Lead Opinion
This habeas petition is before us for a second time. In 1995, a Massachusetts Superior Court jury convicted Jason Clements of second-degree murder, resulting in his receiving a life sentence. After unsuccessfully appealing his conviction, Clements petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in the District of Massachusetts pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. When this case first reached us, we clarified which issues had been exhausted and were therefore appropriate for collateral review. See Clements v. Maloney,
The Commonwealth now appeals. We conclude that the district court employed an insufficiently deferential standard of review and that the state-court conviction should stand.
I. Facts
The details of both the crime and the petitioner’s state trial have already been laid out in the numerous other reported decisions that his post-conviction challenges have produced. See Clements IV; Clements v. Maloney,
On January 30, 1995, Gregory Tillery was shot to death in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Having identified the petitioner and Kenneth Mattox as the culprits, the authorities charged them with second-degree murder by joint venture, armed assault with intent to murder, and unlicensed possession of a firearm. Appearing before the grand jury, Sakoya Willis, an eyewitness, affirmatively identified Clements as the killer. Willis had been selling drugs with the victim on a street corner when they were confronted by the defendants, and Willis was standing next to Tillery when the shooting began. At trial, however, Willis recanted his identification of Clements, insisting that he had not truly seen the shooter. The Commonwealth impeached Willis’ testimony with his prior inconsistent statements, which included an identification from a photo array and a recorded statement to the police, in addition to his grand jury testimony. The remainder of the prosecution’s case was based on circumstantial evidence.
The jury began deliberating on the afternoon of Monday, January 26, 1998, con
On Wednesday, the jury once again notified the judge that it was deadlocked. The judge issued the standard instructions given in Massachusetts courts when jurors have been unable to agree, known as a “Tuey-Rodriguez charge.” See Commonwealth v. Rodriquez,
On Thursday morning, the judge received two more notes, each from a different juror. The first stated that the juror’s wife had an important medical appointment the following day. The second, from Juror No. 4, said that “[o]ne person is not competent enough to be on this jury.” The judge decided to interview Juror No. 4, a full-time dental student who had previously expressed reservations about the trial schedule. During the interview, Juror No. 4 began referring to a “big impasse,” but the judge immediately told him not to disclose anything further concerning deliberations. Following this, the entire jury was again instructed to resume deliberations.
Then, on Thursday afternoon, the judge received a third note, which quickly precipitated the chain of events giving rise to this appeal. This note succinctly stated, “Upon further investigating, a statement made by one of the jurors is biased; and we would like to speak to the Judge concerning this extreme.” The note bore the signature of Juror No. 9, with the addendum “Foreman refused to sign it.” After considering the note, the judge resolved to conduct an individual voir dire of each juror in order to determine whether any evidence of bias existed and what impact, if any, the alleged bias might be having on the deliberations.
The judge asked the first juror interviewed whether there was anything said that she might consider to be a biased statement. The juror responded, “[0]ne of the jurors say ... I feel that if they go to jail then he ought to go to jail, too, talking about one of the witnesses. So we assumed — take that as a biased statement.” Asked to clarify, the interviewee went on to explain that the juror in question had said, “[W]hy should I put two innocent guys in jail when I believe the witness should be in jail himself. So she assume — you know, she figure that all of them should be in jail or they should be set free because she doesn’t believe this witness.”
After the interview concluded, all agreed that the reported statement did not seem to involve any bias. The judge agreed with Mattox’s attorney that what amounted to one juror’s concerns over testimony was no reason to intervene. Nevertheless, the judge observed that they had only “heard from one juror,” and that she “wasn’t exactly clear that you can take that as a necessary statement.” The court therefore decided to inquire of at least one other juror in order to confirm the first interviewee’s version of events.
The next juror interviewed was No. 4, the dental student who had previously expressed reservations about the length of the deliberations. At the time, the judge actually suspected that Juror No. 4 was
JUROR: We were discussing the reason we were at an impasse. And the juror — do you want me to give a name— the juror who was one of the people who was in the — against the majority of the rest of the people basically said that she could not basically believe Sakoya Willis’ testimony because of the fact that she believes he should go to jail and she cannot convict two defendants on that, basically, because Sakoya Willis has no punishment towards him. So, basically, she believes that the witness is not credible for that reason.
THE COURT: So explain to me what you see as the bias.
JUROR: Basically, she would not convict the two defendants because she believes Sakoya Willis deserves to go to jail, as well. And that was clean out, simple as can be, stated to all of us; and all of us heard it.
THE COURT: Do you think that this statement by her will interfere with your own ability to fairly deliberate on the evidence in the case?
