Pike v. Guarino

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit

No. 06-1019

JULIE A. PIKE,

Petitioner, Appellant,

v.

BARBARA R. GUARINO,
SUPERINTENDENT, MCI-FRAMINGHAM,

Respondent, Appellee.
__________

No. 06-1020

JULIE A. PIKE,

Petitioner, Appellee,

v.

BARBARA R. GUARINO,
SUPERINTENDENT, MCI-FRAMINGHAM,

Respondent, Appellant.

APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge]

[Hon. Mark L. Wolf, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Torruella, Circuit Judge,
Selya and Tashima,* Senior Circuit Judges.
 Catherine J. Hinton, with whom James L. Sultan and Rankin &
Sultan were on brief, for petitioner.
David Lieber, Assistant Attorney General, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, with whom Thomas F. Reilly, Attorney General, and
Cathryn A. Neaves, Assistant Attorney General, were on brief, for
respondent.

July 2, 2007

__________
*Of the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation.
 SELYA, Senior Circuit Judge. These are two appeals

arising out of a federal habeas corpus petition brought by a state

prisoner. In the principal appeal, the petitioner — who portrays

herself as a victim of battered woman's syndrome — urges us to

reverse the denial of habeas relief and hold that she lacked

competency to stand trial in the state court or, alternatively,

that she involuntarily waived her right to present a viable theory

of defense. In the cross-appeal, the respondent (the

superintendent of the state correctional facility in which the

petitioner is confined) urges us to revisit the district court's

determinations concerning exhaustion of state remedies and the

granting of a federal evidentiary hearing, as well as to consider

a nascent theory of procedural default. After working our way

through a procedural quagmire, examining a mountain of paper, and

studying a complex set of legal issues, we reject both appeals and

affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

This case has a lengthy and tortured history. The

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (the SJC) has accurately

recounted the evidence presented at the petitioner's trial and in

the subsequent state court proceedings. See Commonwealth v. Pike,

726 N.E.2d 940, 942-51 (Mass. 2000) (Pike I). We assume the

reader's familiarity with that opinion, rehearse here only those

details that are directly relevant to our analysis, and amplify

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that account to reflect evidence presented before the federal

habeas court.

In 1995, a Massachusetts jury found the petitioner, Julie

A. Pike, guilty of second-degree murder. This conviction resulted

from the interaction of the petitioner and her swain, Barry Loring,

with Don Maynard. As part and parcel of what began as a plan to

steal a car, Maynard was slain in his Greenfield home. The murder

occurred in 1994 and suspicion soon centered on Loring and the

petitioner.

Loring agreed to plead guilty and became the

Commonwealth's star witness at his former girlfriend's trial. He

vouchsafed that the pair had broken into Maynard's abode together;

that they then agreed that Loring would kill Maynard using a gun

discovered inside the house; but that, when Maynard returned home

earlier than anticipated, an altercation between the two men

ensued. According to Loring, the petitioner ended the scuffle by

killing Maynard with a shot to the back of the head.

In addition to Loring's eyewitness testimony, the

Commonwealth presented substantial physical evidence linking the

petitioner to Maynard's home; evidence that she had fled with

Loring; proof that she had sold some of Maynard's property at a

pawn shop; and testimony from Loring's cellmate that tended to

corroborate Loring's account of the relevant events.

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 The petitioner testified in her own defense. She

admitted to her entanglement in the overall events, but maintained

that she had not been present in the Maynard residence at the time

of the homicide. Instead — following Loring's instructions — she

had waited at a nearby bridge. Thus, the petitioner argued that

her participation was limited to helping Loring clean up after the

murder and dispose of Maynard's lifeless body.

At the close of all the evidence, the jury rejected the

petitioner's version and found her guilty of second-degree murder.

The trial justice sentenced her to life imprisonment.

During the pendency of the petitioner's direct appeal,

she moved for a new trial. See Mass. R. Crim. P. 30(b). The

gravamen of her motion was that the severely abusive nature of her

relationship with Loring had allowed him to control her both at the

time of the murder and thereafter (up to and including the time of

trial). She explained that Loring was able to exert dominion over

her after their arrest because the two were detained at the same

jail (albeit on different floors), which permitted extraordinary

levels of contact between them. In addition, the petitioner had

been seven months pregnant at the time of the murder, Loring was

the father, and he had minimally supervised visits with their

infant child during his pretrial incarceration. The petitioner

claimed that Loring used these visits as leverage against her,

threatening to harm the child if she did not do his bidding.

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 With this predicate in place, the petitioner maintained

that she was under the spell of Loring's pervasive influence until

after the trial. Through that circumstance, he had coerced her

into giving a fabricated version of the events surrounding the

Maynard homicide. She proceeded to recant portions of her trial

testimony. The petitioner admitted that she had been in the house

prior to Maynard's death but continued to assert that she had not

committed the murder.

Taking matters a step further, the petitioner maintained

that the combination of Loring's continued coercion and the

cumulative psychological effects of the abuse (amounting to what is

commonly known as battered woman's syndrome) rendered her incapable

of disclosing the abuse to her attorneys at the time of trial.1 In

her view, both the revelation of the abuse and her changed

testimony qualified as newly discovered evidence. See Commonwealth

v. Grace, 491 N.E.2d 246, 248 (Mass. 1986). Furthermore, on her

assessment of the case, this newly discovered evidence would have

affected the outcome of the trial because it would have allowed her

1
Battered woman's syndrome has been described as a "series of
common characteristics that appear in women who are abused
physically and psychologically over an extended period of time by
the dominant male figure in their lives." State v. Kelly, 478 A.2d
364, 371 (N.J. 1984). One of these characteristics is a type of
learned helplessness, through which the woman believes that the
batterer has complete control of the relationship and that she
cannot escape. See United States v. Brown, 891 F. Supp. 1501, 1505
(D. Kan. 1995). Women suffering from the syndrome often have a
difficult time disclosing the abuse; "it is the nature of [the]
illness to conceal its existence." Id. at 1510.

