Opinion ID: 662464
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appropriate remedies

Text: 122 If the district court finds that a petitioner's due process rights have been violated, it must then address the matter of a remedy. We agree with the district court's conclusion that any petitioner whose direct criminal appeal has now been decided and whose conviction has been affirmed is not entitled to habeas relief based solely on delay in adjudicating his or her appeal, unless the petitioner can show actual prejudice to the appeal, itself, arising from the delay. 19 See Muwwakkil v. Hoke, 968 F.2d 284, 285 (2d Cir.) (holding that once petitioner's state conviction was affirmed, he was not entitled to release unless he could show a reasonable probability that, but for the appellate delay, his appeal would have been decided differently), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 664, 121 L.Ed.2d 589 (1992). 123 Only when appellate delay prejudiced [the petitioner's] due process rights so as to make his confinement constitutionally deficient, would habeas relief based on appellate delay be appropriate for a petitioner whose conviction has been affirmed. Diaz v. Henderson, 905 F.2d 652, 653 (2d Cir.1990). 124 An untainted affirmance of a petitioner's state appeal while his habeas petition is pending makes clear that the petitioner was confined pursuant to a valid judgment of conviction throughout the period of delay. The affirmance establishes that if the delay had not occurred and petitioner's due process right to a timely appeal had been fully satisfied, he would have been subject to exactly the same term of confinement. Because the due process violation did not result in an illegal confinement, it cannot justify granting the habeas remedy of unconditional release. 125 Cody, 936 F.2d at 720. 126 We also agree with the district court that a petitioner whose conviction the state court has reversed with prejudice to retrial is not entitled to federal habeas relief. Because the state court has set such a petitioner's release in motion, federal habeas relief is neither necessary nor available. 127 [A]bsent absolute or qualified immunity or other appropriate defenses, a petitioner for whom habeas relief is not available may seek redress from the responsible parties for any due process violation caused by state appellate delay through a claim for damages under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. DeLancy, 741 F.2d at 1248; accord Diaz, 905 F.2d at 654; McLallen v. Henderson, 492 F.2d 1298, 1299-1300 (8th Cir.1974); Doescher v. Estelle, 477 F.Supp. 932, 934 (N.D.Tex.1979), aff'd in part, vacated in part, 616 F.2d 205 (5th Cir.1980). Because this appeal concerns only petitioners' habeas claims, we will not rule on the implications of any pending Sec. 1983 claims. 128 A petitioner whose direct criminal appeal has not yet been decided, however, is entitled to some form of habeas relief if he or she can establish a due process violation arising from delay in adjudicating his or her state appeal. 20 The most appropriate remedy in these circumstances is to grant a conditional writ, i.e., release the petitioner if the State does not decide the petitioner's appeal within a specified period. 21 See Harris I, 938 F.2d at 1070; Coe, 922 F.2d at 532-33; Brooks v. Jones, 875 F.2d at 32. The district court should order the State to decide the appeal within sixty days--or such other time as the district court decides is appropriate for good cause shown 22 --or release the petitioner. 23 129 Although a conditional order of release is the preferred procedure, if the petitioner's underlying substantive claims are federal in nature and, either because of the clarity of the issues or the particular equities involved, the district court concludes that the better procedure would be for it to resolve the federal claims in the absence of exhaustion, the district court has discretion to adjudicate the merits of those claims. 24 As we discussed supra at p. 1557, however, because review on the merits by the district court in many regards replicates the petitioner's direct criminal appeal, the district court should consider the appropriateness of appointing counsel for the indigent petitioner, Douglas, 372 U.S. at 356-57, 83 S.Ct. at 816, and providing the indigent petitioner a free transcript, Griffin, 351 U.S. at 19-20, 76 S.Ct. at 590-91, when reviewing the petitioner's federal claims. 130