Court Opinion

ID: 9437531
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 04:18:09.768991+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:24:47.389399
License: Public Domain

BRISCOE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
In my view, Carr is not proeedurally barred from challenging the admission of Jared’s out-of-court statements. However, I conclude the admission of those statements, even if improper, was harmless. I therefore agree with the majority that the district court properly denied Carr’s habeas petition.
I.
Carr contends the trial court violated her rights under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments when it admitted into evidence out-of-court statements made by Jared to Adella Ozor, a state-employed social worker/investigator, and Jenny McCracken, a registered nurse who worked in the pediatric intensive care unit where Shayleen stayed immediately prior to her death. Carr first raised this issue on direct appeal. The Kansas Supreme Court, in addressing the issue, began by outlining the precise nature of the challenged statements:
Ozor interviewed Jared at his emergency foster home on September 8, 1995, at approximately 2 p.m. the day after Shayleen was injured. She described Jared as concerned, excitable, and fidgety. Ozor explained to Jared that she was there to find out what had happened. When she asked if he and Shayleen slept in different bedrooms, Jared stated that Shayleen takes bad naps but he takes good naps, and that “Mama bumps our heads all the time” and when asked how, stated, “Mama throws Shayleen down on the floor a lot.” He then beat a doll on the floor several times, and when asked what Shayleen does he stated that she cries and that his mom slaps her across the face.
McCracken was the nurse caring for Shayleen. When Jared visited Shayleen on September 12, 1995, McCracken testified that Jared entered the room, approached Shayleen’s bed, and touched her. He sat on Shayleen’s bed, and someone explained to him that Shayleen was very sick and might not live. Jared nodded his head. He volunteered that children who die cannot play or run anymore. He then said, “[0]h, God, I’m sorry.” McCracken offered to read Jared one of the books on Shayleen’s bed. As she read the book, he took a stuffed doll with a sunflower face and threw the doll on the floor. He then stated, “Look, the doll’s eyes did not roll back in its head.” McCracken then asked Jared if Shayleen’s eyes had rolled back in her head before she came to the hospital, and he indicated that they had. Later, he threw the doll to the floor again.
State v. Carr, 265 Kan. 608, 963 P.2d 421, 430 (1998).
*778The Kansas Supreme Court ultimately concluded the issue was not adequately preserved for appellate review:
The State contends that the defendant failed to object at trial and therefore the issue of admissibility is not properly before us. The record supports this contention. A hearing outside the presence of the jury was held on whether Jared was competent to testify, and the court ruled that he was not. As a result, the court held a hearing at the request of the State as to whether certain hearsay statements could be admitted. After a thorough hearing, the court reserved ruling on the issue pending further consideration of the parties’ arguments and authorities. Three days later, the court ruled that the hearsay testimony was admissible under K.S.A. 60-460(d)(2) and (3). On the second day after the court’s ruling, the hearsay statements were introduced without the objection of the defendant.
At the time these statements were admitted at trial, no contemporaneous objection was made by the defendant. The defendant contends that her objection to the testimony was sufficiently noted, citing State v. Bowman, 252 Kan. 883, 887-88, 850 P.2d 236 (1993). In Bowman, we held that a defendant satisfied the contemporaneous objection rule when he objected prior to the testimony and the testimony was then admitted directly afterward. 252 Kan. at 888, 850 P.2d 236. However, the facts in this case are quite different. Here, a full 2 days of trial elapsed before the State attempted introduction of the statements. We have held that the failure to timely object at trial to alleged hearsay statements precludes the defendant from raising the issue on appeal. State v. Stafford, 255 Kan. 807, 810-11, 878 P.2d 820 (1994). Moreover, we have held that when an unfavorable ruling on an evidentiary question is received prior to trial, the party must make a timely objection to such evidence when it is introduced at trial in order to preserve the issue for appeal. State v. Peckham, 255 Kan. 310, 327, 875 P.2d 257 (1994).
While we acknowledge that the ruling on admissibility of the hearsay statements occurred during rather than prior to trial, a full 3 days elapsed between the ruling and the actual introduction of the evidence. Under the circumstances, in the absence of a contemporaneous objection, the question of admissibility of the hearsay statements was not preserved for review and may be deemed to have been waived by the defendant.
Carr, 963 P.2d at 430-31.