JUROR: My own ability?
THE COURT: Yes.
JUROR: No, not at all. It won’t affect my ability. I think it affected her ability-
THE COURT: All right. So you think, as far as you are concerned, you can continue to deliberate—
JUROR: I have no problem. It has not changed my mind in the case. I believe that—
THE COURT: Okay. Don’t tell us what you believe. But you think you can fairly—
JUROR: I have no problem continuing deliberating in this case.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
After this exchange concluded, counsel for each defendant moved for a mistrial, arguing that the jury had reached an impasse. The judge considered the motions during a recess, but ultimately decided that, having started the voir dire process, it would be appropriate to complete it. Each defendant’s attorney objected on the record.
Subsequent interviews revealed more of the same. Juror No. 5 stated that the juror in question had “said something to the effect that I can’t put two young men in jail when I think the person who is giving the testimony should be in jail, also.” As before, the judge followed by asking if “having heard that statement is going to interfere with your own personal ability to deliberate on this case and consider fairly the evidence.” Again, the juror reassured the judge that it would not. After this juror left, Clements’s attorney renewed his objection, arguing that the judge’s question was effectively “acting and directing this juror to put aside statements made by another juror in reference to the credibility for a particular witness. And, respectfully, I believe it’s unduly influencing this juror.” The court noted the objection, but decided to press on.
After interviewing another juror who also corroborated the now familiar narrative, the court addressed Juror No. 7, the foreperson — who was also revealed to be the holdout. The judge asked whether she had heard any statement from another juror that she thought to be biased or prejudiced. Juror No. 7 responded, “No, your Honor. I haven’t. And I am the only juror that is not — I have ruled not
The next juror interviewed had written down what she claimed was a direct quote of the statement, which read: “I don’t find Sakoya to be a credible witness. How can I put two young men in jail when he, Sakoya, probably should be in jail, himself.” The judge acknowledged that “you might not agree with particular jurors,” then asked whether her “own ability to deliberate and focus [her] deliberation only on the evidence” was affected. The juror, as the others before her had, affirmed that she could continue to deliberate.
Interviewed next was juror No. 9, who had signed the note. Unlike her peers, who, when asked, all confirmed that they would still be able to reach a fair and impartial verdict, this juror indicated that her ability to do so had actually been compromised. The judge asked her why, to which she responded that “you know, she’s not looking at evidence. The person is not looking at evidence. They are putting a statement in that shouldn’t be there that’s keeping us — ” At this point, the judge cut her off, thanked her, and moved on to the next juror.
The court continued this process in similar fashion through the entire jury. Each time, the judge asked if the juror had heard a statement evincing bias or prejudice, and each time the interviewed juror said yes and identified the holdout’s comments. The court asked each juror whether the juror’s own ability to deliver a fair and impartial verdict was compromised. Most said that it wasn’t. Four, including the note’s author, seemed to indicate otherwise, but it became clear from subsequent inquiry that each of them had misunderstood the judge’s question.
Following voir dire of each of the jurors, the court addressed counsel as follows:
It seems to me that what we heard from the various jurors is that there is an impasse. But nothing that I heard indicated a type of bias or prejudice that I think would warrant myself interfering with or stopping the deliberations of the jury. And so I think in the circumstances, what I would tell the jurors is that having made the inquiry, this is not a situation where I think I would be warranted in interfering with their deliberations and that they should continue to deliberate. They know that they— my instructions have indicated beforethey are to consider whether they are to reach a unanimous verdict on each of the verdicts, if that is possible, and that is what they are to do. But I don’t think that it’s a situation that suggests either the removal of any juror for bias or prejudice or really any further step. I think what we heard was really a reflection of the nature of the deliberations, which is really up to the jury and not to me.
Each defendant’s counsel renewed his motion for a mistrial, which the court noted but denied. Finally, that afternoon, the judge explained to the full jury that “this is not a situation in which it is appropriate nor would I want to interfere with your deliberations. I told you that as jurors your job is to reach a verdict based on the evidence and only the evidence presented in this case and in accordance with my instructions if it is possible to do so.” With the voir dire behind them, the jurors were sent out to resume deliberations. It requested and was granted permission to end early and reconvene the following morning.
On Friday, defense counsel once again renewed their motions for mistrial. Clements’s counsel maintained that the court had effectively asked at least one juror to “put aside the viewpoints of the other jurors in his deliberations.” Furthermore, he argued, the court had “imposed undue pressure” on the minority “to succumb to the wishes of the majority.” Once again, the motions were denied.
