Barker v. YukinsBarker v. Yukins
OPINION
Petitioner Stacey Barker appeals from a district court judgment denying her petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Barker contends that she was denied her constitutional right to a jury trial when the Michigan Supreme Court found that an erroneous jury instruction given during her state court trial was harmless. For the reasons discussed below, this panel agrees, and reverses the district court’s denial of the writ. We grant a conditional writ of habe-as corpus, which shall become unconditional unless the State of Michigan commences trial proceedings within 180 days of this opinion.
I. BACKGROUND
Factual Background
Petitioner Stacey Barker worked as a companion for a resident of a senior citizens’ complex. During her frequent visits to the senior citizens’ complex, Barker met and began a friendship with another resident, 81-year old Frank Madsen.
Barker admits to killing Madsen on the evening of November 5, 1986, but claims she did so in self defense. Barker testified that Madsen called her on November 5th and asked her to visit. While they were watching television, Barker testified that Madsen began touching her and pulling on her clothing. Barker stated that she repeatedly asked Madsen to stop, but he refused to do so. Barker became frightened by Madsen’s behavior. In an effort to end the attack, Barker grabbed a small wooden statute and struck Madsen on the head several times. Unswayed by these blows, Barker testified that Madsen persisted in his attack by grabbing her harder, pulling on her clothing and attempting to kiss her. At some point during the struggle, Madsen backed Barker into the kitchen. Barker grabbed a knife which was lying around and repeatedly stabbed Madsen.
Procedural Background
Petitioner Barker was first tried in state court on first degree murder charges in October of 1987. The jury was unable to reach a verdict. Barker was retried be
Barker appealed her conviction to the Michigan Court of Appeals, raising three assignments of error. People v. Barker, 179 Mieh.App. 702,
On review, the Michigan Supreme Court disagreed with the Michigan Court of Appeals and found that the trial court did err in refusing to instruct the jury that Barker would be entitled to use force, even deadly force, if she believed she was about to be raped. People v. Barker,
Subsequent to the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling upholding her conviction, Petitioner Barker filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court on March 27, 1997. The district court, adopting a report and recommendation submitted by a magistrate judge, denied Barker’s petition for habeas relief on January 30, 1998.
On August 12, 1998, this Court granted Barker’s motion for a certificate of appeal-ability, limited to the question of whether Ms. Barker’s due process rights were violated by failing to instruct the jury that she had a right to use lethal force to resist a sexual assault. The motion was denied as to the other issues raised by Petitioner.
II. DISCUSSION
Applicability of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
An appellate court reviews a district court’s decision to deny or grant a writ of habeas corpus de novo, but it reviews the district court’s factual findings only for clear error. See McQueen v. Scroggy,
Petitioner argues on appeal, as she did below, that this matter is not governed by the requirements established by AED-PA.
It is now well settled that AEDPA applies to all habeas petitions filed on or after its April 24, 1996 effective date. See Lindh v. Murphy,
Clearly, then, the fact that Barker’s state criminal appeals were completed pri- or to the effective date of AEDPA is of absolutely no consequence in ascertaining whether AEDPA is or is not applicable. Rather, the determining factor is whether Barker’s petition for habeas relief was filed before or after AEDPA’s effective date. Since Barker filed for a writ of habeas corpus on March 27, 1997, well after the April 24, 1996 effective date of AEDPA, the district court properly concluded that the standards set forth in AEDPA are applicable to Barker’s habeas.
