Court Opinion

ID: 9488134
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 12:37:26.322981+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:52:43.065706
License: Public Domain

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
The district court determined that many of petitioner’s claims were barred by procedural default and that procedural default was not excused either by cause and actual prejudice or by actual innocence. The district court applied the actual innocence standard set forth in Sawyer v. Whitley, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 2514, 120 L.Ed.2d 269 (1992) (petitioner must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that but for a constitutional error, no reasonable juror would have found him or her guilty). After the district court’s decision, the Supreme Court decided Schlup v. Delo, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 851, 130 L.Ed.2d 808 (1995), holding that the less stringent, actual innocence standard set forth in Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986) (petitioner must show that a constitutional violation has “probably resulted” in conviction of one who is actually innocent), is applicable when actual innocence is not itself a constitutional claim but is instead a “gateway” through which the habeas petitioner must pass to have otherwise barred constitutional claims considered on the merits. — U.S. at -, 115 S.Ct. at 861, citing Herrera v. Collins, — U.S. -, -, 113 S.Ct. 853, 862, 122 L.Ed.2d 203 (1993). In the present case actual innocence is a Schlup v. Delo “gateway” claim. I would retain jurisdiction of the appeal and remand the case to the district court for further consideration in light of Schlup v. Delo.
I am not persuaded that a remand is unnecessary even though, as noted by the majority opinion, the district court addressed petitioner’s barred claims on the merits. I do not think that a finding that petitioner was not denied effective assistance of counsel because trial counsel did not overlook the possibility of a diminished capacity or insanity defense is equivalent to a determination that, in light of the new psychiatric evidence that petitioner lacked the requisite mental capacity to deliberate, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The latter is the essential Schlup v. Delo inquiry. — U.S. at -, 115 S.Ct. at 868-69 (district court must make “probabilistic determination about what reasonable, properly instructed jurors would do”; differentiating review of actual innocence claim under Murray v. Carrier from review of claim of insufficient evidence under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)). The district court has not yet made that determination.
Accordingly, I would retain jurisdiction over the appeal and remand the case to the district court for further consideration in light of Schlup v. Delo.