In light of the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling, respondent contends the issue is procedurally barred for purposes of federal habeas review. We will not review a state habeas petitioner’s claims if they were defaulted in state court on independent and adequate state procedural grounds, unless the petitioner can demonstrate cause and prejudice or a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Smith v. Mullin, 379 F.3d 919, 925 (10th Cir.2004). Here, the rule cited by the Kansas Supreme Court in Carr was clearly independent, because it was based exclusively on Kansas state law (i.e., the Kansas Supreme Court’s own decisions concerning when an objection must be asserted to the admission of evidence in order to preserve the issue for purposes of appeal). See Smith, 379 F.3d at 925 (“Independent state procedural grounds are those that rely exclusively on state law as a basis of decision.”). The more troublesome question is whether the rule was “adequate.” Under Tenth Circuit case law, a state procedural rule is considered “adequate” if it is “consistently and evenhandedly ... applie[d]” by the state courts at issue. Id.; State v. Mays, *779277 Kan. 359, 85 P.3d 1208, 1225 (2004) (applying same rule).
At the time of Carr’s trial, it was well established, both by statute and by rulings from the Kansas Supreme Court, that a specific and timely objection to the admission of evidence was necessary to preserve the issue for appeal. E.g., Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-404 (“A verdict ... shall not be set aside ... by reason of the erroneous admission of evidence unless there appears of record objection to the evidence timely interposed and so stated as to make clear the specific ground of objection.”). With regard to the timeliness requirement, the general rule appeared to be that a defendant had to assert an objection at trial in order to preserve an issue for appeal. For example, in State v. Peckham, 255 Kan. 310, 875 P.2d 257, 270 (1994), the Kansas Supreme Court held that “[w]hen an unfavorable ruling on an evidentiary question prior to trial is received, a party must make a timely objection to such evidence when introduced at trial in order to preserve the issue for appeal.” Thus, even though the defendant in Peckham filed a motion in hmine objecting to the admission of certain evidence and received an unfavorable pretrial ruling on that motion, the Kansas Supreme Court held that he subsequently waived the issue for purposes of appeal by failing “to make a contemporaneous objection during trial as the evidence objected to was introduced.” Id. (emphasis added); see also State v. Johnson, 258 Kan. 61, 899 P.2d 1050 (1995) (concluding that admission of defendant’s confession was not reviewable on appeal where defense failed to renew objection during trial); State v. Alford, 257 Kan. 830, 896 P.2d 1059 (1995) (holding that admissibility of written statement not properly before the court on appeal where defense asserted a pretrial objection, but failed to object during trial); State v. Johnson, 255 Kan. 252, 874 P.2d 623 (1994) (holding that failure to object to evidence at trial did not preserve issue denied in earlier motion in limine).
What was unclear under Kansas law, however, was precisely how close in time to the admission of the evidence at trial the objection had to be made. Stated differently, it was unclear whether an objection asserted at some point during trial was sufficient to preserve the issue, or whether, instead, an objection had to be made at or very near the time the evidence at issue was actually admitted. Here, the prosecution proposed introducing Jared’s out-of-court statements on the second day of trial (9/18/96). At that time, Carr’s trial counsel vigorously opposed the admission of those statements. The trial court subsequently conducted a hearing on the issue on the fourth day of trial (9/20/96), out of the presence of the jury. Carr’s trial counsel again vigorously opposed admission of the out-of-court statements. On the fifth day of trial (9/23/96), the trial court ruled on the issue, concluding the out-of-court statements were admissible under Kansas law and were sufficiently reliable for constitutional purposes. Two days later, the seventh day of trial (9/25/96), the prosecution actually introduced Jared’s out-of-court statements. Carr’s trial counsel asserted no objection at that time. Presumably, Carr’s trial counsel concluded, based upon existing Kansas law, that it was unnecessary to again object to the evidence, since he had already voiced specific objections thereto and the issue had been conclusively ruled on by the trial court.
In Carr, the Kansas Supreme Court effectively adopted a new requirement for preserving an objection to the admission of evidence: not only must a defendant assert his or her objections at trial, he or she must do so at the precise time the objected-to evidence is introduced. In other *780words, the Kansas Supreme Court held that it was not enough, as was the case here, for a defendant to assert specific objections to evidence at some other point during trial and receive a conclusive ruling on the objections from the trial court. Instead, the Court held, under such circumstances a defendant must reassert his or her objections at the time the evidence is actually introduced, even if doing so amounts to a perfunctory act. Notably, in adopting this position, the Kansas Supreme Court cited to no prior Kansas decisions in which a similar rule had been applied.