Analysis of Petitioner’s Habeas Claim
Over defense counsel’s objection, the trial court delivered a general instruction on the issue of self defense which informed the jury that a defendant is entitled to use force, even deadly force, if the defendant believed she was in danger of death or serious bodily harm. Petitioner’s counsel had requested, but was denied, that the instruction specifically inform the jury, as required by Michigan law, that the use of deadly force is lawful where one is in danger of death or grave bodily harm, including a sexual assault. See People v. Heflin,
There has been serious confusion among the circuits as to what constitutes an unreasonable application of federal law, and, consequently, several of our sister circuits have adopted varying standards of interpretation. See, e.g., O’Brien v. Dubois,
With the general habeas principles in mind, the question now becomes how to apply the basic habeas test announced in Nevers to the specific issue before us, namely whether the Michigan Supreme Court’s finding of harmless error involved an unreasonable application of federal law. Fortunately, Nevers is also instructive on this question, as the Nevers court framed
[Wjhen the issue before the federal ha-beas court is the state court’s finding of harmless error ... [the] test is whether the error “had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict,” [and] it is the habeas petitioner’s burden to demonstrate that the trial error resulted in “actual prejudice.” If the petitioner is able to make that showing, he will surely have demonstrated that the state court’s finding that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt ... was outside the realm of plausible credible outcomes, and therefore resulted from an unreasonable application of Chapman [v. California].4
Id. at 371-372 (internal citations omitted). Hence, Petitioner Barker must demon
We find that the state trial court’s error in failing to specifically instruct the jury that Barker would have been justified in using deadly force to stop an imminent rape had a substantial and injurious influence effect in determining the jury’s verdict and resulted in actual prejudice to Petitioner Barker. As best explained by Justice Marilyn Kelly (then of the Michigan Court of Appeals and currently on the Michigan Supreme Court), the standard instruction on self defense simply states that one is entitled to use deadly force when one is in danger of death or great bodily harm. Barker,
leaves the door open for a juror to decide that forcible rape in a given case would have caused neither death nor great bodily harm. The juror could then reasonably conclude that the accused was not entitled to kill the rapist to prevent the rape. The instructions must inform the jury explicitly that, if it reasonably appeared necessary to the person assailed, she was entitled to use deadly force to repel a rapist.
Id.
Of course, we have no way of knowing what effect the general self defense instruction actually had upon the jurors evaluating Barker’s guilt or innocence. We have no way of definitively knowing whether, on the basis of the general self defense instruction, any of the jurors did in fact reject Barker’s claim of self defense because that juror believed Madsen’s attack would not have lead to death or great bodily injury. But we are certain that the general self defense instruction gave the jurors the latitude to believe, on the one hand, that Barker was resisting a rape, yet on the other hand question whether the rape led to death or serious bodily injury. This is sufficient to raise grave doubt as to whether the general self defense instruction created a substantial and injurious influence on the verdict. See O’Neal v. McAninch,
We further believe that the Michigan Supreme Court improperly invaded the province of the jury in determining that, although the general self defense instruction was erroneous in Barker’s case, the error was harmless because no reasonable juror could have believed that the force used by Barker was necessary to prevent rape by an 81-year old “enfeebled” man. The Sixth Amendment and the Due Process clause guarantee a defendant’s constitutional right to a trial by jury. As the Supreme Court has recognized, the Sixth Amendment protects the defendant’s right to trial by an impartial jury, which includes “as its most important element, the right to have the jury, rather than the judge, reach the requisite finding of ‘guilty.’ ” Sullivan v. Louisiana,
Hence, it is apparent to this panel that the Michigan Supreme Court’s determination that the erroneous jury instruction was harmless necessarily means that the court believed some evidence but discredited other evidence. This, however, it cannot do and remain in compliance with our constitutional guarantees. It is neither the proper role for a state supreme court, nor for this Court, to stand in the place of the jury, weighing competing evidence and deciding that some evidence is more be
During oral arguments, counsel for Respondents argued that Rose v. Clark,
