Court Opinion

ID: 9495566
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:05:50.829741+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:05.465460
License: Public Domain

BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Because I believe that the majority improperly extends and applies our prosecu-torial misconduct and self-incrimination jurisprudence, I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion’s reasoning and conclusions resulting in the granting of the writ of habeas corpus with regard to the death penalty.
First, I take issue with the majority’s pronouncement that
[t]he Eighth Amendment mitigation requirement also applies to the actions of prosecutors. See Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985).... When a prosecutor’s actions are so egregious that they effectively “foreclose the jury’s consideration of ... mitigating evidence,” the jury is unable to make a fair, individualized determination as required by the Eighth Amendment. [Buchanan v. Angelone, 522 U.S. 269, 277, 118 S.Ct. 757, 139 L.Ed.2d 702 (1998)]. As a result, a prosecutor’s comments violate the Eighth Amendment when they are so prejudicial as to “constrain the manner in which the jury was able to give effect” to mitigating evidence. Id.
Ante, at 748. Neither this statement of the law nor the attribution of it to Caldwell and Buchanan is well-founded. Caldwell found that a prosecutor’s statements can violate the Eighth Amendment; it did not find that “[t]he Eighth Amendment mitigation requirement also applies to prosecutors.” Id. (emphasis added). See Caldwell, 472 U.S. at 328-29, 105 S.Ct. 2633 (concluding that “it is constitutionally impermissible to rest a death sentence on a determination made by a sentencer who *755has been led to believe that the responsibility for determining the appropriateness of the defendant’s death rests elsewhere.”). Likewise, Buchanan did not concern or address any instance of alleged prosecuto-rial misconduct. Rather, the issue there was whether “the trial court violated [the petitioner’s] Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to be free from arbitrary and capricious imposition of the death penalty when it failed to provide the jury with express guidance on the concept of mitigation, and to instruct the jury on particular statutorily defined mitigating factors,” Buchanan, 522 U.S. at 275, 118 S.Ct. 757 (emphasis added), questions which the Court answered in the negative. Buchanan did not — contrary to the majority opinion’s assertion — hold that the Eighth Amendment mitigation requirement applies to the actions of prosecutors, and the majority’s citation to it for that proposition is improper.
The proper inquiry, where a petitioner alleges prosecutorial misconduct, is (to quote Depew’s own brief) “whether the comments so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting sentence a denial of due process.” Final Brief at 23 (emphasis added); see also Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 181, 106 S.Ct. 2464, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986) (“The relevant question is whether the prosecutors’ comments ‘so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process.’ ”) (quoting Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974)). The majority — in holding that DePew should be resentenced because the prosecutor’s alleged misconduct “effectively undermine[d] the defendant’s right under the Eighth Amendment to receive the ‘constitutionally indispensable’ consideration of his proffered mitigating evidence,” ante, at 749 — thus constructs a constitutional ground neither alleged by DePew, nor (so far as I have been able to find) previously recognized by any other court.
I think this court should confine itself to the standard due process analysis used where prosecutorial misconduct is alleged. Though the majority does consider the recognized prosecutorial misconduct factors, see ante, at 749 (citing factors from Angel v. Overberg, 682 F.2d 605, 608 (6th Cir.1982)), the ground of its decision nevertheless remains the Eighth Amendment right to present mitigating evidence. Not only is this approach unprecedented, it is unnecessary, and it invites confusion.1
I would hold that on the facts of this case, the prosecutor’s comments did not rise to the level of a constitutional violation. This is, after all, a high standard: “even if the prosecutor’s conduct was undesirable or even universally condemned, it does not constitute a due process violation unless the conduct was so egregious as to render the entire trial fundamentally unfair'.” Byrd v. Collins, 209 F.3d 486, 529 (6th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks *756and citations omitted). The majority discusses three instances of alleged misconduct on the part of the prosecutor in this case: the reference to the knife fight, the use of the photograph of DePew standing next to a marijuana plant, and the reference to Depew’s prior conviction.2 See ante, at 748^9. I will consider each of these in turn, keeping in mind the factors we employ in determining whether a prosecutor’s comments rise to the level of pros-ecutorial misconduct:
the degree to which the remarks complained of have a tendency to mislead the jury and to prejudice the accused; whether they are isolated or extensive; whether they were deliberately or accidentally placed before the jury, and the strength of the competent proof to establish the guilt of the accused.
