Court Opinion

ID: 9482644
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:56:23.604634+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:07.022364
License: Public Domain

ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
While the majority locates this case somewhere in the “Twilight Zone,” I believe Greek mythology is a more apt location. The character Tántalos was tortured for his sins by being forced to stand in water for all time. Whenever he tried to drink the water beneath him, the water receded beneath his chin; whenever he tried to eat fruit of the branch above him, the branch likewise eluded his grasp. Indiana has “tantalized” Lane. Whenever he has attempted to drink of his appointed counsel’s aid, she has receded. Whenever he has reached for new appointed counsel, as Indiana has statutorily granted,1 or com*367plained to the state bar, the state’s help has eluded him. Thus, Lane has been tantalized by the elusive prospect of free counsel for five years. Because I believe that the majority opinion perpetuates this torture, I respectfully dissent.
The majority opinion rests on an unjustified factual presumption that allows it to apply a rule of law which I consider inapplicable. First, the majority bases its decision not to grant a hearing on the factual presumption that the reason for the concededly inordinate delay is “no mystery.” I apparently see more mystery than does the majority. At this stage, over five years since Lane began a collateral attack in Indiana on his conviction, I have no idea why this case has received a “perpetual continuance.” As the majority points out, we do know what started that continuance — the public defender (Ross) asked for one. But for me, that starts rather than ends our mystery. Thus, I would reverse and remand to the district court for a hearing to determine the reasons for this delay. See Lowe v. Duckworth, 663 F.2d 42 (7th Cir.1981) (district court should determine whether lengthy delay in state court is justifiable; if it is not, then state remedies should be deemed exhausted); Dozie v. Cady, 430 F.2d 637 (7th Cir.1970) (same). If the public defender is genuinely pursuing Lane’s interests, but has delayed because she is pursuing other avenues of relief or because other clients are chronologically ahead of Lane, then perhaps the state process has not been ineffective within the meaning of section 2254(b).2 If, however, the public defender has been shunting Lane’s case out of indifference to his plight, then we cannot assume she is acting in Lane’s interest, and the state process has, in my opinion, been ineffective.
The majority’s unjustified factual presumption that the public defender has acted in Lane’s interests allows it to apply a new rule of law — that rule being that a lawyer’s delay cannot constitute ineffective state process under section 2254(b), even if that lawyer is a state-appointed and state-paid public defender who is not acting in her client’s best interests. According to this rule, the reason is irrelevant because the public defender is the petitioner’s agent and her errors cannot be attributed to the state. I believe that this approach is too formalistic because it assumes that because the state pays a public defender to act as its “devil’s advocate” she always does so.3 We need a hearing precisely to *368determine whether this assumption is true in this case. In addition, if this new rule drives the majority’s opinion, then the majority has overruled this Court’s decision in Dozie v. Cady, and should say so. In Dozie, petitioner’s trial attorney was appointed to represent him in post-conviction proceedings4 and procured a writ of error from the Wisconsin Supreme Court in January 1969. That attorney was relieved of his duties in July 1969 for reasons that the record left unclear. A second attorney was then appointed to represent the petitioner, but as of April 1970 had not filed a brief in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The federal district court denied petitioner’s pro se application for a writ of habeas corpus because of failure to exhaust state remedies. We reversed and remanded the case to the district court “for a determination of whether the delay in petitioner’s case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court is justifiable.” Ibid. We then instructed the district court that it should dismiss the case if it found the delay was justifiable, but that it should hear the petition on the merits if the delay was not justifiable. Ibid. There is no indication in Dozie that the delay was caused by anyone other than petitioner’s appointed counsel, making Dozie and this case materially indistinguishable.
The majority analogizes this case to Coleman v. Thompson, — U.S.-, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991), citing it for the proposition that a lawyer’s procedural default is not “attributable” to the state. Coleman is a “procedural default” case in which Coleman argued that his lawyer’s failure to obey state procedural requirements constituted “cause” under Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977). The Supreme Court held that the attorney’s error was not “cause” and that the state had thus relied on an independent and adequate state ground in dismissing Coleman’s appeal of his previously denied habeas petition. Id. 111 S.Ct. at 2568. Even if we accept the analogy of Coleman to the section 2254(b) case before us, Coleman is not dispositive. In reaching its conclusion, the Coleman Court determined that the state’s procedure was adequate prior to dismissing the petitioner’s case. Id. at 2565. Here, we need a hearing to answer the analogous question — is Indiana’s process effective under section 2254(b)? Unless the delay was justified, I would say no. Indiana law has dangled the prospect of free counsel in front of Lane’s eyes by granting and appointing him a public defender. That defender, a state employee, has teased Lane with promises of help. The State of Indiana has refused to assign Lane another attorney, and the Indiana Bar has summarily refused to discipline his present public defender. Under these circumstances Lane may not have received “effective process.” I believe he is entitled to a hearing to determine that much.

. The majority emphasizes that Lane has no constitutional right to counsel in collateral proceedings, a principle I do not dispute. But we are not deciding a constitutional issue in this case. This case is about Lane's statutory entitlement to federal habeas review. We are decid*367ing whether Indiana’s process is ineffective under § 2254(b). What is relevant to this inquiry is that Indiana has granted Lane a statutory right to counsel, which the majority ignores. Rule 1, Section 9(a) of the Indiana Rules of Procedure for Post Conviction Relief, which was in force during the pendency of this matter, stated:
Upon receiving a copy of the petition, including an affidavit of indigency, from the clerk of the court, the Public Defender shall serve as counsel for petitioner, representing him in all proceedings under this Rule, including appeal, if necessary, (emphasis added).
Indiana cannot simultaneously preempt federal habeas review while refusing to review Lane’s case. The majority would hold that the state’s process is still effective under § 2254(b) even though the state has refused to discharge a duty it chose to undertake, because that duty is not required by the federal Constitution. This echoes the “bitter with the sweet" approach specifically rejected in the context of procedural due process, see Cleveland Board of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 539-41, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 1492-93, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985), and which is particularly inappropriate to this statutory case.

. Section 2254(b) states:
An application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted unless it appears that the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State, or that there is either an absence of available State corrective process or the existence of circumstances rendering such process ineffective to protect the rights of the prisoner.
28 U.S.C. § 2254(b) (emphasis added).

. See, e.g., Lisa McIntyre, The Public Defender: The Practice of Law in the Shadows of Repute (1987) (exploring the "paradox” of the public defender as a "state agent” charged with defending those who have committed crimes against the state and its citizens); cf. Polk County v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 312, 102 S.Ct. 445, 70 L.Ed.2d 509 (1981) (Court rejected formalistic approach of finding that a public defender acts “under color of’ state law for purposes of § 1983 simply by virtue of being a state employee and looked instead to function or role of public defender at time of challenged action).

. We note the gross misstatement in the State of Indiana’s brief that Dozie is a direct criminal appeal rather than a post-conviction proceeding. Brief of Respondents-Appellees 10-11.