At some point that morning, Juror No. 4 contacted the judge to remind her of the toll that the lengthy deliberations were taking on his dental studies. The judge suggested leaving the issue until the end of the day. During their conversation, the juror stated, “[I]f we go into next week, I mean, I’m really going to be — again, it’s not going to change but it’s — I need to graduate. It’s going to be affecting me big time. And I don’t mean to be — I know you spent a long, hard time doing this. I don’t mean to be a pain in the tush, but that’s just the way — you know, it’s just very hard on me.” The judge cut off Juror No. 4 in the middle of his next sentence and said, “Why don’t we just leave it that we will take it up at the end of the day.” The juror agreed and returned to deliberate.
Late that afternoon, the jury reached its verdict. Clements was convicted of all three charges. He would eventually be sentenced to life imprisonment. Mattox, on the other hand, was acquitted.
Following his conviction, Clements appealed several separate alleged defects in his trial, most of which do not concern us here.
II. Discussion
A. Statutory Framework
Our review of the district court’s ruling is de novo. Yeboah-Sefah v. Ficco,
Before turning to the merits of the petitioner’s claim, we must first determine the proper standard of review with which to approach the state court’s disposition of
(1) ... resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or
(2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.
Id. In contrast, a state court decision that does not address the federal claim on the merits falls beyond the ambit of AEDPA. When presented with such unadjudicated claims, the habeas court reviews them de novo. Forbini v. Murphy,
The Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts’ highest state court, declined to review the jury coercion issue. Commonwealth v. Clements,
B. The State Court Decision
The Massachusetts Appeals Court addressed the jury coercion issue among a potpourri of “other claims” toward the end of its opinion. As to coercion, the court stated:
Contrary to the defendant’s contention, the trial judge did not invade the autonomy of the jurors’ deliberations. After the judge received a note from the jury indicating that one of the jurors allegedly had made a biased statement, the judge properly conducted an individual voir dire with each juror. See Commonwealth v. Laguer,410 Mass. 89 , 97,571 N.E.2d 371 (1991). After finding no bias, she ordered the jury to continue with their deliberations.
During the course of the voir dire, the judge learned that eleven jurors favored conviction while one juror favored acquittal. The defendant argues that the judge’s directive to the jury to continue deliberations may have been interpreted by the jury as an implicit endorsement of the majority position over the one juror who favored acquittal. See Commonwealth v. Gonzalez,28 Mass.App.Ct. 10 , 14-15,545 N.E.2d 862 (1989).
The record shows no impropriety by the judge. The transcript indicates that she was not coercive, did not attempt to influence their judgment, and in no way intimated to the jurors that she agreed or disagreed with their positions. She merely informed the jurors that she had found no evidence of juror bias and that they should continue to deliberate.
Clements I,
Clements urges us to conclude, as did the district court, that this cursory treatment did not constitute an adjudication on the merits of his federal claim. We disagree.
A matter is “adjudicated on the merits” if there is a “decision finally resolving the parties’ claims, with res judicata effect, that is based on the substance of the claim advanced, rather than on a procedural, or other, ground.” Teti v. Bender,
Nevertheless, even if it is uncontested that the state court’s grounds were substantive, determining precisely which substance proves a bit more elusive. The state court did not expressly identify the right that was actually at stake. It merely held that no “impropriety” had occurred and proceeded to offer its conclusions regarding the lack of coercion. The problem that we face in reviewing the state court decision is that “impropriety,” by itself, has neither a state nor a federal valence. It is, therefore, not immediately apparent whether the state court was disposing of Clements’s federal constitutional claim, or whether it was only addressing the parallel claim that Clements had made under Art. XII of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.
There is, however, an additional and, we think, critical data point that aids us in our inquiry. In its discussion, the state court cited to a Massachusetts case, Commonwealth v. Laguer,
We see no reason why such an inflexible rule as the appellee urges should be adopted. “[I]t would elevate form over substance to impose some sort of requirement that busy state judges provide case citations to federal law ... before federal courts will give deference to state court
In DiBenedetto, we considered a Supreme Judicial Court opinion that had cited only Massachusetts judicial decisions and never addressed the federal constitutional issues that the defendant had raised on direct appeal. We reviewed those claims de novo, holding that AEDPA’s deferential standard of review is inapplicable when the state court does not “decide constitutional claims raised by the defendant.”
Laguer, which the court relied on, concerned an attempt to impeach a jury verdict on account of alleged ethnic bias in the deliberations. The Supreme Judicial Court held that it would have been appropriate for the trial judge to conduct an evidentiary hearing in order to confirm or deny the reports of bias. In justifying the hearing, which would have otherwise been disallowed under state law, the court explained that “[w]e are persuaded that the possibility raised by the affidavit that the
defendant did not receive a trial by an impartial jury, which was his fundamental right, cannot be ignored.”