Angel, 682 F.2d at 608 (quoting United States v. Leon, 534 F.2d 667, 679 (6th Cir.1976)).
Regarding the reference to Depew’s getting “cut in a knife fight,” though the question as phrased by the prosecutor did improperly insinuate that DePew was the aggressor, the defense immediately objected, the trial court immediately issued a curative instruction, and nothing more was ever said of the matter. The prosecutor later explained to the judge that he had learned from Detective Sizemore that De-Pew had been stabbed because of a drug-related quarrel, and he had intended to present witnesses to the incident but had been unable to locate them. See J.A. at 3957-58. Consequently, though the remarks tended to mislead the jury into thinking that DePew had actually fought with a knife, and this undermined his theory of mitigation, the event was isolated, the judge “cured” it, and the prosecutor had apparently intended to introduce witnesses who could back up the reference.
Next is the introduction of a picture of DePew standing next to what was apparently a marijuana plant, and the prosecutor’s reference to it in closing-argument. The majority’s focus is not on the prosecutor’s comment — that DePew was “[growing a little grass there you see” — but on what it views as an improper attempt by the prosecutor to cast doubt on Depew’s assertions that he had a law-abiding past, see ante, at 749. In fact, however, the jury learned from DePew himself — in his taped confession, which the majority correctly holds was properly admitted and played for the jury during the guilt phase of his trial — that he was no stranger to the use of illegal drugs:
Q: [by Detective Sizemore]: You, Theresa [Jones], Tony [Jones] and Debbie [Sowers], did you ever do any dope together?
A: Yes, we smoked marijuana.
Q: Anything else?
*757A: Tony would get some speed once in a while, Black Beauties I believe they were called. And as far as I know, that’s all.
J.A. at 3785. In other words, long before the prosecution introduced the photograph, which merely showed DePew standing next to a marijuana plant, the jury knew that DePew had used both marijuana and speed. Hence it is unlikely that either the photograph or the comment was prejudicial.
Finally, there is the prosecution’s closing-argument statement that if DePew had made a sworn, rather than an unsworn statement, “I would ask him if he’s ever been convicted of a criminal offense after the date in question in this case.” Though the prosecution was referring to a real event — between the time of the murders and his arrest, DePew had been convicted of knowingly receiving stolen property— only convictions prior to the date of the murders were admissible under Ohio law to refute DePew’s claim in mitigation that he had no prior criminal record, see Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2929.04(B)(5), and any reference to this subsequent criminal activity would not have been proper even in impeachment, had DePew chosen to testify under oath. In my opinion, the comment, although certainly improper, was not highly prejudicial: DePew’s confession had already made the jury aware that he smoked marijuana and did speed (and hence the jury knew he was not perfectly law-abiding); the comment was isolated; the prosecutor did not state outrightly that DePew had a subsequent conviction; defense counsel objected immediately; the judge gave a curative instruction to the jury; and the prosecutor then retracted the statement, telling the jury, “I wish you would just forget that because there’s nothing like that here.” J.A. at 4125.
Against all of these incidents, we must consider “the strength of the competent proof to establish the guilt of the accused.” Angel, 682 F.2d at 608. Here, of course, we must apply that standard to the penalty phase of the trial, see Roe v. Baker, 2002 WL 31426248, at *6-*8, — F.3d -, - (6th Cir.2002), where that proof was considerable: DePew confessed to all three murders, there was overwhelming evidence of the aggravating factors, and the murders were unquestionably brutal. Putting all of this together, I would find that the prosecutors’ conduct was not “so pronounced and persistent that it permeate[d] the entire atmosphere of the trial,” Pritchett, 117 F.3d at 964 (quoting United States v. Thomas, 728 F.2d 313, 320 (6th Cir.1984)), nor was it “so egregious as to render the entire trial fundamentally unfair.” Id. (quoting Cook v. Bordenkircher, 602 F.2d 117, 119 (6th Cir.1979)).
I also take issue with the majority’s finding that the prosecutor’s comment on the unsworn nature of DePew’s statement amounted to a violation of his right not to be “compelled ... to be a witness against himself.” U.S. Const. amend. V. In Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965), the Court held that “the Fifth Amendment, in its direct application to the Federal Government and in its bearing on the States by reason of the Fourteenth Amendment, forbids either comment by the prosecution on the accused’s silence or instructions by the court that such silence is evidence of guilt.” Id. at 615, 85 S.Ct. 1229. The Sixth Circuit has additionally held that “indirect references on the failure to testify also can violate the Fifth Amendment privilege,” Byrd, 209 F.3d at 533, and in such cases “a reviewing court must look at all the surrounding circumstances in determining whether or not there has been a constitutional violation.” Butler v. Rose, *758686 F.2d 1163, 1170 (6th Cir.1982) (en banc).