This panel also finds that the Michigan Supreme Court’s finding of harmless error in this matter substantially impaired Petitioner’s due process right to present a full defense. The Supreme Court has stated that “[w]e have long interpreted this standard of [fundamental] fairness [guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment and the Due Process Clause] to require that criminal defendants be afforded a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense.” California v. Trombetta,
Barker’s sole defense is that she killed the victim in order to prevent an imminent rape. The trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury that a defendant has the right to use force, even deadly force, to resist a rape clearly goes to the very essence of Barker’s claim of self defense. In this case, a juror may have reasonably interpreted the general self defense instruction to require Petitioner to demonstrate that: (1) a rape was imminent; and (2) that rape would have led to death or serious bodily injury. Michigan law, however, requires only that a defendant who used self defense to resist an imminent rape to demonstrate the former. By adding what is effectively another element to Petitioner’s burden, the general self defense instruction undermined Barker’s de
This court is mindful that a habeas petitioner faces an uphill battle in establishing that an erroneous jury instruction is so prejudicial that he or she is entitled to habeas relief. The petitioner may not simply show that the instruction was undesirable, erroneous, or even universally condemned. See Cupp v. Naughten,
In sum, we conclude that the trial court’s failure to specifically instruct the jury that Petitioner Barker was entitled to use deadly force to prevent a sexual assault had a substantial and injurious influence on the jury’s verdict and resulted in actual prejudice to Petitioner Barker. On that basis, we find that the Michigan Supreme Court engaged in an unreasonable application of the harmless error test under
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the panel REVERSES the district court’s denial of habeas relief, and orders that a conditional writ of habeas corpus be granted unless the State of Michigan commences trial proceedings against Ms. Barker within 180 days of this opinion. Should the State of Michigan decide to retry Ms. Barker, an appropriate jury instruction should be provided instructing the jury that a defendant is justified in using force, even deadly force, if she reasonably believes that a sexual assault is imminent.
Notes
. The medical examiner estimated that Mad-sen’s injuries were consistent with an instrument which was % of an inch wide, had one sharp edge, one dull edge blade and was capable of inflicting a wound approximately five inches deep. (J.A. at 428). The knife, which was introduced into evidence as the weapon used by Barker, was consistent with those estimates. Id.
. By way of Order filed August 12, 1998, the Sixth Circuit granted Barker's motion for certificate of appealability with respect to one issue only: whether the trial court violated Barker's due process rights by refusing to instruct the jury that a defendant was entitled to use deadly force to resist a sexual assault. The motion was denied as to all other issues presented.
. Since AEDPA requires heightened respect for a stale court's legal and factual determinations, Herbert v. Billy,
. To reiterate,
. We note that neither the magistrate judge nor the district court had the benefit of this Circuit’s decision in Nevers when they each considered Barker's petition for the writ. In considering whether the Michigan Supreme Court’s application of the harmless error test was "unreasonable," the magistrate, utilizing the Fifth Circuit’s standard, asked whether the Michigan Supreme Court’s finding of harmless error was so clearly incorrect that it would not be debatable among reasonable jurists. (J.A. at 833-34). The magistrate concluded that the Michigan Supreme Court’s determination was not "unreasonable” because there was sufficient evidence to sustain it, namely: (1) the victim was 81 years old, suffered from various physical ailments, and relied on a case; (2) Petitioner was in her early twenties, was five feet seven inches tall, and weighed 170 pounds; and (3) the victim was struck on the head with a blunt object ten times and stabbed thirty two times. (J.A. at 837).
The approach taken by the magistrate, however, is premised on the assumption that the Michigan Supreme Court’s finding of harmless error could not be considered "unreasonable” because its conclusion {i.e., that no reasonable juror would have believed Barker’s claim of self defense because the amount of force used was excessive) was adequately supported by the record. Thus, the approach taken by the magistrate interprets "unreasonable” in its ordinary sense as synonymous with irrational, illogical or unsubstantiated. Under this Circuit's standard, as established in Nevers, however, a state court’s determination is considered "unreasonable” in the harmless error context, if it is simply proven that the error had a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict and resulted in actual prejudice — a plaintiff does not have to demonstrate that the state court’s determination was irrational, illogical, or unsubstantiated.