In light of the fact that the rule applied by the Kansas Supreme Court in Carr had never previously been announced or applied, I conclude the rule cannot be considered a “firmly established and regularly followed state practice” for purposes of the procedural bar issue in these federal habeas proceedings. James v. Kentucky, 466 U.S. 341, 348, 104 S.Ct. 1830, 80 L.Ed.2d 346 (1984); see Messer v. Roberts, 74 F.3d 1009, 1016 (10th Cir.1996) (concluding that procedural rule applied by Kansas Supreme Court, requiring a defendant who unsuccessfully moved to suppress evidence prior to trial to reassert his or her objection at trial, “was not so firmly established and regularly followed to constitute a bar” for purposes of federal habeas review). In turn, I conclude that Carr is not procedurally barred in these federal habeas proceedings from challenging the admission of Jared’s out-of-court statements.
II.
I now turn to Carr’s objection to the admission of Jared’s out-of-court statements, applying a de novo standard of review. See Turrentine v. Mullin, 390 F.3d 1181, 1189 (10th Cir.2004) (outlining the standard of review “where the state court has not previously heard a habeas claim on the merits”). Carr’s central objection to the admission of the statements is that her rights under the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause were violated. At the time of Carr’s trial and her direct appeal, Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980), was the primary Supreme Court case regarding “the relationship between the Confrontation Clause and the hearsay rule....” Id. at 62, 100 S.Ct. 2531. In Roberts, the Supreme Court held that “when a hearsay declarant is not present for cross-examination at trial, the Confrontation Clause normally requires a showing that he is unavailable.” Id. at 66, 100 S.Ct. 2531. “Even then,” the Court noted, “his statement is admissible only if it bears adequate ‘indicia of reliability.’ ” Id. According to the Court, “[rjeliability can be inferred without more in a case where the evidence falls within a firmly rooted hearsay exception.” Id. “In other cases,” the Court held, “the evidence must be excluded, at least absent a showing of particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.” Id.
The trial court in Carr’s ease correctly determined that Roberts provided the controlling framework for its analysis of whether Jared’s out-of-court statements were constitutionally admissible. In applying Roberts, the trial court first concluded that Jared was “unavailable” to testify because, in the trial court’s view, he was incapable of expressing himself concerning the matters at issue or understanding the duty of a witness to tell the truth. App., Vol. V at 4. Second, the trial court concluded that Jared’s out-of-court statements were admissible under Kansas law, i.e., Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-460(d)(3) (providing that an out-of-court statement is admissible if “the judge finds [it] was made ... by the declarant at a time when the matter had been recently perceived by the declarant and while the declarant’s *781recollection was clear and was made in good faith prior to the commencement of the action and with no incentive to falsify or to distort”). Because, however, the trial court concluded that the exception relied upon under Kansas law was “not a firmly-rooted hearsay exception” for purposes of Roberts, id. at 5-6, it proceeded to analyze whether Jared’s out-of-court statements contained adequate indicia of reliability and particularized guarantees of trustworthiness. Id. at 6-7. In doing so, the trial court stated:
The Court notes that the statements occurred one day and five days after Shayleen’s injury, or at least the final injury that sent her to the hospital. The Court notes that the language and vocabulary attributed to Jared is appropriate for that of a four-year-old child. The Court notes that the statements made by Jared were made about his mother, whom you would expect Jared would have had a good relationship with. The Court notes that Jared’s statements are corroborated by evidence in this case in that we know Jared was in the house at the time of the injury, and perhaps even in the same bedroom. The Court notes that the statements about Shayleen’s injuries are certainly corroborated by all of the physical evidence we have in this case as to Shayleen’s injuries. The Court notes that there is really no evidence of anyone influencing Jared to distort the event, especially in the short time between the event and the statements. * * * The Court notes consistent repetition with Jared’s statements. * * * As to spontaneous nature, I’d like to break down the two statements in particular. First of all, the statements made to Adella Ozor on September 8th. It can’t be said that that statement is spontaneous. It was the result of an interview. But, the Court notes that the questions certainly weren’t leading, and the Court also notes that [Jared] volunteered a lot of information and expanded over what was asked of him. * * * So, in summary, although those remarks were made as a result of an interview, the Court finds that the questions were not leading, and a lot of [Jared’s] responses were volunteered and expanded upon the specific question that was asked of him. Turning to the statement in the hospital room on September 12th, the Court notes that that statement is somewhat spontaneous. The evidence indicated that Jared was just in the hospital and, suddenly, he threw a doll down on the floor and said something like “Look, the doll’s eyes don’t roll back like Shayleen’s did.” No one had even been talking about anything like that when Jared did that. * * * In the final analysis, the Court needs to make a judgment on trustworthiness, to determine if any hearsay evidence should be admitted, regardless of what the exception might be. For all the reasons I’ve stated, the Court finds that the two particular statements we’re talking about contain adequate indicia of reliability and particularized guarantees of trustworthiness —
Id. at 7-11. Based upon these findings, the trial court concluded that the out-of-court statements were admissible under Roberts. Id. at 11.