This case, however, is different from most, because here the accused did make a statement to the jury, and was not “silent.” By choosing to make the unsworn statement to the jury that Ohio law permitted him to make, he had the benefit of having the jury hear what he wanted them to hear, but avoided the hazards of cross-examination. The trade-off, of course, is that his statement was less credible because he did not swear that it was true, and — as the Ohio Supreme Court acknowledged, see 528 N.E.2d at 554 — it is only fair that the prosecution be allowed to comment to some extent on this fact. See also Portuondo v. Agard, 529 U.S. 61, 69, 120 S.Ct. 1119, 146 L.Ed.2d 47 (2000) (noting that “Griffin prohibited comments that suggest a defendant’s silence is ‘evidence of guilt,’ ” but it did not disturb the traditional rule that the prosecutor may attack the defendant’s credibility as a witness).
Prior to the present case, neither the Sixth Circuit, nor any other Circuit (so far as I have found), has held that commentary on the unsworn nature of a statement violated the Fifth Amendment. We have previously considered the issue, however. In Byrd the petitioner had made an un-sworn statement, and the prosecutor had disihissed this as “shallow” because the petitioner had expressed sorrow but had not admitted his guilt. 209 F.3d at 533. We found that the comment could have violated the petitioner’s Fifth Amendment right, but did not, because it “was a fair response to Petitioner’s unsworn statement,” and “[c]ase law permits comments that are made in response ‘to the argument and strategy of defense counsel.’ ” Id. at 534-35 (quoting Butler, 686 F.2d at 1172).
Similarly, in Lorraine v. Coyle, 291 F.3d 416 (6th Cir.2002), the prosecutor in his closing statement commented on the petitioner’s unsworn statement:
[PROSECUTOR]: ... Our 23 witnesses testified under oath. They had 10 witnesses that testified under oath, and do you think it’s important as to the effect of his [mitigating personal problems], isn’t it important for you to know what he had to say about that—
[DEFENDANT]: Objection, Your Hon- or.
THE COURT: Overruled.
[PROSECUTOR]: Subject to cross examination?
THE COURT: Overruled.
[PROSECUTOR]: No. What was his statement to this Jury? Did he get up on this witness stand like those other witnesses? He says I’m sorry I wish it didn’t happen....
Id. at 443. The Lorraine court held that this did not violate the petitioner’s Fifth Amendment right, because “the prosecutor’s statement was basically ‘a fair response to Petitioner’s unsworn statement.’ ” Id. at 444 (quoting Byrd, 209 F.3d at 535).
In the present case DePew tempted the prosecution by emphasizing that he had no criminal convictions prior to these murders, and he made the most of the prosecution’s inability to bring out his subsequent stolen property conviction. In his unsworn statement, for example, he asserted that “[i]t may not be important to you, but I’ve never been arrested or convicted of anything before the night this happened.” J.A. at 4051. Depew’s counsel also made the most of his lack of prior convictions, commenting on it five times in his closing argument at sentencing. See J.A. at 4066, 4077-78, 4093, 4106, 4108. In a very resourceful attempt to bolster the statement’s credibility, Depew’s counsel *759specifically commented on the fact that DePew’s statement was unsworn:
If Rhett DePew hadn’t told you people through both [his recorded confession] and what he told you today [in his unsworn statement], we wouldn’t be here. He totally admitted it to the police and he totally admitted it to you.
Now, the judge told you that the defendant in a case of this nature, by law, has a right to choose whether he wants to give an unsworn statement, that he did, or whether he wants to get on the witness stand. And that I suspect will be criticized by the prosecutor, because they are allowed to talk about that. But the fact of the matter is, two days ago [in the guilt phase], they argued that you convict this man on an unsworn statement; that was reliable enough. When he gave a long full statement to the police, he wasn’t under oath. And now he comes to you and gives you the same opportunity to hear him. No, he wasn’t under oath, but the issue isn’t whether he was under oath or not, the issue is whether he was telling the truth or not, and that’s for you to judge.
