FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
May 2, 2011
PUBLISH Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
TENTH CIRCUIT
MICHAEL BASCUM SELSOR,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v. No. 09-5180
RANDALL G. WORKMAN, Warden,
Oklahoma State Penitentiary; DREW
EDMONDSON, Attorney General of
the State of Oklahoma,
Respondents-Appellees.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
(D.C. No. 4:CV-01-00721-CVE-TLW)
Madeline S. Cohen, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Denver, Colorado,
(Raymond P. Moore, Federal Public Defender, Denver, Colorado; Dean
Sanderford, Research & Writing Attorney, Appellate Division, Denver, Colorado;
Gary Peterson, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with her on the briefs), for Petitioner-
Appellant.
Robert L. Whittaker, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division (W. A. Drew
Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma, with him on the brief), Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, for Respondents-Appellees.
Before BRISCOE, Chief Judge, TYMKOVICH and GORSUCH, Circuit Judges.
BRISCOE, Chief Judge.
Petitioner Michael Selsor, an Oklahoma state prisoner convicted of first
degree murder and sentenced to death, appeals the district court’s denial of his 28
U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. Selsor asserts seven issues on appeal: (1) whether
a state appellate ruling allowing the prosecution at his retrial proceedings to seek
the death penalty against him violated his due process rights; (2) whether the
imposition of the death penalty at his retrial proceedings violated his rights under
the Double Jeopardy Clause; (3) whether the state trial court violated his
constitutional rights at the retrial proceedings by instructing the jury as to the
elements of a post-crime first degree murder statute, rather than the elements of
the pre-crime first degree murder statute under which he was originally charged;
(4) whether the imposition of the death penalty at his retrial proceedings violated
his rights under the Equal Protection Clause; (5) whether the prosecution acted
vindictively, in violation of his due process rights, by seeking the death penalty at
his retrial proceedings; (6) whether the penalty phase of his retrial proceedings
was rendered fundamentally unfair by prosecutorial misconduct; and (7) whether
the admission, during the penalty phase of the retrial proceedings, of testimony
from the victim’s family members regarding the appropriate sentence violated his
rights under the Eighth Amendment. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.
2
I
Factual background
The relevant underlying facts of this case were outlined in detail by the
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) in addressing Selsor’s most recent
direct appeal:
At approximately 11:00 p.m. on September 15, 1975, Selsor and
Richard Eugene Dodson robbed the U-TOTE-M convenience store at
5950 33rd West Avenue in Tulsa. Selsor and Dodson entered the
store, each armed with a .22 caliber handgun. Employee Clayton
Chandler was working at the cash register. Selsor approached
Chandler, pulled his gun, and demanded the contents of the register.
Dodson located employee Ina Morris, who was restocking the
walk-in cooler. Dodson pointed his gun at her and ordered her to get
down. Morris replied, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Dodson then
fired a shot striking Morris in the shoulder.
Chandler loaded a sack with money and handed it to Selsor, who
then shot Chandler several times in the chest killing him. Upon
hearing the shots, Dodson emptied his weapon through the cooler
door at Morris. Morris was shot in the head, neck and shoulder, but
survived. Selsor and Dodson then fled.
On September 22, 1975, Selsor and Dodson were arrested in
Santa Barbara, California. Selsor confessed this and other crimes to
Detective John Evans of the Santa Barbara Police Department. In his
confession, Selsor admitted that before entering the store, he and
Dodson had agreed to leave no witnesses.
Selsor v. State (Selsor II), 2 P.3d 344, 347-48 (Okla. Crim. App. 2000) (internal
paragraph numbers omitted).
Selsor’s original trial and direct appeal
Following his arrest, Selsor “was charged in the District Court, Tulsa
3
County, with the offenses of Armed Robbery, CRF-75-2183; Shooting With Intent
to Kill, CRF-75-2182; and, Murder in the First Degree, CRF-75-2181, After
Former Conviction of a Felony.” Selsor v. State (Selsor I), 562 P.2d 926, 927
(Okla. Crim. App. 1977). The case proceeded to trial in January 1976, and Selsor
“was tried conjointly with co-defendant . . . Dodson.” 1 Id. “A guilty verdict was
returned as to all three charges [against Selsor], punishment being assessed at
death for Murder in the First Degree; twenty (20) years’ imprisonment for
Shooting With Intent to Kill; and, twenty-five (25) years’ imprisonment for
Armed Robbery.” 2 Id.
Selsor filed a direct appeal challenging his convictions and sentences. On
April 6, 1977, the OCCA issued a published decision affirming all of Selsor’s
convictions, as well as the sentences imposed for the Shooting With Intent to Kill
and Armed Robbery convictions. The OCCA, however, modified Selsor’s death
sentence to life imprisonment. In doing so, the OCCA concluded, consistent with
its then-recent decision in Riggs v. Branch, 554 P.2d 823 (Okla. Crim. App.
