Court Opinion

ID: 9490591
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:48:13.939372+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:11.546590
License: Public Domain

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring:
Although I join in Judge Noonan’s thoughtful constitutional analysis, I write separately because I do not believe we need to default based on “grave doubt” as set forth in O’Neal v. McAninch, 513 U.S. 432, 115 S.Ct. 992, 130 L.Ed.2d 947 (1995).
The Supreme Court held in O’Neal that “when a federal judge in a habeas proceeding *1274is in grave doubt about whether a trial error of federal law had ‘substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict,’ that error is not harmless. And, the petitioner must win.” O’Neal, 513 U.S. at 436, 115 S.Ct. at 994 (quoting Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 637, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 1721, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993) (quoting, and adopting, standard set forth in Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 776, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1253, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946))). Justice Breyer, writing for the majority, emphasized, however, that the circumstance of “grave doubt” is “unusual,” and that “[njormally a record review will permit a judge to make up his or her mind about the matter.” Id. at 435, 115 S.Ct. at 994. Justice Thomas further cautioned in dissent that “cases in which habeas courts are in equipoise on the issue of harmlessness are astonishingly rare,” and that the Court’s rule in O’Neal is “not a means for judges to escape difficult decisions.” Id. at 453-54, 115 S.Ct. at 1002-03 (Thomas, J., dissenting).
I agree with Judge Noonan that this is a difficult case. As he points out, the prosecution’s position was not strong and basically came down to the credibility of Shayna as a witness. In my view, however, the fact that Shayna allegedly made an earlier, false claim accusing her mother of sexual abuse in the exact same manner as she accused Franklin would be a crucial factor in determining her credibility. The jury could only convict Franklin if they believed Shayna. Therefore, I believe that the exclusion of the disputed evidence on the credibility of Shayna as a witness indeed had the requisite “substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict” to warrant issuance of the writ of habeas corpus, Brecht, 507 U.S. at 637, 113 S.Ct. at 1721 (quoting Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 776, 66 S.Ct. at 1253), and that we should reverse without reliance on O’Neal in deciding this case.