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to explain that whatever actions she took on the day of Maynard's

demise were taken under duress (i.e., coerced by Loring).

The original trial justice had retired, so a different

judicial officer (whom, for ease in exposition, we shall refer to

as the state court motions justice) held a four-day evidentiary

hearing to supplement the affidavits and psychiatric reports

submitted with the petitioner's motion. The hearing included

testimony from the petitioner, the therapist who had begun to treat

her, the lawyers who had represented her at trial, and Dr. Prudence

Baxter (an expert on battered woman's syndrome). At the conclusion

of the hearing, the state court motions justice denied the motion

in a strongly-worded opinion. Commonwealth v. Pike, No. 94-091,

slip op. at 2 (Mass. Super. Ct. Apr. 8, 1998) (unpublished). We

offer a synopsis of the findings upon which that decision rested.

While assuming that evidence of battered woman's syndrome

could in some cases support the granting of a new trial, the state

court motions justice found the petitioner's version of events

"implausible" and her testimony "unreliable," especially with

respect to the degree of control that Loring exerted over her

during their pretrial incarceration. Id. at 13. Specifically, the

state court justice concluded that "[w]hile it [was] likely that

[the petitioner] was subjected to some of the described acts [of

abuse], at least up to the point of her incarceration, it [did] not

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follow that [she] meekly surrendered to Loring's inescapable

control at the time of her trial." Id.

The petitioner filed motions seeking reconsideration and

leave to expand the record. See Mass. R. Crim. P. 13(a)(5). In

connection therewith, she proffered affidavits from correctional

officers employed at the jail where she and Loring had been

detained prior to trial. The state court motions justice summarily

denied these motions.

The SJC allowed the petitioner's application for direct

appellate review. See Mass. R. Crim. P. 30(c)(8). It subsequently

affirmed both the conviction and the denial of the petitioner's

post-trial motions. See Pike I, 726 N.E.2d at 942. With respect

to the new trial motion, the SJC confirmed that, under

Massachusetts law, evidence of battered women's syndrome could

constitute newly discovered evidence warranting a new trial. Id.

at 948. Here, however, the petitioner's quest for a new trial was

properly thwarted because the state court motions justice had made

a supportable credibility determination — she simply did not

believe that the petitioner suffered from the ravages of the

syndrome during the period leading up to the trial. Id. at 949,

951. To cinch matters, the SJC held that the motions justice was

not unreasonable in refusing to consider the additional affidavits.

See id. at 951.

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 Having been rebuffed by the SJC, the petitioner repaired

to the federal district court and filed a petition for a writ of

habeas corpus. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Of her several asserted

grounds for relief, only two are pertinent here: (i) that battered

woman's syndrome had rendered her incompetent to stand trial in

state court and (ii) that her inability to disclose Loring's abuse

to her trial counsel constituted an involuntary waiver of her

constitutional right to present a defense.

After some procedural skirmishing (to which we shortly

shall return), the district court, without any detailed

explanation, ordered an evidentiary hearing.2 The hearing extended

over eight days. The petitioner presented much of the same

evidence that she had presented at the state court hearing on her

new trial motion: her own testimony as to Loring's abuse, other

testimony and affidavits corroborating the abuse, testimony from

one of her lawyers, Dr. Baxter's testimony, and testimony from

various therapists. The respondent (who, for ease of exposition,

we shall call "the Commonwealth") produced several rebuttal

witnesses, including Loring's trial attorney and its own

psychiatric expert.

2
During its four-year odyssey in the district court, the
petitioner's case was assigned at different times to different
judges. Rather than matching each ruling with each judge, we take
an institutional view and refer only to the decisions of the
district court.

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 At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court,

ruling from the bench, denied the petition. These timely appeals

followed. The district court has granted a certificate of

appealability as to all issues. See id. § 2253(c).

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

In this case, appellate review is governed by the

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub.

L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214. The AEDPA permits federal courts

to grant habeas relief after a final state adjudication of a

federal constitutional claim only if that adjudication:

(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.

28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). This standard applies, however, only to a

"claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court

proceedings." Id. If the federal claim was never addressed by the

state court, federal review is de novo. See Fortini v. Murphy, 257

F.3d 39, 47 (1st Cir. 2001) (noting that a federal court "can

hardly defer to the state court on an issue that the state court

did not address").

In this instance, it is undisputed that the SJC did not

address either of the petitioner's current claims on the merits.

To the extent, then, that these claims were properly before the

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district court — more on this later — the district court correctly

subjected them to de novo review. The court also correctly

recognized that the AEDPA sets out a separate and exacting standard

applicable to review of a state court's factual findings. See 28

U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1); Sanna v. DiPaolo, 265 F.3d 1, 10 (1st Cir.

2001).

As a general matter, the same standards that courts of

appeals use in direct review of criminal convictions apply to

appellate review of the decisions of federal district courts in

state prisoner habeas cases. See 2 Steven Alan Childress & Martha

S. Davis, Federal Standards of Review § 13.06, at 13-50 (3d ed.

1999). These include de novo review of legal issues and of most

mixed questions of fact and law. See Scarpa v. DuBois, 38 F.3d 1,

9 (1st Cir. 1994). We say "most" because appellate review of mixed

questions depends, in the last analysis, on the extent to which a

particular question is fact-dominated or law-dominated.3 See id.;

see also In re Extradition of Howard, 996 F.2d 1320, 1328 (1st Cir.

1993).

3
Some courts have indicated that an "independent review"
standard should guide the evaluation of mixed questions of fact and
law in habeas cases. See Scarpa, 38 F.3d at 9 n.5 (collecting
cases); see also 2 Childress & Davis, supra § 13.06, at 13-50. We
do not linger over this question because independent review
involves roughly the same tamisage that we have outlined here; that
is, significant deference to factbound determinations and little or
no deference to law-based determinations. See United States v.
Tortora, 922 F.2d 880, 882-83 (1st Cir. 1990); see also Scarpa, 38
F.3d at 9 n.5 (bypassing inquiry for similar reasons).

