Randy GREENAWALT, Petitioner-Appellee,
v.
James R. RICKETTS, Director, Arizona DOC; Donald
Wawrzaszek, Superintendent, ASP; Robert K.
Corbin, Attorney General, State of
Arizona, Respondents-Appellants.
Nos. 88-1828, 88-1910.
United States Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit.
Argued and Submitted March 8, 1991.
Decided Aug. 22, 1991.
Bruce M. Ferg, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tucson, Ariz., for respondents-appellants.
Cameron C. Artigue, Gammage & Burnham, Phoenix, Ariz., for petitioner-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
Before WALLACE, Chief Judge, and ALARCON and WIGGINS, Circuit Judges.
WALLACE, Chief Judge:
During a brief period of freedom following his escape from an Arizona state prison, Greenawalt kidnapped three people, murdered four, committed two armed robberies, and stole a motor vehicle. After confessing to some of these crimes, he was convicted and sentenced to death, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal, more than a decade ago. See State v. Greenawalt,
Greenawalt then petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court denied this petition, but Greenawalt appealed and we ordered a limited remand in light of Edwards v. Arizona,
In their second appearance before this court, the parties initially confined their briefing to the Edwards issue. We ordered full briefing, however, since the issues not remanded remain before us from the first appeal. See id. We now consider the entire petition. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
* Our prior opinion describes the facts in great detail. See Greenawalt III,
Greenawalt was already serving a life sentence for murder when he escaped from prison with Tison, a fellow prisoner, aided by Tison's three sons. The entire group left the prison after the Tison sons, while ostensibly visiting their father, carried an ice chest full of firearms into the prison visitation area. They remained at large for almost two weeks. They kidnapped and then killed John and Donnelda Lyons, and the couple's niece, Theresa Tyson. They also killed the Lyonses' two-year-old son, Christopher. Gun shells and fingerprints later linked the escapees and their companions to the murders of all four victims.
Greenawalt and two of Tison's sons were captured after a high speed chase during which Tison's third son was shot dead. Tison himself, who eluded capture, was subsequently found in the desert dead of exposure.
Upon taking Greenawalt into custody, the police gave him a pat-down search, handcuffed him, and placed him in the back of a pickup truck. They later strip-searched him and retained his clothing as evidence. The police initially left Greenawalt naked in the back of the truck, but after a short while he was given a blanket and put in a police sedan.
The police then explained the Miranda rights to Greenawalt and requested that he make a statement. Greenawalt refused and asked for counsel. The interrogation immediately ceased, but Greenawalt was later approached by other law enforcement and corrections officers. Greenawalt confessed to some of these officers but not others. Officers explained his Miranda rights, and he repeatedly invoked his right to counsel.
At some point Greenawalt was taken to jail, and after his arrival he spoke briefly with his counsel. Greenawalt was then returned to his cell and some time later, after another Miranda warning, Greenawalt again confessed.
The state trial judge excluded the earlier confessions but admitted the final one.
II
Greenawalt contended that his confessions were obtained in violation of his fifth amendment right to counsel, and that the admission of his final confession at trial required his petition be granted. The district court agreed, holding that Edwards requires the exclusion of any confession given in response to police interrogation outside the presence of counsel once counsel has been requested. The district court held that by admitting Greenawalt's final confession, the state trial court failed to comply with Edwards, since this confession was obtained outside the presence of counsel and after Greenawalt's request.
The district court's interpretation of Edwards has since been ratified by the Supreme Court in Minnick v. Mississippi, --- U.S. ----,
The district court's holding comports with Minnick. If this were on direct review, we would affirm. But it is not, and the Supreme Court has limited the power of federal courts to impose new constitutional commands in collateral proceedings.
A.
In Teague v. Lane, a plurality of the Supreme Court stated that new rules generally would not be retroactively applied to cases on collateral review. Teague v. Lane,
Recognizing that Minnick raises a retroactivity question, we ordered supplemental briefing. In its supplemental brief, the State contends that Minnick announced a new rule precluded from retroactive application to this collateral review. In response, Greenawalt contends that he does not seek the benefit of Minnick, but rather, as the district court held, merely the benefit of Edwards.
