Court Opinion

ID: 9497320
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:48:40.052554+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:58:07.812003
License: Public Domain

MELLOY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the majority opinion on voir dire claim 4B, concerning the exclusion of *758six prospective jurors, and both of Clemons’ prosecutorial misconduct claims. However, I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion as to claim 4A, concerning the exclusion of venireperson Doss. I believe clear and convincing evidence overcomes the presumption of correctness we afford to the state court’s ruling. I would reverse and remand on that claim.
In my view, claim 4A was not adjudicated on the merits by the Missouri Supreme Court. See State v. Clemons, 946 S.W.2d 206, 224 (Mo.1997). Thus, the factual findings underlying the decision are entitled to a presumption of correctness that may be overcome by clear and convincing evidence.
During voir dire, Doss originally said he would not vote for the death penalty for religious reasons. The prosecutor then asked whether the belief was so strong that he could not put it aside for this case. Doss answered that it was not. The prosecutor then rephrased and asked if his beliefs were so strong that he would not be able to recommend the death penalty. Doss answered they were not. The prosecutor then asked what standard of proof Doss would need to vote for the death penalty. He answered that he would need to be firmly convinced. The prosecutor followed up by asking whether he could vote for death if he found aggravating circumstances and was firmly convinced. Doss responded that he could.
Next, the prosecutor asked Doss about accomplice liability. Doss first said that he could not recommend death if Clemons did not himself push the girls off the bridge. The prosecutor then asked whether there was anything the government could show that would change Doss’s mind. Doss responded that his mind could be changed. The prosecutor then asked again whether there was something the government might be able to show that would convince Doss to vote for death, even if Clemons was an accomplice only. Doss confirmed that he could vote for death.
Defense counsel also questioned Doss. Doss reiterated multiple times that he could recommend the death penalty. He also reiterated that to recommend death, he would need to be firmly convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.
When the state moved to strike Doss for cause, the Court stated:
Mr. Doss initially said no death penalty, religious reasons, then backtracked a little. He initially said no doubt, and I don’t think he has been rehabilitated by just asking, “Well, would you follow the instructions? Would you do what the Judge tells you?” I think these people need to be given an alternative to rehabilitate them. You know, much to the extent that he did with Ms. Farrario, but we’ll get to her. He said no death penalty on acting with another.
(App. at 397.) The majority opinion acknowledges that the trial court mischarac-terized Doss’s statements regarding accomplice liability, but ultimately concludes that the state court judge was left with a firm conviction that Doss’s religious beliefs would preclude him from following the law. However, the majority ignores what comes next in the exchange between the court and counsel:
Counsel: Judge, when we started yesterday, he said, no. Then I rehabilitated him. And he said, “I could give it” today. And I asked him if he could follow the instructions, and he understood the difference between the two. And he said he certainly did.
The Court: My recollection, or my notes, he stated yes, that with respect to acting with another he could not consider the death penalty. And I don’t think *759he was rehabilitated on that today. So I’ll grant the State’s motion to strike Juror No. 948, Virto Doss for cause.
(App. at 397-98.) This passage demonstrates that it was the court’s inaccurate recollection of Doss’s statements on accomplice liability, and not Doss’s religious beliefs, that led the court to exclude him.
In addition, the majority fails to mention that the trial judge also misremembered Doss’s statements on the standard of proof. While the court stated that Doss “initially said all doubt” would need to be removed before he could vote for death, this is not the case. Doss said from the beginning and multiple times that he would need to be firmly convinced.
The majority claims that “the trial court’s firsthand impressions trump the cold record.” I respectfully disagree. While the Court owes deference to the trial court’s factual findings, this deference may be overcome by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1); Hall v. Luebbers, 341 F.3d 706, 714 (8th Cir.2003).
Even in the context of federal habeas, deference does not mean abandonment or abdication of judicial review. Deference does not by definition preclude relief. A federal court can disagree with a state court’s credibility determination and, when guided by AEDPA, conclude the decision was unreasonable or that the factual premise was incorrect by clear and convincing evidence.
Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 340, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003).
I would conclude that clear and convincing evidence shows that the trial court’s decision was based on an incorrect factual premise. The judge simply misremembered venireperson Doss’s answers to the attorney’s questions. He then based Doss’s exclusion on -these incorrect facts. Our deference to factual findings should not extend so far as to let rulings stand that were based on facts about which the state court judge was simply mistaken. I would reverse and remand on this issue.