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 When the district court undertakes no independent

factfinding in a habeas case, we are effectively in the same

position as the district court vis-à-vis the state court record and

have the ability to review that record from the same vantage point.

Consequently, the district court's recension of that record will

engender de novo review. See Breest v. Perrin, 624 F.2d 1112, 1115

(1st Cir. 1980); 2 Childress & Davis, supra § 13.06, at 13-50.

When, however, the district court has held an evidentiary hearing

and made new or different findings of fact, those findings are

entitled to significant deference. See Scarpa, 38 F.3d at 9 n.5;

see also McNair v. Campbell, 416 F.3d 1291, 1297 (11th Cir. 2005);

McGregor v. Gibson, 248 F.3d 946, 951 (10th Cir. 2001).

III. THE HABEAS RECORD

As a prelude to our analysis of the petitioner's claims,

we deem it prudent to say something about the factual record that

underpins our review. Although a magistrate judge recommended the

opposite course of action, the district court granted a full-scale

evidentiary hearing. That hearing had no apparent limits. It

lasted nearly twice as long as the pertinent state court

evidentiary hearing held seven years earlier, covered the same

factual ground, and involved much of the same evidence.

Despite this similitude, the district court evaluated the

evidence somewhat differently than had the state court motions

justice. It took a more flattering view of the petitioner's

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credibility and made several factual findings that contradicted

those of the state court motions justice. The district court

justified these contrary findings on the ground that, in the course

of the federal evidentiary hearing, its view of the underlying

facts had been proven by clear and convincing evidence — a standard

dictated by the AEDPA. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).4

The Commonwealth asseverates that the district court

erred in granting a full-scale evidentiary hearing and beseeches us

to disregard its factual findings. This is more than empty

rhetoric: unless a state prisoner meets certain stringent

requirements, the AEDPA prohibits a federal court from granting an

evidentiary hearing when "the applicant has failed to develop the

factual basis of a claim in State court proceedings." Id. §

2254(e)(2).

Seizing upon this prohibition, the Commonwealth argues

that the petitioner, in the state courts, failed to develop the

factual record needed to underbrace her habeas claims. In this

vein, the Commonwealth notes that, at the state court evidentiary

4
In the court below, the petitioner argued that the state
court's factual findings were not entitled to a presumption of
correctness because they were unreasonable in light of the evidence
presented. She based this argument on the notion that AEDPA
sections 2254(d)(2) and (e)(1) operate in tandem. To support that
notion, she cited our opinion in Mastracchio v. Vose, 274 F.3d 590,
597-98 (1st Cir. 2001). The district court did not accept this
hypothesis but, before us, the petitioner does not allege any harm
resulting from the district court's refusal. Consequently, it is
unnecessary for us to test this hypothesis.

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hearing, the petitioner did not call the lawyers who represented

her at trial5 and elected to submit affidavits in lieu of much of

the live testimony that she presented at the federal evidentiary

hearing.

The petitioner rejoins on several fronts. First, she

argues that she did not fail to develop the factual basis for her

claims because the key facts — those pertaining to the abuse and

her consequent inability to disclose that abuse to her trial

counsel — were presented to the state court (albeit in lesser

detail). Thus, a federal evidentiary hearing was not statutorily

prohibited. Second, she emphasizes that, in interpreting section

2254(e)(2), the Supreme Court has equated the "failure to develop"

language with "a lack of diligence, or some greater fault,

attributable to the prisoner or prisoner's counsel." Williams v.

Taylor, 529 U.S. 420, 432 (2000). Such diligence embodies, "at a

minimum, seek[ing] an evidentiary hearing in state court in the

manner prescribed by state law." Id. at 437. Because she sought

and received an evidentiary hearing in the state court, the

petitioner maintains that she satisfied the diligence standard.

Third, the petitioner asserts that the presentation of additional

evidence in the federal court is unimpugnable because, under

prevailing jurisprudence, she had the right to augment the record

5
The lawyers did testify during the state court hearing, but
at the Commonwealth's instance.

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on habeas review. See 1 Randy Hertz & James S. Liebman, Federal

Habeas Corpus Practice and Procedure § 20.2b, at 906 n.21 (5th ed.

2005). And, finally, the petitioner argues that the district court

was required to grant her request for an evidentiary hearing under

Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 312-13 (1963).

As a matter of statutory law, we reject the

Commonwealth's importunings. Here, the petitioner adduced

extensive evidence in the state court. The exact manner in which

she elected to make the point is less important than the fact that

she did make the point; her proffer went directly to the merits of

the claims that she later sought to pursue in the federal court

proceedings. We conclude, therefore, that the district court was

not statutorily prohibited from taking evidence on those claims.

See Bryan v. Mullin, 335 F.3d 1207, 1215 (10th Cir. 2003) (holding

federal evidentiary hearing not statutorily barred when petitioner

had sought to develop factual basis for claim in state court);

Matheney v. Anderson, 253 F.3d 1025, 1039 (7th Cir. 2001)

(similar).

The fact that a federal evidentiary hearing was not

statutorily barred does not mean that one was required. The

decision to hold the hearing and the scale and scope of it are

subject to review for abuse of discretion. See Crooker v. United

States, 814 F.2d 75, 76 n.1 (1st Cir. 1987).

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 In this instance, we find the scale and scope of the

hearing problematic. Federal habeas is a collateral proceeding;

particularly after AEDPA, it is not intended to provide a forum in

which to retry state cases. See Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 693

(2002). Consequently, in state prisoner habeas cases in which the

applicant was afforded a full and fair hearing in state court,

federal evidentiary hearings ought to be the exception, not the

rule. See Townsend, 372 U.S. at 314; see also 1 Hertz & Liebman,

supra § 20.1, at 887 n.3 (noting that evidentiary hearings are

allowed in less than 2% of all habeas filings). Even when such a

hearing is thought desirable, restraint should be the watchword.

Here, the state court had conducted a full and fair

evidentiary hearing. Moreover, the federal court's chosen course

of action led to extensive duplication of effort. When a federal

court opts to hold an evidentiary hearing in a state habeas case,

the prototypical purpose should be to fill a gap in the record or

to supplement the record on a specific point.6 See, e.g., López v.

