Court Opinion

ID: 9478012
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:36:57.365601+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:10.134554
License: Public Domain

MAGILL, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
When the claims raised in a habeas petition are “patently frivolous,” the administrative interests of both state and federal judicial systems in expedient resolution of the case outweigh any conceivable gain that may arise from remanding the case for a hearing on the exhaustion issue. Granberry v. Greer, — U.S. -, 107 S.Ct. 1671, 1675, 95 L.Ed.2d 119 (1987). Here, there is absolutely overwhelming evidence that Brown’s guilty plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered — he stated his guilt no less than eight times under oath, and wrote a seven-page statement to the same effect. Brown’s second claim, that he should have been advised of the defense of diminished mental capacity, is equally well-refuted by the record. Brown’s stalking of his victim for weeks, the premeditation and deliberation demonstrated by the facts surrounding the killing, and the absence of any positive findings in the psychiatric evaluation performed on Brown one week before the trial all refute any suggestion of Brown’s diminished mental capacity. Assuming the truth of his allegation that his counsel failed to advise him of the availability of the diminished capacity defense, there simply are no facts showing that he was prejudiced thereby. I can conceive of no reason why we should burden the district court with a remand and hearing on issues, the resolution of which is clearly predetermined by the record and the principles in our case law.