F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
JAN 29 1998
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
RICHARD L. LARSON,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v. No. 97-2215
(District of New Mexico)
DONALD DORSEY, Warden; (D.C. No. CIV-96-434-HB)
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO,
Respondent-Appellee.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before BALDOCK, EBEL, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The cause is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Richard L. Larson, proceeding pro se and in form pauperis, appeals the
district court’s dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition for lack
of subject matter jurisdiction. Because the district court’s conclusion that it
lacked subject matter jurisdiction is based on an unduly narrow reading of
Larson’s § 2254 petition, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. 1
Larson was convicted in New Mexico state court on four counts of
criminal sexual penetration of a minor, one count of attempted criminal sexual
penetration, three counts of incest, and one count of criminal sexual contact of a
minor. His conviction was affirmed on appeal and his subsequent effort at state
post-conviction relief was summarily denied. Sometime thereafter, Larson
brought his first § 2254 petition in the United States District Court for the District
of New Mexico. 2 The district court denied relief and this court affirmed on
1
Because Larson filed his § 2254 petition prior to the enactment of the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”), Pub. L. No. 104-132,
110 Stat. 1214, the AEDPA and its certificate of appealability requirements do
not apply to this appeal. See United States v. Kunzman, 125 F.3d 1363, 1364 n.2
(10th Cir. 1997). Instead, the pre-AEDPA certificate of probable cause
requirements apply here. This court, therefore, liberally construes Larson’s
request for a certificate of appealability as a motion for a certificate of probable
cause, grants that motion, and proceeds to the merits of this appeal. See
Parkhurst v. Shillinger, 128 F.3d 1366, 1368 n.3 (10th Cir. 1997).
2
In this first § 2254 petition, Larson raised the following four issues:
“1)whether use of the first videotaped deposition at trial violated his Sixth
Amendment confrontation rights, 2) whether he was denied a speedy trial, 3)
whether he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on direct appeal
in light of counsel’s failure to assert his speedy trial claim, and 4) whether he was
deprived of court-appointed counsel in violation of New Mexico’s Indigent
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appeal. Larson v. Dorsey, No. 91-2198, 1993 WL 76278 (10th Cir. March 12,
1993).
Larson filed the instant § 2254 petition on April 1, 1996. The core of the
petition revolves around matters that apparently took place before Larson’s
conviction on the charges set out above. According to Larson, after a previous
arrest on the same charges upon which he was eventually convicted, he entered
into some kind of “letter agreement” with the state. That letter agreement
apparently provided that New Mexico would not prosecute Larson if he agreed
not to see his daughter. According to Larson, a New Mexico magistrate judge
played some part in the process leading to the letter agreement. It is this letter
agreement and the New Mexico magistrate judge’s participation therein that lies
at the heart of the current petition.
Although Larson’s petition is far from a model of clarity, it appears to
assert the following as grounds for granting habeas relief: (1) he was denied his
right to due process during the process of reaching the letter agreement because
the magistrate did not follow state statutes; (2) the letter agreement constituted
punishment and the magistrate judge lacked subject matter jurisdiction to punish
him; (3) his subsequent arrest for the same conduct that formed the basis of the
Defense Act . . . .” Larson v. Dorsey, No. 91-2198, 1993 WL 76278, at *1 (10th
Cir. March 12, 1993).
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letter agreement violated the letter agreement and was, therefore, illegal; (4) his
subsequent punishment for the acts underlying the letter agreement constituted
double jeopardy; and (5) his counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the issues
set out above.
New Mexico responded to Larson’s petition with a motion to dismiss on the
grounds of abuse of the writ. In response to New Mexico’s motion to dismiss, a
federal magistrate noted that the motion appeared meritorious but concluded, “in
the interests of fairness,” to allow Larson an additional period of time to respond
to the motion. Before Larson could so respond, however, the magistrate issued,
sua sponte, proposed findings which concluded that the district court lacked
subject matter jurisdiction over the petition. According to the magistrate,
“[a]lthough [Larson] is now in custody, he is not challenging in this § 2254
motion the convictions which led to his being in custody. Rather, [Larson] is
challenging an agreement not to prosecute which actually led to his not being in
custody and having charges dropped. I, therefore, find that [Larson] does not
meet the § 2254 ‘in custody’ requirement.” Magistrate Judge’s Proposed Findings
and Recommended Disposition at 2. The district court thereafter adopted the
magistrate’s proposed findings after concluding that Larson had not filed timely
objections thereto.
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Before proceeding to the merits, we must first resolve a preliminary issue.
This court has adopted a firm waiver rule which provides that a failure to make
timely objections to a magistrate’s findings waives appellate review of both
factual and legal questions. United States v. One Parcel of Real Property, 73
F.3d 1057, 1059 (10th Cir. 1996). We have recognized, however, that the waiver
rule will not apply where the ends of justice dictate otherwise. Talley v. Hesse,
91 F.3d 1411, 1413 (10th Cir. 1996). Responding to this court’s request for
supplemental briefing on the issue, New Mexico argues that this is such a case
and we agree. As pointed out by New Mexico, Larson did in fact file written
objections to the magistrate’s proposed findings. Unfortunately, Larson
miscaptioned the objections and they were filed and docketed in a separate,
related case. In light of Larson’s pro se status and the fact that he did file timely,
written objections, albeit miscaptioned, we conclude that the waiver rule should
not apply. See Swanson v. Ward, No. 97-6057, 1997 WL 527562 (10th Cir. Aug.
27, 1997) (unpublished disposition) (refusing to apply appellate waiver rule where
objections were timely filed but inadvertently miscaptioned). We thus proceed to
the merits.
The district court’s conclusion that it lacked jurisdiction over Larson’s
§ 2254 petition because Larson failed to sufficiently allege that he is in “custody”
is based on an unduly rigid interpretation of the petition. Cf. Hall v. Belmon, 935
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F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991) (“A pro se litigant’s pleadings are to be
construed liberally and held to a less stringent standard than formal pleadings
drafted by lawyers.”). Liberally construed, it is apparent that Larson’s petition
makes not only a challenge to the process underlying the letter agreement, but
also contends that the process leading up to the letter agreement, in which process
a state magistrate judge allegedly participated, constituted an adjudication of his
rights. In line with this assertion, Larson contends that his subsequent arrest,
conviction, and punishment for the same conduct underlying the letter agreement
violated the double jeopardy clause. This challenge is clearly directed at a state
court judgment pursuant to which Larson is in custody. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254
(providing jurisdiction where petitioner is challenging state court judgment under
which petitioner is in custody). Accordingly, the district court erred in
concluding that it was without subject matter jurisdiction to consider Larson’s
§ 2254 petition.
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The judgment of the United States District Court for the District of New
Mexico is hereby REVERSED and the case is REMANDED to the district court
for further proceedings. On remand, the district court should first consider New
Mexico’s Motion to Dismiss Larson’s petition as an abusive or successive
petition.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT:
Michael R. Murphy
Circuit Judge
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