J.A. at 4084. The prosecutor, as predicted, did comment on DePew’s failure to take the oath, mentioning as well the effect that this had on the prosecutor’s ability to cross-examine him:
[T]he gentleman for the defendant, he told you five different times about the oath you took, and about the oath we all take, and the oath I take, and the oath you take — everybody takes the oath except the defendant; he isn’t man enough to get up here and take the oath. Everybody in this case took the oath. Everybody in this case raised his right hand to this man, and he says I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God. Everybody except DePew. He wanted to read his, and when he read it he wasn’t even man enough to look at you. And when he looked up, he wasn’t even man enough to look at you.
He wouldn’t sit in that chair because then he would have to answer my questions. And then I would ask him if he’s ever been convicted of a criminal offense after the date in question in this case. And I would have....
J.A. at 4121-22. DePew’s counsel then objected to the mention of the prior conviction, though not to the commentary on the unsworn nature of DePew’s statement.
As both Byrd and Lorraine indicate, commentary on silence or failure to take the oath is permissible where it is a “fair response” to defense counsel’s argument and strategy. See also United States v. Robinson, 485 U.S. 25, 32, 108 S.Ct. 864, 99 L.Ed.2d 23 (1988) (“Where the prosecutor on his own initiative asks the jury to draw an adverse inference from a defendant’s silence, Griffin holds that the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination is violated. But where as in this case the prosecutor’s reference to the defendant’s opportunity to testify is a fair response to a claim made by defendant or his counsel, we think there is no violation of the privilege.”); Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 595, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978); Butler, 686 F.2d at 1173 n. 9.
I readily concede that there is a fine line between commenting on the unsworn nature of the defendant’s statement and commenting on the defendant’s failure to testify. Although the prosecution did not, as the majority opinion proclaims, “ask[ ] the jury to draw an adverse inference from the defendant’s failure to testify,” ante, at 751, I concede as well that the prosecutor’s statements in this case crossed that line. But as both the Supreme Court and this circuit have made clear, not every comment on the failure to testify is constitu*760tionally impermissible. In the case before us here, DePew’s counsel deliberately opened the door by repeatedly drawing attention to the unsworn nature of De-Pew’s statement, and even predicting that the prosecution would address the matter. The invitation to respond became yet more compelling when DePew’s counsel repeatedly emphasized that DePew had no convictions prior to the date when he committed these murders. In light of this, and given the similarity of the facts of this case with those in Lorraine, I would hold that no constitutional error occurred here.

. What, for example, are we to make of the majority’s proposition that "improper comments of a prosecutor ... warrant automatic reversal ... [where, as here] they go to the heart of the defendant’s sole mitigating theory”? Ante, at 749. This would seem to suggest that harmless error review is not necessary in such cases, but this would be contrary to precedent. See Pritchett v. Pitcher, 117 F.3d 959, 964 (6th Cir.1997) ("This court must decide whether the prosecutor's statement likely had a bearing on the outcome of the trial in light of the strength of the competent proof of guilt.”). In fact, the majority does discuss the issue of harmless error later, and appears to apply, that analysis to its Eighth Amendment holding, see ante, at 751-52, but this nevertheless leaves one wondering what “automatic reversal” means. The statement now enters our case law, to be cited *756out-of-context in petitioners' briefs, until some future panel gives it a new, independent life.

. The majority also refers, in passing, see ante, at 745 and 747, to the prosecutor’s comment that "[i]t’s not necessarily true that if you get three counts of twenty to life that it will add up to sixty — that’s not necessarily true.” This issue, however, was first raised by defense counsel, who (in his sentencing phase closing argument) uttered a similar half-truth — assuring the jury that DePew would at the very least receive a sentence of 60 years, and consequently "[n]o matter what your verdict is, he will never be outside prison walls in his life.” J.A. at 4073. In fact, it was up to the judge whether to run DePew's sentences consecutively or concurrently, and if the jury had imposed 20-year minimum sentences, the judge could have run them concurrently. See Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2929.41; see also State v. Allard, 75 Ohio St.3d 482, 663 N.E.2d 1277, 1287 (1996) (holding that "since a jury has no option of recommending whether life sentences should run consecutively or concurrently,” it was proper for the trial court to instruct the jury that "[y]ou are not to speculate as to what sentence the Court is actually going to impose or whether the sentences will be run concurrent or consecutive.”).