the record to suggest that the state denied Mr. Duvall due process in this case. The Bill of Particulars In Rem Punishment advised Mr. Duvall that the State was seeking the death penalty because the “murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.” The State later gave Mr. Duvall a written list of all the witnesses the State intended to use at trial. At a pretrial hearing, Mr. Duvall asked the State to specifically endorse all of the witnesses that the State intended to call during the penalty phase of the trial. The district attorney indicated that the State would not present any witnesses during the penalty phase - 63 - whose identity was not already disclosed to the defense. The State would call only witnesses who had testified during the guilt phase of the trial. Tr. at 40-43. Mr. Duvall was not denied a meaningful opportunity to explain or rebut the State’s evidence because his own confession contained much of the evidence in support of the “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” aggravator. In addition, before trial the State identified all of the witnesses upon whom it would (and did) rely in the guilt and penalty phases of the trial. In short, the record indicates that “[t]he problem of trial by ambush did not arise in this case.” Long v. State, 883 P.2d 167, 172 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994). Thus, Mr. Duvall was not denied due process of law and is not entitled to habeas relief on this ground.