Opinion ID: 499056
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Appropriateness of Immediate Adjudication

Text: 16 The fact that the complaint should not have been dismissed for lack of exhaustion does not necessarily mean, however, that it should be adjudicated at this time. We conclude that a postponement of adjudication is prudentially warranted because one possible outcome of the state court proceedings could negate an essential element of Mack's claim. 17 To establish a prima facie case on his present claim, Mack would be required to prove, inter alia, that the sheriffs improperly failed to produce Jefferson prior to the end of trial and that that failure caused him injury. If the state appellate court were to vacate Mack's conviction and grant him a retrial at which Jefferson testified, and if Mack were again convicted, it would appear that his present complaint would fail for lack of injury since presumably he would receive credit for the time he had already spent incarcerated on account of the vacated conviction. In light of this possible sequence, it would be premature for the district court to attempt to adjudicate Mack's claim at this time. 18 Other state court sequences would be less conclusive because the existence or absence of injury would not be so plain. Further, none of the likely sequences can be expected to be dispositive on the question of the sheriffs' culpability, for in light of the record before it, the state appellate court will likely focus on the propriety of the trial court's action in denying a continuance in light of the facts known to it, a matter integral to the criminal trial, rather than on the propriety of the sheriffs' failure to produce Jefferson, a matter not explored at that trial. Neither an affirmance nor a reversal would necessarily determine whether there had been any impropriety on the part of the sheriffs. For example, the appellate court could conclude that the trial court, having ordered Jefferson's production, abused its discretion in failing to continue the trial until he was in fact produced. Such a ruling would not necessarily mean that the sheriffs were at fault; a fully developed record could show that they had taken all reasonable steps to gain custody of Jefferson and were forestalled by delay within the Department of Corrections. On the other hand, the appellate court could conclude that, in light of Mack's failure to make an earlier motion for Jefferson's production, the lower court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to adjourn the trial until Jefferson could be produced. This ruling would not necessarily mean that the sheriffs had been blameless, for further development of the record could show that they had arbitrarily refused to deliver Jefferson prior to the end of the unadjourned trial though it was within their ability to do so. 19 While none of the hypothetical sequences would determine whether or not the sheriffs had unduly delayed in producing Jefferson, the postponement of adjudication of Mack's present claim is warranted because a sequence leading to conviction at a new trial could definitively establish that Mack has suffered no injury. 20