Greenawalt raises an interesting contention, but we do not accept it. The district court's Edwards analysis directly parallels the Supreme Court's ruling in Minnick. Therefore, if Minnick announced a new rule, the district court did so as well. See Harriman v. Lynn,
A new rule may not be announced on collateral review any more than it can be applied on it. Penry,
"In Teague, [the Supreme Court] defined a new rule as a rule that 'breaks new ground,' 'imposes a new obligation on the States or the Federal Government,' or was not 'dictated by precedent existing at the time the defendant's conviction became final.' " Saffle,
In Roberson, the Court held that an Edwards request regarding any charge invokes the right to counsel with regard to all. Id. at 675-76,
The Court rejected this argument. In doing so, it placed no reliance on Roberson's self-description as declining "to craft an exception to [Edwards]." Roberson,
Courts frequently view their decisions as being "controlled" or "governed" by prior opinions even when aware of reasonable contrary conclusions reached by other courts.... [But i]t would not have been an illogical or even a grudging application of Edwards to decide that it did not extend to the facts of Roberson. We hold, therefore, that Roberson announced a "new rule."
Butler,
Minnick is much like Roberson in all relevant respects. It is predicated on Edwards. It characterizes its holding as "an appropriate and necessary application of the Edwards rule," one which merely declines to create an exception. Minnick,
Edwards emphasizes the necessity of counsel being made "available" or of the defendant having "access" to counsel, rather than holding that once the accused requests counsel he may thereafter be questioned only in the presence of counsel. Here Gallagher had access to two attorneys. Court-appointed counsel was made available to him, and in addition he retained and spoke with private counsel. Thus the FBI did not impermissibly initiate a second interrogation after defendant requested counsel.
Id. (citations omitted). Halliday, Griffin, and the state court decision in Minnick, while contrary to the Supreme Court's subsequent decision in Minnick, are reasonable applications of Edwards. Their existence demonstrates that Minnick was not dictated by Edwards, but rather, is an extension of it, about which reasonable courts might differ. Therefore, we hold that Minnick announced a new rule. Because the district court's holding is coextensive with it, we hold that it, too, imposed a new rule.
B.
A new rule is generally precluded from retroactive application on collateral review. Butler,
The first exception allows a new rule to apply retroactively in collateral proceedings when it places "certain kinds of primary, private individual conduct beyond the power of the criminal law-making authority to proscribe." Butler,
The second exception is for new rules that are "watershed rules of criminal procedure" "without which the likelihood of an accurate conviction is seriously diminished." Teague,
Because a violation of Roberson's added restrictions on police investigatory procedures would not seriously diminish the likelihood of obtaining an accurate determination--indeed, it may increase the likelihood--we conclude that Roberson did not establish any principle that would come within the second exception.
Butler,
C.
Once in custody, Greenawalt both requested counsel and repeatedly confessed his crimes. The State did not deny him counsel, and after conferring with counsel, Greenawalt again confessed. Faced with this situation, the state trial court excluded the confessions Greenawalt gave after he requested counsel and before it was made available to him, but admitted the confession given after Greenawalt spoke with counsel. The state trial court's rulings were reasonable in light of the precedent controlling on direct review, so they must be upheld on collateral review. The district court erred by imposing this new rule on collateral review. We therefore reverse the district court's holding on the Edwards issue.
This holding does not require, as Greenawalt contends, a remand for additional findings of fact. Greenawalt was provided the opportunity to overcome the presumptive correctness of the state court's findings of historical fact in the original district court proceedings, and he failed to do so. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). Nothing he has said before this court convinces us that the district court erred in this regard.
Our holding also requires that we reject Greenawalt's closely related sixth amendment contention. The sixth amendment entitles the accused to counsel once "adversary judicial criminal proceedings" have been initiated, "whether by way of formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment." Kirby v. Illinois,
We recognize that the two rights are not precisely coextensive, and that in some contexts, the sixth amendment affords protection not provided by the fifth. E.g., United States v. Wade,
III
In originally denying Greenawalt's petition, the district court rejected all of Greenawalt's other contentions of error. Greenawalt is entitled to a de novo determination of these contentions by us. Miller v. Vasquez,
Greenawalt contends the confession admitted at trial was tainted by his prior inadmissible statements. His contention rests on Brown v. Illinois,
While Elstad involved a failure to give the Miranda warnings, we conclude that its holding applies to other Miranda violations. Therefore, we hold that a voluntary confession inadmissible on the ground of Edwards does not taint a subsequent voluntary confession. By so doing, we follow those circuits that have already considered the question. See United States v. Cherry,
Thus, we must determine whether the earlier as well as the admitted confessions were voluntary. United States v. Wauneka,
As to his first set of confessions, Greenawalt contends the circumstances surrounding his arrest demonstrate deliberate police coercion. He observes that his arrest followed a 12-day search and a high speed chase in which one of his companions was fatally shot. The police "swarmed" and fired "aerial flares." Greenawalt's clothes were taken from him, and his glasses were lost. He was handcuffed. This conduct is described in Greenawalt's brief as just "short of physical torture."