Irvin itself dealt with prejudicial pretrial publicity. Because Irvin’s underlying subject matter (pretrial publicity) is not the same as in this case (the trial court’s allegedly coercive juror inquiries), Clements urges us to reject — as did the district court — the Commonwealth’s argument that Laguer s citation to Irvin signals an adjudication on the merits of the federal claim. See Clements V,
We think that Irvin carries more weight in the state appellate court’s analysis than the petitioner acknowledges. The Court in Irvin did not spin federal law out of whole cloth; it was interpreting the Sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial jury, the very same constitutional provision on which Clements stakes his claim for relief. Indeed, the petitioner should appreciate Irvin’s salience to the allegation of juror coercion, as he himself invoked Irvin when he presented his constitutional claims in a motion for a new trial.
Even if the Massachusetts Appeals Court was unaware of Clements’s invocation of Irvin in his new trial motion, our conclusion nevertheless remains the same. Laguer, according to the Massachusetts Appeals Court’s reading, vindicates the trial judge’s behavior in as much as it mandates investigation once the red flag of juror bias has been waved. The Laguer court remanded for the purpose of conducting an evidentiary hearing into potential bias because the constitutional right to an impartial jury not only should not be ignored, but “cannot be ignored.” Laguer,
Thus the state appellate court’s reason for pointing to Laguer is clear. The court cited Laguer (which, again, relied on Irvin for that case’s explication of the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury) for the proposition that a judge faced with a claim of juror bias is compelled to inquire further. This reading accords with Lagu&fs, legacy in the courts of the Commonwealth. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Mendes,
It is true that Laguer would not have given a trial judge carte blanche to conduct the voir dire in any way she pleases, and perhaps this is why Clements insists that its relationship to his coercion claim is oblique at best. Even so, the fact that the appeals court made conclusory statements, such as “the record shows no impropriety” and “[t]he transcript indicates that she was not coercive,” is not dispositive. Once the federal-rights backdrop is understood, the court’s analysis was sufficient. AEDPA’s trigger for deferential review is adjudication, not explanation. Cf Wright v. Sec’y for Dep’t. of Corrections,
In sum, we conclude that the Massachusetts Appeals Court considered and adjudicated the petitioner’s federal claim. Accordingly, § 2254(d) governs our review.
C. The Jury Coercion Claim
With the appropriate standard of habeas review determined, we turn to the merits of the petitioner’s claim. Clements contends that the judge’s conduct was, however well-intentioned, a violation of his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to a trial by an impartial jury. Specifically, he argues that the colloquies during the series of voir dires effectively signaled to the jurors that they must reach a verdict and should ignore the remaining holdout, contravening the defendant’s right to an uncoerced jury verdict. See Lowenfield v. Phelps,
To merit the grant of habeas relief under § 2254(d), the state appeals court’s determination of the voir dire issue must fail under either the “contrary to” or the “unreasonable application” prong of the statute. A state court decision is “contrary to” clearly established Supreme Court law if it “contradicts the governing law set forth in the Supreme Court’s cases or confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a decision of the Supreme Court and nevertheless arrives at a result different from its precedent.” John v. Russo,
The threshold question is what constitutes “clearly established federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States.” See Lockyer v. Andrade,
That leaves us with Lowenfield. There, the Court held that a capital sentencing jury was not unconstitutionally coerced by a combination of the trial judge’s polling and supplemental instruction. In denying the petitioner’s claim based on the totality of circumstances, the Court noted that “we do not mean to be understood as saying other combinations of supplemental charges and polling might not require a different conclusion. Any criminal defendant ... being tried by a jury is entitled to the uncoerced verdict of that body.”
To begin with, we note that the Court in Lowenfield rejected the claim that the judge’s behavior was unconstitutional. The broadly worded passage quoted above, although unexceptional, is also primarily dicta, which by definition is not clearly established law. Williams v. Taylor,
By the same token, the state court did not unreasonably apply Lowenfield. As the Supreme Court has explained, “evaluating whether a rule application was unreasonable requires considering the rule’s specificity. The more general the rule, the more leeway courts have in reaching outcomes in case-by-case determinations.” Yarborough v. Alvarado,
III. Conclusion
We reverse the district court’s grant of relief and remand with instructions to reinstate the petitioner’s conviction.
SO ORDERED.
Notes
. In addition, a fifth juror expressed similar sentiments, but he was subsequently discharged and replaced with an alternate due to a personal matter, after which deliberations recommenced.