In addressing Carr’s appeal of the denial of his § 60-1507 motion, the Kansas Court of Appeals concluded, after reviewing the record, that it was “clear that the [trial] court’s action in admitting these [out-of-court] statements was not arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable, but was made after careful consideration of the issue.” Id., Vol. XIII at 203. In reaching this conclusion, however, it is obvious that the Kansas Court of Appeals was only applying the *782abuse of discretion standard applicable under Kansas law when a defendant challenges the admission of evidence under Kansas state law. E.g., State v. Jenkins, 272 Kan. 1366, 39 P.3d 47, 56 (2002) (“The admission of evidence lies within the sound discretion of the trial court.”). Importantly, there is no indication that the Kansas Court of Appeals actually addressed, or intended to address, Carr’s Sixth Amendment challenge to admission of the out-of-court statements.
Addressing that issue de novo, I conclude there was at least one significant flaw in the trial court’s analysis of whether the out-of-court statements were reliable. As the trial court’s statements on the record indicate, it placed heavy reliance on the fact that the out-of-court statements were corroborated by (1) “evidence in this case in that we know Jared was in the house at the time of the injury, and perhaps even in the same bedroom,” and (2) “all of the physical evidence we have in this case as to Shayleen’s injuries.” App., Vol. V at 7-8. The problem with this reliance on corroborating evidence is that it is contrary to the decision in Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990). In Wright, the Supreme Court held that corroborating evidence cannot be used to support the reliability of a hearsay statement for purposes of the Roberts analysis. Id. at 822, 110 S.Ct. 3139. More specifically, the Court emphasized that, “[t]o be admissible under the Confrontation Clause, hearsay evidence used to convict a defendant must possess indicia of reliability by virtue of its inherent trustworthiness, not by reference to other evidence at trial.” Id. Thus, one of the substantial bases relied upon by the trial court in concluding that the out-of-court statements at issue were reliable was improper.1
Assuming, then, that the admission of Jared’s out-of-court statements was contrary to Roberts and thus violated Carr’s rights under the Confrontation Clause, the question is whether the resulting error entitles Carr to federal habeas relief. “[T]he appropriate harmless error standard to be applied on habeas review is from” Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993). Webber v. Scott, 390 F.3d 1169, 1177 (10th Cir.2004). Under Brecht, federal habeas relief is not proper unless the error had a “substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict.” 507 U.S. at 623, 113 S.Ct. 1710.
Applying that standard here, I conclude the admission of Jared’s out-of-court statements was, indeed, harmless. The prosecution’s case-in-chief against Carr lasted for approximately six days and included approximately sixteen witnesses. One witness, a long-time friend of Carr, testified that Carr was a strict disciplinarian with Shayleen and Jared, and on one occasion stated that “to get the kids’ attention she had to hurt them.” App., Vol. II at 156. Three fact witnesses, a nurse who worked at the minor emergency center where Carr first took Shayleen and two emergency medical workers who transported Shayleen from there to the hospital, testified that they observed bruises on Shayleen’s ears, neck, elbow, and lower right leg, as well as blood in the corner of Shayleen’s mouth. Id., Vol. X at 6, 31, 40. Two of these same witnesses testified that Carr was very quiet and unemotional, and did not ask any questions about what was happening to *783Shayleen, all of which, in their experiences, was atypical. Id. at 7, 32. Two different fact witnesses, a detective with the Wichita Police Department and a social worker and investigator with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, testified that they separately interviewed Carr after Shayleen was admitted to the hospital. During both interviews, Carr admitted (after first indicating that Shayleen had merely rolled off her bed onto the floor) to having spanked and shaken Shayleen out of frustration that Shayleen had refused to take a nap. Id., Vol. II at 80-82, 94, 100-02. Three physicians, two of whom saw Shayleen after she was admitted to the hospital and prior to her death, and one whom performed the autopsy on her following her death, testified about her injuries. All three agreed that Shayleen was the victim of “shaken impact” or “shaken baby blunt trauma” syndrome, in which a child is shaken against a fixed surface such as a floor or wall. Id., Vol. III at 69, 92, 150, 168. Their opinions were based on the constellation of symptoms exhibited by Shayleen and the results of medical testing and autopsy (with particular emphasis placed upon the fact that Shayleen exhibited significant retinal and subdural hemorrhaging).