As the state observes, however, Greenawalt was never threatened or subjected to any kind of rough handling or harassment. The 12-day search and high speed chase are surely irrelevant; the police were not coercing Greenawalt, they were attempting to capture him. Cf. California v. Hodari D., --- U.S. ----,
While newspaper accounts about the murder of Theresa Tyson may have influenced Greenawalt's admissions, the Supreme Court has made it clear that this type of influence is not coercion within the meaning of the fifth amendment. E.g., Colorado v. Connelly,
We reach the same conclusion about the admitted confession. No indicia of coercion were present at the time Greenawalt made his final confession, as Greenawalt appears to concede by his failure to argue the issue. Therefore, we hold that Greenawalt's final confession was both voluntary and untainted by his prior confessions, and could be admitted at trial consistent with Elstad.
IV
Greenawalt next contends that his death sentence is unconstitutional. Most of Greenawalt's contentions are foreclosed by Walton v. Arizona, --- U.S. ----,
In Enmund, the Supreme Court held that in cases of accomplice felony murder, the eighth amendment requires a special showing of mens rea before the death penalty can be imposed.
The second exception clearly does not apply. The rule of Enmund, whatever its significance, is not a "watershed rule of criminal procedure" comparable to Gideon v. Wainwright,
The first exception "cover[s] not only rules forbidding criminal punishment of certain primary conduct but also rules prohibiting a certain category of punishment for a class of persons because of their status or offense." Penry,
Enmund holds that "the principles of proportionality embodied in the Eighth Amendment bar imposition of the death penalty upon a class of persons who may nonetheless be guilty of the crime of capital murder as defined by state law." Cabana,
On the other hand, it is clear that this case presents a situation which Teague intended to cover. The Arizona courts could not have reasonably anticipated Enmund before it was announced, and accordingly, they required the state to prove only the mens rea for the underlying felony offenses. Indeed, Greenawalt was tried for felony murder, instead of murder in the first degree, after the Tison sons, who had identified Greenawalt as one of the actual triggermen, refused to testify. This approach fully complied with both the common law and the eighth amendment as theretofore interpreted. To require more now would not serve the primary purpose of habeas corpus review which, as already observed, is to encourage compliance with existing constitutional commands. Butler,
However, we need not decide the retroactivity of Enmund, because Enmund would not change the outcome of this case. Enmund only requires a finding that the defendant was a major participant in the felony committed, and also exhibited a reckless indifference to human life. Tison,
When sentencing Greenawalt, the state trial judge said: "In the commission of the murders of John Lyons and Donnelda Lyons, [Greenawalt] knowingly created a grave risk of death to other persons in addition to those victims.... The defendant committed the offenses in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner." These statements satisfy Enmund's threshold requirement that Greenawalt exhibit "reckless indifference" to human life. In addition, the Arizona Supreme Court held that Greenawalt was an active participant in the felonies committed. Greenawalt I,
V
Greenawalt's remaining contentions are clearly without merit. Greenawalt contends that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on second degree murder or any lesser included offense. He correctly observes that due process requires such an instruction when the evidence warrants it. Beck v. Alabama,
Greenawalt was tried solely for felony murder, a crime for which Arizona law recognizes no lesser included offense. Greenawalt I,
Finally, Greenawalt contends that the district court erred by failing to order, on its own motion, all exhibits relevant to pretrial publicity before ruling on Greenawalt's petition. We have already rejected this contention. In Austad v. Risley,
Nor does the record demonstrate prejudice. A state court determination that the jury was impartial is a finding of historical fact treated as presumptively correct on collateral review. Patton v. Yount,
Greenawalt appears to concede as much; his primary contention in this regard is that he should be entitled to introduce the publicity exhibits in support of a new habeas corpus petition. The issue of whether a future petition would be abusive is not raised by this petition. It is true that Austad considered the issue nevertheless, but the Supreme Court has recently announced a new test for abuse of the writ, McCleskey v. Zant, --- U.S. ----,
We therefore reverse the district court's grant of petition. As we have held, nonretroactivity controls the Edwards issue. The Elstad contention fails because Greenawalt's confessions were voluntary. Most of the sentencing contentions are foreclosed by Walton, as Greenawalt conceded at oral argument, and he cannot secure reversal by his remaining sentencing contention. A lesser included offense instruction is not required for felony murder in Arizona. The district court did not need to consider publicity exhibits that Greenawalt failed to produce, and the record does not demonstrate that Greenawalt was prejudiced by pretrial publicity in any event. Thus, the State fully complied with the federal constitutional standards in force when Greenawalt exhausted direct review, so his conviction and death sentence must be upheld on collateral review.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART.
