Opinion ID: 739728
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sentencing Phase Arguments

Text: 67 Villafuerte argues that the state trial court committed constitutional error by relying on false evidence at the sentencing hearing. During sentencing, the state trial court asked Villafuerte if the interpreter had read the presentence report to him. He replied that she had, but it's erroneous, Your Honor. Therefore, I cannot accept it in this case. 68 Villafuerte testified in his own behalf at that hearing. He mentioned only two errors in the presentence report: he testified he did not tell the probation officer he had only had ten beers on the day of the crime, and he testified he did not tell the probation officer he was a lawyer. 69 There is no indication that the state trial court relied on false information during sentencing. During sentencing, Villafuerte was able to explain why he believed these two statements were erroneous. The state trial court also had heard conflicting testimony on these two issues. At trial, Villafuerte testified: I got my law degree from the University of Honduras.... Villafuerte also testified that he was not so intoxicated at the time of the offense that he was unaware of his actions. 70 During the state court hearing on his state habeas corpus petition, Villafuerte failed to identify any other false evidence allegedly relied on at sentencing. In its order rejecting this claim, the state court found, There is no evidentiary basis for this argument. Villafuerte has failed to show the existence of materially false information relied on by the sentencer. This claim fails. See Oxborrow v. Eikenberry, 877 F.2d 1395, 1400 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 942, 110 S.Ct. 344, 107 L.Ed.2d 332 (1989).
71 As aggravating factors, the state trial court found Villafuerte had committed the murder in an especially cruel and depraved manner. See Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703(F)(6). The Arizona Supreme Court reversed the cruelty finding but upheld the depravity finding. Villafuerte, 690 P.2d at 50. We sua sponte requested briefing on whether Villafuerte could raise a meritorious claim at this time that, after the Arizona Supreme Court reversed the cruelty finding, it failed to reweigh the aggravating and mitigating evidence. 72 The State argues Villafuerte cannot raise this claim before this court because the claim is procedurally barred and Villafuerte has not demonstrated cause and prejudice for his failure to raise the reweighing claim in his state petition. See Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 750, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 2564-65, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991). We agree. 73 Villafuerte argues he has shown cause for not raising this claim in his state habeas petition because the legal basis for the claim was not reasonably available until Richmond v. Lewis, 506 U.S. 40, 113 S.Ct. 528, 121 L.Ed.2d 411 (1992), which was decided long after his state habeas proceeding. See Reed v. Ross, 468 U.S. 1, 16, 104 S.Ct. 2901, 2910, 82 L.Ed.2d 1 (1984) (cause may exist if claim is so novel that its legal basis is not reasonably available to counsel). In Richmond, the Court concluded that a state appellate court, in a weighing state, did not cure a sentence which relied on an invalid aggravating factor because the appellate court did not actually reweigh the remaining aggravating factors and mitigating evidence to determine the appropriateness of the death sentence. Richmond, 506 U.S. at 48-49, 113 S.Ct. at 535-36. 74 We have previously rejected Villafuerte's argument. Clark v. Lewis, 1 F.3d 814, 821 (9th Cir.1993). In Clark, we rejected the petitioner's argument that the reweighing claim was not available until Richmond. We concluded the claim was an abuse of the writ because the petitioner could have raised the claim in his first federal petition. We reasoned the legal basis for the claim and the well-established principles upon which the Court relied in Richmond were reasonably available long before the Richmond decision. Clark, 1 F.3d at 821-22. 75 Villafuerte has not demonstrated cause for failing to raise his reweighing claim in his state habeas petition. Although he did not have the benefit of Richmond, he did have the tools to construct [this] constitutional claim. Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 133, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 1574, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982). 76 We also conclude that Villafuerte has not demonstrated that an actual miscarriage of justice would occur if we decline to review the merits of the reweighing claim. See Coleman, 501 U.S. at 750, 111 S.Ct. at 2564-65. To demonstrate an actual miscarriage of justice, a petitioner must establish his actual innocence of the death sentence, by clear and convincing evidence that, but for a constitutional error, no reasonable juror would have found [him] eligible for the death penalty under the applicable state law. Sawyer v. Whitley, 505 U.S. 333, 336, 112 S.Ct. 2514, 2517, 120 L.Ed.2d 269 (1992). Villafuerte has not carried this burden, because he has failed to show that no reasonable juror (or in this case the sentencing court) would have found the presence of the depravity factor in Schoville's murder, the murder of which he was convicted. Thus, he remains eligible for the death sentence. 77 Because we conclude Villafuerte has failed to show cause for not raising his reweighing claim in his state habeas petition, and he has failed to establish that an actual miscarriage of justice would occur if we decline to review the claim, we do not reach the merits of Villafuerte's reweighing claim. 78