In her defense, Carr presented seven witnesses. Four of these witnesses were state employees who were involved with the Carrs’ adoption of Jared and Shayleen. None of these witnesses had any knowledge about the events in question; instead, they simply testified to what they observed at the Carr household in the general time period prior to Shayleen’s death. One of the witnesses was Carr’s husband (now ex-husband), who testified that Carr was a nurturing and caring mother who, in his experience, had never been violent with their children. Carr also called Shayleen’s pediatrician as a defense witness. He testified that, during his visits with Shayleen, he observed no pattern of abuse. Finally, Carr presented testimony from the associate medical examiner of Palm Beach County, Florida. He disagreed with the prosecution’s expert witnesses that Shayleen was a victim of shaken impact syndrome. App., Vol. VI at 71-75. Instead, he opined that Shayleen died from a “remote subdural hematoma,” i.e., a subdural hematoma that had occurred sometime previously in Shayleen’s life, and that had “re-bled,” perhaps as a result of Shayleen falling out of bed. Id. at 12, 31, 96.
In rebuttal, the prosecution presented testimony from two additional doctors who consulted on Shayleen’s case after her admission to the hospital. The first doctor testified, in contrast to the defense expert, that Shayleen had not suffered from any subdural hematomas. Id., Vol. VIII at 107. He further testified that there were far more bruises on Shayleen’s body than would be expected from a normal, active child. Id. at 104. The second doctor, an ophthalmologist specializing in retinal diseases, testified that retinal hemorrhaging, such as that observed in Shayleen, “almost always” occurs as a result of head trauma. Id. at 116-17. Finally, the prosecution presented testimony from a paramedic that none of the bruises on Shayleen’s body occurred as a result of the paramedics’ handling of her prior to her admission to the hospital (this was in response to a suggestion by Carr’s husband that the paramedics were rough with Shayleen). Id. at 132-33.
During deliberations, the jury asked to have the testimony of three witnesses reread to them. All three of these witnesses (Carr’s husband, a nurse who was on duty at the time Shayleen arrived at the minor emergency center, and a paramedic who helped transport Shayleen from the minor emergency center to the hospital) testified regarding the extent of bruising that was apparent on Shayleen’s body at the time she initially arrived at the minor emergen*784cy center. Thus, in arriving at its verdict, it appears that a central focus of the jury was whether Shayleen had, in fact, been physically abused by Carr prior to her arrival at the minor emergency center.
Although Jared’s out-of-court statements certainly lent support to the prosecution’s theory that Shayleen’s injuries occurred as a result of abuse by Carr, I am not persuaded they were a pivotal piece of evidence in the case. Rather, the statements merely helped to verify what the prosecution’s evidence (particularly the physical evidence of Shayleen’s injuries and the opinions of the prosecution’s physicians) otherwise strongly suggested, i.e., that Carr not only spanked and shook Shayleen, but also at some point struck her head against a hard object (verified by Jared to be the floor of their house). In the end, given the weight of the evidence against Carr, much of which corroborated Jared’s out-of-court statements, I conclude the admission of the statements did not have a “substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict.” Brecht, 507 U.S. at 623, 113 S.Ct. 1710.
III.
I also conclude there is no merit to Carr’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim. Because the “contemporaneous objection” rule announced by the Kansas Supreme Court in Carr was not firmly established and regularly followed at the time of Carr’s trial, Carr’s trial counsel cannot be faulted for failing to restate his objections to the out-of-court statements at the precise time they were admitted, since he had already specifically voiced those objections during trial and the trial court, after hearing evidence and argument, had conclusively ruled on the issue. See generally Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) (discussing first prong of the test for ineffective assistance of counsel). Nor, for the reasons outlined above, can Carr establish prejudice arising out of her counsel’s failure to object to the out-of-court statements at the precise time they were admitted. See id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (discussing second prong of test).

. Taking away the trial court's reliance on corroborating evidence leaves only (a) the relative spontaneity of the statements, (b) the fact that they occurred relatively close in time to the injuries sustained by Shayleen, and (c) the fact that the language and vocabulary used by Jared appeared consistent with that generally used by a four-year-old child.