1976), that the Oklahoma death penalty statute under which Selsor was sentenced,
Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 701.3 (1973), was unconstitutional. Selsor I, 562 P.2d at
1
Both defendants were represented, over their respective objections, by the
same two lawyers from the Tulsa County public defender’s office. As discussed
below, that joint representation was ultimately the basis for this court’s 1996
decision to grant a writ of habeas corpus in Selsor’s favor.
2
Dodson was acquitted of first degree murder, but convicted of the other
two charges.
4
927.
Selsor’s first application for state post-conviction relief
On November 8, 1978, Selsor filed a pro se application for post-conviction
relief in state district court. The application asserted a single claim for relief
from his convictions, i.e., that “THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY REQUIRING
[Dodson] AND [Selsor] TO, OVER [their] OBJECTION, BE TRIED JOINTLY
WITH THE SAME COUNSEL FROM THE PUBLIC DEFENDERS OFFICE.” S.
R., Vol. I at 160. On February 28, 1980, the state district court denied Selsor’s
application, noting that Selsor’s claim had previously been rejected by the OCCA
on direct appeal. The state district court’s denial of post-conviction relief was
affirmed by the OCCA on June 12, 1980.
Selsor’s second application for state post-conviction relief
“On July 3, 1989, Selsor filed a second application for post-conviction
relief in state court.” 3 Selsor v. Kaiser (Kaiser II), 81 F.3d 1492, 1496 (10th Cir.
1996). “That application was denied on July 24, 1989, and that ruling was
affirmed by the [OCCA] in an unpublished order on August 18, 1989.” Id.
Selsor’s first federal habeas proceedings
In October of 1991, Selsor filed a pro se petition for federal habeas relief
3
The records from this proceeding were not included in the record before
us, and Selsor’s own brief, when referring to these proceedings, contains no
citations to the record. Thus, it is unclear precisely what claim or claims Selsor
asserted in his second application for state post-conviction relief.
5
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the United States District Court for the Western
District of Oklahoma. Selsor v. Kaiser (Kaiser I), 22 F.3d 1029, 1031 (10th Cir.
1994). Selsor’s petition asserted “two grounds for relief: (1) he was denied his
Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel because of his
attorney’s conflict of interest—i.e., the same attorney represented both [Selsor]
and Dodson; and (2) the separate convictions and sentences for felony murder and
the underlying felony—i.e., armed robbery, violated the Double Jeopardy Clause
of the Fifth Amendment.” Id. The district court denied Selsor’s petition on
December 4, 1992. Id. In doing so, the district court addressed and rejected the
ineffective assistance claim on the merits, but concluded that Selsor’s double
jeopardy claim was procedurally barred.
Selsor appealed the district court’s ruling to this court. This court
appointed a federal public defender to represent Selsor. On May 2, 1994, this
court issued a published opinion reversing the decision of the district court and
remanding for further proceedings. More specifically, this court concluded “that
the district court applied the incorrect legal standard” to Selsor’s Sixth
Amendment claim, id. at 1033, and thus remanded the case to the district court to
“determine whether: (1) [Selsor]’s objection at trial to the joint representation was
timely, and, if so, (2) whether the trial court took ‘adequate steps to ascertain
whether the risk [of a conflict of interest] was too remote to warrant separate
counsel,’” id. at 1033-34 (quoting Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 484
6
(1978)).
“On remand the district [court] concluded that Selsor’s objection to the
joint representation was timely.” Kaiser II, 81 F.3d at 1496. “However, [the
district court] held that the state trial court made an adequate inquiry into the
possibility of a conflict of interest . . . .” Id. Thus, the district court “denied
Selsor’s petition.” Id.
Selsor appealed again to this court. On April 8, 1996, this court issued a
published opinion (Kaiser II) reversing the district court’s ruling. In doing so,
this court held “there was an actual conflict of interest that adversely affected
counsel’s performance on behalf of Selsor,” resulting in “violations of Selsor’s
Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to effective assistance of counsel.” Id. at
1506. Accordingly, this court remanded the case to the district court “with
directions to enter judgment invalidating Selsor’s convictions . . . , but providing
that such judgment [wa]s without prejudice to further proceedings by the state for
retrial of [Selsor] within a reasonable time.” Id.
Selsor’s new trial
The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office initiated retrial proceedings in
May of 1996. On August 6, 1996, the prosecution filed a Bill of Particulars
alleging that Selsor “should be punished by Death” for “the offense of Murder in
the First Degree, as charged in the [original] Information,” as a result of the
following aggravating circumstances: (1) “[t]he Defendant knowingly created a
7
great risk of death to more than one person”; (2) “[t]he murder was especially
heinous, atrocious, or cruel”; (3) “[t]he murder was committed for the purpose of
avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution”; and (4) “[t]he existence of
a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that
would constitute a continuing threat to society.” S. R., Vol. I at 191.