Massachusetts, 480 F.3d 591, 597 (1st Cir. 2007) (approving grant

of federal evidentiary hearing to supplement petitioner's Brady

claim); Guidry v. Dretke, 397 F.3d 306, 324 (5th Cir. 2005)

(approving grant of federal evidentiary hearing when "gaps,

6
For example, such hearings are often useful when the federal
habeas court is asked to consider a claim based on ineffective
assistance of state court counsel. See, e.g., Bryan, 335 F.3d at
1215.

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inconsistencies, and conflicting testimony were not explained, or

even mentioned, in the [state] trial court's [opinion]"); Cooper v.

Picard, 428 F.2d 1351, 1354 (1st Cir. 1970) (remanding for federal

evidentiary hearing to develop facts anent claim of impermissibly

suggestive identification procedures). Here, however, the district

court forsook a circumscribed inquiry and, to all intents and

purposes, fashioned a new and expanded record relative to the

petitioner's state court motion for a new trial.

Where, as here, a federal district court sitting in

habeas jurisdiction essentially replicates the entirety of the

relevant state court evidentiary record, it is on very shaky

ground. See Thatsaphone v. Weber, 137 F.3d 1041, 1046 (8th Cir.

1998) (suggesting that the district court "went beyond its habeas

authority when it heard testimony rehashing what occurred at the

[state court proceeding] and then reweighed the state court's fact

findings"). Both Congress, in passing the AEDPA, and the Supreme

Court, in construing it, have made pellucid that a federal habeas

proceeding should not be used as an occasion for a retrial of the

state court case. See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 104-518, at 111 (1996)

(explaining that the AEDPA was enacted to "curb the abuse of the

statutory writ of habeas corpus" and that it "requires deference to

the determinations of state courts that are neither 'contrary to,'

nor an 'unreasonable application of,' clearly established federal

law" (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1))); see also Williams, 529 U.S.

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at 386 (opinion of Stevens, J.) (discussing Congress's intent "to

prevent 'retrials' on federal habeas").

Although we think that this point is worth making and

that federal habeas courts should proceed with great circumspection

in shaping the contours of evidentiary hearings, we need not decide

in this case whether authorizing and conducting a full-scale

evidentiary hearing constituted an abuse of discretion. The

federal hearing was at the petitioner's instance and for her

benefit. Yet (as we explain below), even taking this additional

evidence and the district court's factual findings fully into

account, the petitioner's claims cannot succeed. Any error in

holding a full-scale evidentiary hearing was, therefore, harmless.

See, e.g., Gonzales v. Quarterman, 458 F.3d 384, 394 (5th Cir.

2006); Greiner v. Wells, 417 F.3d 305, 318 n.15 (2d Cir. 2005).

Accordingly, we bypass the question of whether the district court

abused its discretion and consider its factual findings.

IV. THE COMPETENCE CLAIM

The petitioner's flagship claim is that the district

court erred in determining that she was competent to stand trial in

the state court. The Commonwealth attempts to head off any

substantive consideration of this claim through the interposition

of nonexhaustion and procedural default defenses. Because we may

affirm the district court's denial of habeas relief on any ground

made manifest by the record, see, e.g., United States v. Cabrera-

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Polo, 376 F.3d 29, 31 (1st Cir. 2004); InterGen N.V. v. Grina, 344

F.3d 134, 141 (1st Cir. 2003), we start with this initiative.

A. Exhaustion and Procedural Default.

Principles of comity and federalism push in favor of

giving state courts, without premature federal interference, a

meaningful opportunity to consider, and if necessary to correct,

claims of legal error in state criminal prosecutions. See Vasquez

v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254, 257 (1986). Consequently, federal courts

are, in most instances, barred from granting habeas relief on a

particular claim unless the petitioner has exhausted the remedies

available to her in state court with respect to that claim. See 28

U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A); see also Jackson v. Coalter, 337 F.3d 74,

85-86 (1st Cir. 2003). But exhaustion is a prudential principle

rather than a jurisdictional limitation, so a state may waive the

defense of nonexhaustion. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(3); see also

Granberry v. Greer, 481 U.S. 129, 131 (1987); Strickland v.

Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 684 (1984).

The district court expressed grave doubt that the

petitioner's competence claim had been exhausted in the state

courts. It determined, however, that the Commonwealth had waived

this defense. The court based that determination on the sequence

of events described below.

Shortly after the petitioner docketed her habeas

petition, the Commonwealth moved to dismiss the competence claim

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(among others) as unexhausted. The petitioner opposed the motion.

In support of her opposition, she tendered various briefs that she

had filed with the SJC. After mulling her response, the

Commonwealth moved to withdraw its motion to dismiss. The

withdrawal motion stated in pertinent part: "Having reviewed the[]

materials, undersigned counsel believes that the petitioner is

correct in her assertion that [the] claims presented in Grounds one

through three of her petition have been exhausted." This

concession encompassed the competence claim (ground one in the

habeas petition).

It is hornbook law that waivers of exhaustion will not

lightly be inferred but, rather, must be clear and explicit. See

28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(3) (mandating that state must "expressly" waive

exhaustion); Mercadel v. Cain, 179 F.3d 271, 276 (5th Cir. 1999)

(finding implicit waiver of exhaustion "not determinative" because

waiver must be express). The waiver here satisfies that rigorous

standard; it was unmistakably clear.

Notwithstanding the clarity of the language that it

employed, the Commonwealth now suggests that it did not really

waive its nonexhaustion defense. It tries to justify this

tergiversation by pointing out that the petitioner refined her

competence claim at a later date (when she served a memorandum of

law in support of her habeas petition). Had it been apprised of

the exact dimensions of the competence claim that was embedded in

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ground one of the petition, the Commonwealth protests, it never

would have agreed that the claim was exhausted.

The district court rejected this suggestion. It ruled

that the Commonwealth, which was on notice from the commencement of

the habeas proceedings that the petitioner was raising a competence

claim, had knowingly and voluntarily abandoned the exhaustion

defense. We agree with this assessment.

