SUPREME COURT GRANTS WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS FINDING THAT CIRCUIT COURT FAILED TO CONSIDER DUE PROCESS ISSUE

The Supreme Court, yesterday, reversed the denial of a writ of habeas corpus by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds that the Circuit Court failed to consider all possible exceptions to the rule that an appellate court accepts the facts as found by the trial court. In this case, which predated the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the appellate court adopted the factual findings of the lower court. While generally appellate courts must accept the facts as found by the trial court 28 USCA 2254(d) names eight exceptions to the rule:

“(1) that the merits of the factual dispute were not resolved in the State court hearing;

“(2) that the factfinding procedure employed by the State court was not adequate to afford a full and fair hearing;

“(3) that the material facts were not adequately developed at the State court hearing;

“(4) that the State court lacked jurisdiction of the subject matter or over the person of the applicant in the State court proceeding;

“(5) that the applicant was an indigent and the State court, in deprivation of his constitutional right, failed to appoint counsel to represent him in the State court proceeding;

“(6) that the applicant did not receive a full, fair, and adequate hearing in the State court proceeding; or

“(7) that the applicant was otherwise denied due process of law in the State court proceeding;

“(8) or unless … the Federal court on a consideration of [the relevant] part of the record as a whole concludes that such factual determination is not fairly supported by the record .” §2254(d) (emphasis added).

Jefferson was charged with murder of a co-worker on a fishing trip.

As a child, Lawrence Joseph Jefferson suffered major head damage when he was run over by a car. While it is disputed, his trial attorney claimed that an expert told him that it was not necessary to investigate the injury prior to trial. Only minimal evidence was introduced about the injury either at trial or at the sentencing hearing. The habeas alleges that trial counsel was incompetent for not fully investigating the effect of the injury on Jefferson’s behavior. Furthermore in considering the habeas the state court considered only whether or not Section 2254(d)(8) (see above) applied. It found that the factual determination was fairly supported by the record and therefore it denied the habeas.

But there was another issue the court did not consider. After the state court hearing on the habeas the trial court had an ex parte meeting with the prosecutor and asked the prosecutor to draft the decision. Not only was Jefferson not told about the ex parte meeting but his attorneys were neither given the chance to draft an order or to review the prosecutor’s before it was accepted in toto. Thus the state court did not consider whether the trial court may have violated Section 2254(d)(7) and denied Jefferson due process. The Supreme Court vacated the Circuit Court’s decision and remanded the case for further consideration.