Selsor moved to strike the Bill of Particulars, arguing that “[a]llowing the
State to seek the death penalty against [him would] violate[] the prohibition
against ex post facto laws and expose [him] to more severe punishment than was
lawful at the time [he] committed the alleged crime” of Murder in the First
Degree. Id., Vol. II at 203. On July 20, 1997, on the eve of trial, the state trial
court denied Selsor’s motion. Selsor immediately petitioned the OCCA for a writ
of mandamus and obtained from that court a stay of the impending trial. Id. at
288. On October 14, 1997, the OCCA issued a published decision affirming the
trial court’s decision. Selsor v. Turnbull, 947 P.2d 579 (Okla. Crim. App. 1997).
In doing so, the OCCA expressly overturned its decision in Riggs (which
concluded, in pertinent part, that the death penalty statutes enacted by the
Oklahoma Legislature in 1976 changed the burden of proof to the detriment of
criminal defendants, as compared to the burden of proof under the 1973 first
degree murder statute), and then concluded that the filing of a Bill of Particulars
under the contemporaneous death penalty statutes (i.e., statutes enacted in 1976
that remained effective in 1997) did not violate the prohibition against ex post
8
facto laws or implicate the Equal Protection Clause. Id. at 583.
Following the OCCA’s decision, Selsor’s retrial began on February 2,
1998. At the outset, Selsor’s counsel moved to dismiss the charges against
Selsor, arguing that the Information, which was filed in 1975 and which charged
Selsor under the language of the 1973 first degree murder statute, alleged both
“that . . . Selsor with premeditated design effect[ed] the death of Clayton
Chandler and during the course of a robbery with firearms did kill Clayton
Chandler.” Tr., Vol. IV at 738. The state trial court overruled Selsor’s motion.
Id. at 739 (“I think that the Information, albeit old, properly informs Mr. Selsor of
the charge that is against him.”). At the conclusion of the government’s first-
stage evidence, the jury found Selsor guilty of the three charges against him, i.e.,
murder in the first degree, shooting with intent to kill, and robbery with firearms.
The second-stage proceedings began following a short recess. To prove the
four alleged aggravating circumstances, the prosecution presented evidence that
Selsor and Dodson committed four similar armed robberies shortly prior to the
robbery of the Tulsa U-TOTE-M convenience store, two of which involved the
actual use of violence against store clerks (specifically the shooting of one clerk
by Selsor and the stabbing of another clerk by Dodson). The prosecution also
presented evidence establishing that Selsor attempted to escape from prison in
December 1984. Lastly, the prosecution presented testimony from the widow and
daughter of Clayton Chandler, the murder victim in the case, and from Ina Morris,
9
the store clerk wounded by Dodson during the robbery. All three of these
witnesses read into the record victim impact statements they had prepared prior to
trial. As part of their testimony, each of these three witnesses testified that they
agreed with the District Attorney’s recommended sentence of death.
Selsor in turn presented testimony from a data entry clerk employed by the
Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department, who testified that during the nineteen months
Selsor was confined in the Tulsa County Jail awaiting retrial, Selsor had no write-
ups of any kind. Selsor also presented testimony from four current or former
Oklahoma Department of Corrections employees, all of whom knew Selsor
because of their contact with him during his post-trial incarceration. All four of
these witnesses testified, in pertinent part, that, despite their being generally in
favor of the death penalty, they disagreed with the District Attorney’s
recommended sentence of death for Selsor.
At the conclusion of the second-stage evidence, the jury found the
existence of two of the four aggravating circumstances alleged by the prosecution:
that Selsor knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person, and
that the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding and preventing a
lawful arrest. In turn, the jury fixed Selsor’s punishment at death for the first
degree murder conviction. As for the other two counts of conviction, the jury
recommended life imprisonment for the shooting with intent to kill conviction,
and twenty years’ imprisonment for the robbery with firearms conviction.
10
The state trial court entered judgment consistent with the verdicts on May
6, 1998. The judgment stated, in pertinent part, that Selsor was found guilty of
“MURDER, 1st DEGREE,” in violation of “21-701.7,” the 1976 murder statute
enacted by the Oklahoma state legislature. S. R., Vol. III at 436.