The habeas petition states, as its first ground for

relief, that the petitioner's conviction was "obtained at trial

where petitioner was unable to meaningfully consult and communicate

effectively with counsel." This language echoes a familiar

formulation of the test for competence to stand trial. See Cooper

v. Oklahoma, 517 U.S. 348, 368 (1996) (emphasizing that a critical

component of competence is the ability to "communicate effectively

with defense counsel"); Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 402

(1960) (per curiam) (defining competence in part as the "present

ability to consult with [a] lawyer with a reasonable degree of

rational understanding"). It put the Commonwealth squarely on

notice that the petitioner was asserting a competence claim — and

the Commonwealth proceeded unreservedly to waive nonexhaustion as

a defense to that claim.

That was game, set, and match. Waiver typically is

thought to be the voluntary relinquishment of a known right. See

United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 733 (1993). It is no secret

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that waivers are strong medicine, not casually to be dispensed. A

party who chooses to waive a defense surrenders that defense as to

the claim asserted and any claim fairly encompassed within it. Cf.

New York v. AMRO Realty Corp., 936 F.2d 1520, 1430 & n.10 (2d Cir.

1991) (holding that in waiving a late-notice defense, insurer

waived that defense as to any claim arising out of the occurrence

in question). In other words, the waiver extends to the claim

stated and any variants of the claim that are readily ascertainable

from the language of the petition or complaint. The waiving party

cannot play the ostrich, burying its head in the sand and

struthiously ignoring that which ought to be obvious.

The competence claim pursued by the petitioner was well

within the compass of the language contained in ground one of the

habeas petition. The fact that the Commonwealth came to regret its

waiver is not a sufficient reason to allow rescission of the

waiver. See, e.g., Dorsey v. Chapman, 262 F.3d 1181, 1187 (11th

Cir. 2001) (declining to allow the state to resurrect exhaustion

defense when it had expressly declined to raise the defense in the

district court, even though the state claimed that its earlier

declination was based on a mistaken belief); Bledsue v. Johnson,

188 F.3d 250, 254 (5th Cir. 1999) (finding that state had waived

nonexhaustion defense by admitting in its original answer that the

petitioner had exhausted state remedies).

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 Nor is the fact that the labeling of the claim changed

over time sufficient to warrant rescission of the waiver; to the

extent that the claim was vague or not specifically identified in

haec verba as a competence claim, it was incumbent upon the waiving

party to use caution in the exercise of the waiver. Cf. In re

Cargill, Inc., 66 F.3d 1256, 1261 (1st Cir. 1995) (declining to

allow retraction of waiver and noting that "litigants ordinarily

are bound by their attorneys' tactical judgments"). Regardless of

the absence of a label, the allegations pointed unerringly to the

issue of competency. We conclude, therefore, that because the

Commonwealth was on clear notice of the petitioner's assertion of

the competence claim, its express and unqualified waiver of the

nonexhaustion defense was effective as to the later iteration of

that claim.

The Commonwealth's defense of procedural default,

initially raised in this court, is too little and too late. A

habeas claim is procedurally defaulted in either of two situations.

First, a claim is procedurally defaulted if the state court has

denied relief on that claim on independent and adequate state

procedural grounds. See Lambrix v. Singletary, 520 U.S. 518, 522-

23 (1997). Second, a claim is procedurally defaulted if it was not

presented to the state courts and it is clear that those courts

would have held the claim procedurally barred. See Coleman v.

Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 735 n.1 (1991); Perruquet v. Briley, 390

-23-
F.3d 505, 514 (7th Cir. 2004). The habeas respondent (here, the

Commonwealth) bears the burden "not only of asserting that a

default occurred, but also of persuading the court that the factual

and legal prerequisites of a default . . . are present." 2 Hertz

& Liebman, supra § 26.2a, at 1265 n.5.

We assume that, as a matter of discretion, we may

consider the Commonwealth's belated assertion of the defense of

procedural default. See Brewer v. Marshall, 119 F.3d 993, 999 (1st

Cir. 1997) (noting that a federal court has discretionary authority

to consider a belatedly raised procedural default defense or even

to raise procedural default sua sponte). Because no state court

has ruled on the petitioner's competence claim, the Commonwealth's

position necessarily hinges on the second branch of the procedural

default defense. It cannot satisfy that standard.

In this case, exhaustion and procedural default are not

completely separate matters. This imbrication is quite important;

in expressly waiving the nonexhaustion defense, the Commonwealth

lost the concomitant right, in the procedural default context, to

assert that the claim was not presented to the state courts. See

Bledsue, 188 F.3d at 254 (concluding that the state had waived this

form of procedural default defense when it admitted that the habeas

petitioner had exhausted his state remedies).

Beyond the waiver, the Commonwealth has not shown that

the competence claim, if presented today in the state courts, would

-24-
be procedurally barred. It off-handedly references a state

procedural rule in support of its procedural default defense — but

that rule cannot carry the weight that the Commonwealth places on

it. The rule provides in part that grounds not raised in an

original motion for a new trial are waived "unless the judge in the

exercise of discretion permits them to be raised in a subsequent

motion." Mass. R. Crim. P. 30(c)(2). Along this line, the SJC has

indicated that, in "extraordinary cases," a motions justice may

invoke Rule 30(c)(2) to consider new issues even after an appeal

has been decided. Commonwealth v. Harrington, 399 N.E.2d 475, 478

(Mass. 1980).

The second branch of the procedural default defense

depends on a high degree of confidence that the state court, if

asked to adjudicate the claim, would declare it to be procedurally

defaulted. See Cassett v. Stewart, 406 F.3d 614, 622-23 (9th Cir.

2005). This is as it should be: a federal court always must be

chary about reaching a conclusion, based upon a speculative

analysis of what a state court might do, that a particular claim is

procedurally foreclosed. See, e.g., Banks v. Horn, 126 F.3d 206,

212-13 (3d Cir. 1997).