. For example:
THE COURT: Okay. Do you feel that that statement by the juror is going to interfere with your ability to decide this case fairly on the evidence?
JUROR: I do, ‘cause for the last four days it’s been the same one person that none of us can reach. And, when she made the statement, that led us to believe this is what she's been thinking all the time.
THE COURT: Okay. And, if I understand— well, you say that you think it’s going to interfere with your ability because—
JUROR: Yeah, because for the last four days this certain person been the hold-up. We only discussed one person. We haven’t been able to move forward to the second person.
THE COURT: Okay.
. The provenance of the other claims is discussed in detail in Clements III,
. The question presented to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals was: "Did the trial court's questions to deliberating jurors requesting that they disregard an opinion of the lone holdout that Clements was not guilty, invaded [sic] the province of the jury and violated [sic] Clements [sic] right to a fair trial pursuant to the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well as Article XII of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights?”
. A second cited case, Commonwealth v. Gonzalez,
. It is true that the petitioner did not cite to Irvin for support before either the Massachusetts Appeals Court or the federal district court. But he did plainly rely on that case in his motion for a new trial before the superior court, the denial of which was subsequently consolidated with his direct appeal to the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
. The state appeals court docket indicates that it had consolidated Clements's appeal of the superior court’s denial of his motion for new trial with the appeal from his conviction. In doing so, it ordered the Suffolk Superior Court clerk's office to forward all updated copies of the docket and any transcripts as they became available. See Docket Entry 3, Clements I,
Concurrence Opinion
(Concurring).
I join the majority in holding that AED-PA’s deferential standard of review con
Petitioner Jason Clements claims that his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial was violated when the state trial court invaded the province of the jury and coerced a guilty verdict. The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed Petitioner’s conviction and rejected his claim that the trial court judge coerced the jury into returning a guilty verdict when she conducted an individual voir dire of jurors to investigate a claim of juror bias. In its decision, however, the Appeals Court failed to specify whether it was considering Petitioner’s Sixth Amendment claim, a similar claim under the Massachusetts Constitution, or both. Instead, the Appeals Court cited the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts’ decision in Commonwealth v. Laguer, where the Supreme Judicial Court relied on the right to “a fair trial by a panel of impartial ‘indifferent’ jurors,” Irvin v. Dowd,
As the majority explains, the Appeals Court adjudicated petitioner’s claims on substantive grounds when it concluded that the trial judge “was not coercive, did not attempt to influence [the jurors’] judgment, and in no way intimated to the jurors that she agreed or disagreed with their positions.” Commonwealth v. Clements,
Notwithstanding, the determination that the Appeals Court issued a decision on non-procedural grounds does not automatically trigger AEDPA’s deferential standard of review. The majority correctly identifies this distinction and engages in an analysis of the decision rendered by the Appeals Court in order to ensure that the state court addressed the federal claim on the merits. In my view, however, the panel tests the limits of our precedent in this area when it accepts the proposition that summary adjudications by state courts may nevertheless merit AEDPA deference because, as the majority opinion claims, “AEDPA’s trigger for deferential review is adjudication, not explanation.”
When exercising review of a habeas petition, AEDPA requires federal courts to determine, as a threshold matter, whether the state court adjudicated the federal claim on the merits. Only after this threshold determination is made, does AEDPA’s deferential standard of review demand respect for state court judgments and require federal courts to assess the reasonableness of the state court’s outcome, not its reasoning. DiBenedetto v. Hall,
In my view, this panel’s decision should not be read to merge the threshold determination of whether the state court addressed the federal claim on the merits with the scope of our review once it is determined that AEDPA deference is appropriate. These are two distinct inquiries that we must keep separate in assessing the scope of our review in federal habeas cases.
A review of the Appeals Court’s decision in the context of Petitioner’s jury coercion claim reveals that the court directly addressed Petitioner’s “contention [that] the trial judge ... invade[d] the autonomy of the jurors’ deliberations.” Clements,
I must emphasize, however, that the panel’s decision should not be interpreted as endorsing the view that recursive citations to state case-law necessarily provide a reliable basis to conclude that the state court addressed a federal claim on the merits. This court has explicitly declined to apply AEDPA review where the state court failed to address the federal claim. Fortini v. Murphy,
In exercising habeas review we do not require state courts to employ particular language, or to include explicit citations to federal case-law in their decisions. Coleman v. Thompson,
As a postscript, I must stress that although AEDPA’s deferential standard of review discourages federal review of issues that were addressed by the state courts on the merits, AEDPA did not deprive state prisoners of their right to seek review in federal court of their constitutional claims. See Washington v. Schriver,