We apply those principles here. Given the divers

possibilities that attend this situation, we are uncertain what

procedural course the state trial court would take if asked to rule

-25-
on the competence claim. That uncertainty dooms the procedural

default defense. Id. at 213.

Of course, our double-barreled conclusion that the

Commonwealth waived its nonexhaustion defense and that it cannot

mount a successful procedural default defense does not compel us to

adjudicate the competence claim on the merits. A federal court may

choose, in its sound discretion, to reject a state's waiver of

either nonexhaustion or procedural default. See Granberry, 481

U.S. at 134-35; Earhart v. Johnson, 132 F.3d 1062, 1065 (5th Cir.

1998); cf. Oakes v. United States, 400 F.3d 92, 97 (1st Cir. 2005)

(holding, in a federal prisoner's habeas case under 28 U.S.C. §

2255, that the district court may raise the question of procedural

default even if that defense was waived by the government). In

exercising this discretion, concerns of comity, federalism, and

judicial economy weigh heavily in the balance. See Granberry, 481

U.S. at 134-35 (directing courts of appeals to determine, on a

case-by-case basis, whether valid interests would be served by

returning the case to state court).

Here, we see no reason to turn a blind eye to the

Commonwealth's waiver. Whatever the extent of the state court's

opportunity to adjudicate the competence claim — a matter as to

which the parties vehemently disagree — that court did evaluate the

factual basis upon which the competence claim is premised. With

that in mind, it is difficult to imagine how the interests of

-26-
comity will be disserved by permitting a federal court, taking

cognizance of those factual findings, to resolve the competence

claim on its merits.

To cinch matters, the interests of judicial economy also

will be served by putting the competence claim to rest here and

now. The district court has held an extensive evidentiary hearing,

and there is no way to unring the bell.

To say more on this issue would be to paint the lily.7

For the reasons elucidated above, we hold the Commonwealth to its

express waiver of exhaustion, reject its belated attempt to

interpose a defense of procedural default, and proceed to evaluate

the merits of the petitioner's competence claim.

B. The Merits.

It is common ground that the Due Process Clause of the

Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from prosecuting those who

are not competent to stand trial. See, e.g., Medina v.

California, 505 U.S. 437, 439 (1992). The test for competence is

uncontroversial; the accused, before and during the trial, must

have "sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a

reasonable degree of rational understanding" and must possess "a

7
It is worth noting that, in the end, we find the competence
claim wanting. See infra Part IV(B). When a federal court grants
habeas relief on an unexhausted claim, comity concerns are greater
than when it denies relief on such a claim. See Jones v. Jones,
163 F.3d 285, 299 (5th Cir. 1998); see also 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(2)
(authorizing a federal court to deny unexhausted habeas claims on
the merits).

-27-
rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings

against him." Dusky, 362 U.S. at 402; see United States v.

Pellerito, 878 F.2d 1535, 1544 (1st Cir. 1989).

The petitioner in this case makes a different kind of

competency claim. She does not impugn her capacity to have

understood the nature and import of the proceedings against her and

to have communicated with her counsel on most subjects. She claims

instead that the competence standard was infringed by her inability

to communicate the facts touching upon her abuse to her lawyers.

The state court motions justice questioned her overall credibility.

The district court took a more empathetic view, finding that severe

and pervasive abuse had occurred. But that court, too, rejected the

petitioner's claim, concluding that she had retained the ability to

communicate the abuse to her lawyers in the months leading up to

the trial.

Taking the full sweep of the evidentiary record into

account, see supra Part III, we focus on the district court's

factual findings (rather than those of the state court). That

focus, combined with the absence of a state court decision on the

competence claim, alters the normal AEDPA standard of review and

makes this case procedurally more like a direct criminal appeal.

Thus, we will uphold the district court's determination of

competence made after an evidentiary hearing unless that

determination is clearly erroneous. See United States v. Santos,

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131 F.3d 16, 20 (1st Cir. 1997). That standard is quite

deferential; a finding of fact is clearly erroneous only when, upon

a thorough assessment of the record, the reviewing court is left

with an abiding conviction that a mistake has been made. United

States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395 (1948); Ferrara v.

United States, 456 F.3d 278, 287 (1st Cir. 2006). Given the

independent factfinding that took place here and the intensely

fact-based nature of competency inquiries, see Drope v. Missouri,

420 U.S. 162, 180 (1975), we see no reason to deviate from this

deferential standard of review. See supra Part II.

Of course, an assertion of legal error still engenders de

novo review. See United States v. Wiggin, 429 F.3d 31, 37 (1st

Cir. 2005). Here, however, neither party suggests that the

district court applied an incorrect legal standard in adjudicating

the issue of competence. Consequently, we train the lens of our

inquiry on two matters: the district court's factual findings and

the question of whether those findings supported its ultimate

conclusion.

At the end of the federal evidentiary hearing, the

district court credited large portions of the petitioner's

testimony and found that she had been subject to severe and

pervasive abuse prior to her pretrial incarceration. The court

also found that some emotional abuse had continued during her

immurement. Notwithstanding these (favorable) findings, the court

-29-
concluded that the petitioner had been able, throughout the

pretrial period and the trial itself, to communicate the abuse to

her lawyers, but had made an affirmative decision not to broach

that topic. In the court's view, the petitioner, "at the relevant

times," was not "incapable of choice." Indeed, the petitioner had

a "sufficient and then present ability to consult with her

attorneys" with a reasonable degree of rational understanding.

Therefore, she was competent to stand trial.

The district court's ultimate conclusion is amply

supported by the record. The court picked its way carefully

through a tangled evidentiary thicket. It took issue with some of

the state court's findings, credited much of the petitioner's

testimony, and gave credence to her expert's opinion that she had

experienced battered woman's syndrome. At the same time, however,

the court discounted significant portions of her testimony,

including her claims of abuse suffered as a child, her claim that

she had attempted to raise the issue of abuse with her attorneys at

one point during the state court proceedings, and her various

versions of the events that transpired on the day of the murder.

In the end, the court found that the petitioner had not proved that

an inability to communicate existed at the critical time.

The court was fully entitled to accept parts of the

testimony of the petitioner and her experts yet reject the ultimate

conclusion that they advocated. See Wiggin, 429 F.3d at 37;

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Santos, 131 F.3d at 20-21; see also United States v. Alicea, 205

F.3d 480, 483 (1st Cir. 2000) (explaining that a factfinder "has

the prerogative to credit some parts of a witness's testimony and

disregard other potentially contradictory portions"). Certain

features of this case reinforce that entitlement.

For one thing, the story that the petitioner told at

trial in the state court did not jibe with Loring's account but,

rather, incriminated him. It seems logical to infer that, had the

petitioner been completely under Loring's spell at that time, her

testimony would have been more in tune with his. Cf. State v.

Kelly, 478 A.2d 364, 372 (N.J. 1984) (noting that victims of

battered woman's syndrome have a tendency to accept responsibility

for the batterer's actions).

For another thing, the logistics of the relationship

between Loring and the petitioner were dramatically altered from

and after their arrests. Both he and she were incarcerated for

nearly a year prior to trial. They were housed on separate floors,

and neither of them was free to move at will about the jail. The

petitioner constructed an elaborate theory of how Loring was able

to exert continued dominion over her during this interval and the

district court seems to have bought into that theory. Even so,

Loring's control over Pike plainly was palliated by their lack of

physical proximity. See McMaugh v. State, 612 A.2d 725, 728, 730

(R.I. 1992) (deeming continuous contact relevant to the conclusion

-31-
that battered woman's syndrome rendered defendant unable to

communicate her abuse). The district court's ultimate conclusion

— that the petitioner, during this period, retained the ability to

make a real choice about whether to disclose the details of their

relationship to her counsel — seems to us a tacit recognition that

Loring's control had abated.

Then, too, other straws in the wind pointed to the

petitioner's competency to stand trial. For example, the district

court heard testimony from one of the petitioner's trial attorneys.

This seasoned criminal defense lawyer harbored no doubt about the

petitioner's competence at the time of trial. He reported that the

petitioner responded alertly and appropriately to questions,

testified articulately, and took an active part in her own defense.

This testimony was borne out by the transcript of the state court

trial and by other evidence of the petitioner's active

participation in her defense, including evidence that the

petitioner had written letters to her attorneys during her

incarceration.

The court also heard the testimony of Loring's defense

counsel, who described the petitioner, in the relevant time frame,

as "calm" and "collected." In addition, the Commonwealth adduced

evidence that, as compared to Loring, the petitioner seemed "the

stronger of the two individuals in th[e] situation that they were

both in."

-32-
 Although the petitioner offered explanations to counter

many of these items, the district court was in no way bound either

to accept those explanations or to ignore the Commonwealth's

evidence. In the final analysis, it was wholly within the

factfinder's province to resolve these contradictions and to choose

among the conflicting inferences that the evidence suggested. See

United States v. Gobbi, 471 F.3d 302, 311 (1st Cir. 2006); United

States v. Ortiz, 966 F.2d 707, 713 (1st Cir. 1992).

In an attempt to salvage the competence claim, the

petitioner cites several cases in which battered woman's syndrome

has been the basis for questioning a defendant's competence. See,

e.g., Commonwealth v. Conaghan, 740 N.E.2d 956, 960 (Mass. 2000);

McMaugh, 612 A.2d at 732. This is something of a red herring;

these cases stand for nothing more than the now-unremarkable

proposition that battered woman's syndrome can in certain

circumstances render a criminal defendant incompetent. The

district court recognized this proposition (as do we) but found it

inapplicable in this situation. As we have said, that fact-

specific determination was not clearly erroneous.

That resolves this aspect of the matter. After hearing

extensive testimony — perhaps more than it should have heard, see

supra Part III — and carefully reviewing an amplitudinous record,

the district court made a factual finding that the petitioner, at

and before her trial, had the ability to consult and communicate

-33-
with her counsel and to assist in her defense. That finding may be

arguable, but we have no abiding conviction that it was wrong. The

finding is, therefore, entitled to deference. See Ferrara, 456

F.3d at 287; Wiggin, 429 F.3d at 37. It follows that the district

court did not err in rejecting the competence claim.

V. THE INVOLUNTARY WAIVER CLAIM

We next address the petitioner's claim that the effects

of the abuse, when combined with Loring's continued coercive

control over her, forced her to forgo asserting battered woman's

syndrome as a defense and, thus, violated her constitutional

rights. The petitioner constructs this portion of her argument in

two layers.

The foundation is a line of Supreme Court cases that

speak to an accused's constitutional right to present a defense.

See, e.g., Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44, 51 (1987); Crane v.

Kentucky, 476 U.S. 683, 690 (1986); Chambers v. Mississippi, 410

U.S. 284, 302 (1973); Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 18-19

(1967). But these cases are not directly applicable; the

petitioner's right to present the battered woman's syndrome

defense, if infringed at all, was infringed by Loring, not by the

Commonwealth.

In an effort to overcome this obstacle, the petitioner

adds the next forensic layer. That layer builds on cases which, in

her view, indicate that, even in the absence of state action, the

-34-
right to present a defense may be abridged either by the conduct of

a private party, see, e.g., Nichols v. Butler, 953 F.2d 1550, 1552

(11th Cir. 1992) (en banc); United States v. Teague, 953 F.2d 1525,

1532 (11th Cir. 1992) (en banc); United States v. Butts, 630 F.

Supp. 1145, 1147-49 (D. Me. 1986), or by an accused's own physical

or mental condition, see, e.g., United States v. Ferrarini, 219

F.3d 145, 151 (2d Cir. 2000).

The district court voiced understandable skepticism about

whether involuntary waiver of a particular defense could constitute

a separate habeas claim. This may explain why the court did not

specifically rule on this claim in its ore sponte denial of the

habeas petition. We need not belabor the point. The availability

of the claim as a ground for habeas relief is a question of law —

and one that the state courts did not directly address.

Accordingly, our review is de novo. See Fortini, 257 F.3d at 47.

At first blush, this "involuntary waiver" claim may seem

like nothing more than a recasting of the competence claim. But

competence and voluntariness are separate (though complementary)

inquiries. "The focus of a competency inquiry is the defendant's

mental capacity" whereas the focus of a voluntariness inquiry is on

"whether the defendant actually does understand the significance

and consequences of a particular decision and whether the decision

is uncoerced." Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 401 n.12 (1993).

-35-
 Although the right to present a defense is of

constitutional dimension,8 it is not absolute. See, e.g., Nix v.

Whiteside, 475 U.S. 157, 173 (1986) (recognizing that the right

does not extend to committing perjury). Accordingly, the Supreme

Court has tended to recognize the right in carefully defined

contexts. See, e.g., Crane, 476 U.S. at 690 (finding a violation

of the right when the state precluded the defendant's use of

"competent, reliable evidence . . . central to the defendant's

claim of innocence"); Washington, 388 U.S. at 18-19 (indicating

that a denial of the right to compulsory process would be a denial

of the right to present a defense).

None of this gets the petitioner very far. Unless the

accused's right to present a defense is infringed by state action,

the infringement is not redressable by a federal court charged

with vindicating federal constitutional rights. As a general

proposition, the Fourteenth Amendment protects individuals

exclusively against government action, leaving the conduct of

private parties to regulation by statutory and common law. See,

e.g., Rendell-Baker v. Kohn, 457 U.S. 830, 837 (1982); Logiodice

v. Trs. of Me. Cent. Inst., 296 F.3d 22, 26 (1st Cir. 2002).

8
The petitioner seems uncertain whether the right that she
asserts is rooted directly in the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment or in the Sixth Amendment as applied to the
states through the Fourteenth Amendment. See Petitioner's Br. at
49. Because we find no violation of any cognizable constitutional
right, we need not untangle this knot.

-36-
 This is an unsurmountable barrier to the petitioner's

involuntary waiver claim. In mounting that claim, she does not

assign the Commonwealth any responsibility for thwarting her right

to present a defense.9 She alleges only that Loring, a private

party, interfered with her exercise of that right through his

abusive and coercive behavior. That infringement, even if it

transpired, does not pave the way for federal habeas relief.

The several "private party" cases cited by the

petitioner do not suggest a way around this barrier. Each of

those cases involved coercion by the accused's attorney and turned

on a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel. See Nichols,

953 F.2d at 1552; Teague, 953 F.2d at 1534; Butts, 630 F. Supp. at

1147-49. That is a recognized violation of the Sixth Amendment

right to counsel and, thus, an independent basis for federal

habeas relief. See, e.g., Strickland, 466 U.S. at 686; Ouber v.

9
Although the petitioner cites an occasional case indicating
that trial courts have an affirmative duty to prevent the
involuntary waiver of certain rights, see, e.g., Johnson v. Zerbst,
304 U.S. 458, 464-65 (1938) (discussing waivers of right to
counsel), she has not argued that the state trial court should have
conducted some particularized inquiry in her case; nor does she
identify what would have put the court on notice of the need to
conduct such an inquiry. Where, as here, an appellant has merely
hinted obliquely at an argument but has not advanced it distinctly,
that argument is not in the case. See United States v. Zannino,
895 F.2d 1, 17 (1st Cir. 1990) ("It is not enough merely to mention
a possible argument in the most skeletal way, leaving the court to
do counsel's work, create the ossature for the argument, and put
flesh on its bones.").

-37-
Guarino, 293 F.3d 19, 35-36 (1st Cir. 2002). The petitioner in

this case makes no comparable claim.

The petitioner's contention that a physical or mental

condition, not attributable to state action, may work a violation

of an accused's constitutional right to present a defense is

wishful thinking. The single case that she cites in support of

that proposition is far off the point. In that case, the

defendant argued that the denial of his motion for either a

severance or a continuance following a heart attack deprived him

of his constitutional right to testify. See Ferrarini, 219 F.3d

at 151. As such, the constitutional claim was focused not on the

defendant's physical condition but, rather, on the district

court's decision to forge ahead with the trial despite knowledge

of the defendant's infirmity — a decision that plainly constituted

state action. See Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1, 14 (1948)

(deeming "long [] established" the proposition that the actions of

state courts and judicial officers in their official capacities

constitute state action).

The short of the matter is that the petitioner invites

us to find a constitutional violation (separate and distinct from

ineffective assistance of counsel) in the infringement of an

accused's right to present a defense by a private party alone,

without any awareness (actual or imputed) of that infringement by

-38-
a state actor. We decline her invitation.10 We emphasize that, in

doing so, we do not hold that an infringement of this right by a

private party may never result in a constitutional violation; this

case does not require us to sweep so broadly. We do hold that the

petitioner's involuntary waiver claim, as formulated here, is not

cognizable as a separate and distinct ground for federal habeas

relief.

VI. CONCLUSION

We summarize succinctly. Because the Commonwealth

waived its defense of nonexhaustion and failed to establish a

defense of procedural default, we have considered the merits of

the petitioner's claim that she was incompetent to stand trial in

the state court. We find the district court's fact-bound

rejection of that claim to be supportable.

The petitioner's remaining initiative — her claim of

involuntary waiver — lacks legal footing and, thus, does not open

a separate avenue for federal habeas relief. We need go no

further.

10
It bears mentioning that, even if we were to recognize this
new type of constitutional violation, we would likely be barred
from granting habeas relief on this claim under the familiar
doctrine of Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 310 (1989) (plurality
opinion). For two reasons — because Pike has made a colorable
claim that the Commonwealth waived the Teague issue below and
because the merits of this claim are relatively clear-cut — we have
elected to bypass an in-depth Teague analysis. See Campiti v.
Matesanz, 333 F.3d 317, 321-22 (1st Cir. 2003).

-39-
 We reject both the petitioner's appeal (No. 06-1019) and

the Commonwealth's cross-appeal (No. 06-1020). The judgment of

the district court is affirmed. No costs.

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