Selsor’s direct appeal from the new trial
Selsor appealed his convictions and sentence to the OCCA. On May 10,
2000, the OCCA issued a published opinion affirming Selsor’s first degree
murder conviction and death sentence, as well as Selsor’s shooting with intent to
kill conviction and related sentence of life imprisonment, but reversing the
conviction and sentence for robbery with firearms and remanding to the state trial
court with instructions to dismiss that charge. Selsor II, 2 P.3d at 346. More
specifically, the OCCA concluded that the robbery with firearms conviction “must
be dismissed based upon double jeopardy because all the elements of Robbery
with Firearms are included within the elements of the First Degree Murder
pursuant to the 1973 statute.” Id. at 351. Selsor filed a petition for writ of
certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. That petition was denied on
May 21, 2001. Selsor v. Oklahoma, 532 U.S. 1039 (2001).
The instant federal habeas proceedings
Selsor initiated the instant federal habeas proceedings on October 3, 2001,
by filing a motion for appointment of counsel. The district court granted Selsor’s
motion and, on May 20, 2002, Selsor’s appointed counsel filed a petition for writ
11
of habeas corpus on Selsor’s behalf asserting eighteen grounds for relief.
Respondent filed a response to the petition, as well as a certified copy of the
relevant state court records.
On September 29, 2009, the district court issued an opinion and order
denying Selsor’s petition in its entirety. On that same date, the district court
entered judgment in favor of respondent and against Selsor. Following the entry
of an amended judgment on November 24, 2009, Selsor moved for a certificate of
appealability with respect to nine issues. The district court granted Selsor’s
motion. Of the nine issues on which a COA was granted, Selsor has since filed
appellate pleadings addressing seven of those issues.
II
A. Standard of review
Because Selsor filed his federal habeas petition after April 24, 1996, the
effective date of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
(AEDPA), AEDPA’s provisions govern these proceedings. Snow v. Sirmons, 474
F.3d 693, 696 (10th Cir. 2007). Under AEDPA, the standard of review applicable
to a particular claim depends upon how that claim was resolved by the state
courts. Id.
If a claim was addressed on the merits by the state courts, we may not grant
federal habeas relief on the basis of that claim unless the state court decision “was
contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established
12
Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States,” 28 U.S.C.
§ 2254(d)(1), or “was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light
of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding,” id. § 2254(d)(2). “When
reviewing a state court’s application of federal law, we are precluded from issuing
the writ simply because we conclude in our independent judgment that the state
court applied the law erroneously or incorrectly.” McLuckie v. Abbott, 337 F.3d
1193, 1197 (10th Cir. 2003). “Rather, we must be convinced that the application
was also objectively unreasonable.” Id. “This standard does not require our
abject deference, . . . but nonetheless prohibits us from substituting our own
judgment for that of the state court.” Snow, 474 F.3d at 696 (internal quotation
marks omitted).
If a claim was not resolved by the state courts on the merits and is not
otherwise procedurally barred, our standard of review is more searching. That is,
because § 2254(d)’s deferential standards of review do not apply in such
circumstances, we review the district court’s legal conclusions de novo and its
factual findings, if any, for clear error. McLuckie, 337 F.3d at 1197.
B. Analysis
1. Due process violation - OCCA’s overruling of Riggs
Selsor contends, in Proposition One of his appellate brief, that the OCCA in
Turnbull violated the Ex Post Facto Clause as applied to judicial decisions
through the Due Process Clause by overruling its decision in Riggs and allowing
13
the prosecution at the retrial proceedings to seek the death penalty against him.
a) Background information
On June 29, 1972, the United States Supreme Court held that a Georgia
state statute that allowed for unbridled jury discretion in the imposition of death
sentences violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Furman v. Georgia,
408 U.S. 238, 240 (1972); id. at 309-10 (Stewart, J., concurring); id. at 313
(White, J., concurring). In the wake of Furman, states generally responded in one
of two ways. Some, like Georgia, “legislated standards to guide jury discretion”
in the imposition of the death penalty. Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S.
280, 299 (1976). Others “adopted mandatory measures” requiring the imposition
of the death penalty for any person convicted of first degree murder (although the
states doing so adopted differing definitions of the crime of first degree murder).
Id.
Oklahoma fell into the latter camp. In 1973, the Oklahoma Legislature
adopted a statutory scheme that mandated imposition of the death penalty for
anyone convicted of first degree murder, and defined first degree murder as
follows:
Homicide, when perpetrated without authority of law and with a
premeditated design to effect the death of the person killed, or of any
other human being, is murder in the first degree in the following
cases:
1. When perpetrated against any peace officer, prosecuting
attorney, corrections employee or fireman engaged in the
performance of his official duties;
14
2. When perpetrated by one committing or attempting to commit
rape, kidnapping for the purpose of extortion, arson in the first
degree, armed robbery or when death occurs following the sexual
molestation of a child under the age of sixteen (16) years;
3. When perpetrated against any witness subpoenaed to testify at
any preliminary hearing, trial or grand jury proceeding against the
defendant who kills or procures the killing of the witness, or when
perpetrated against any human being while intending to kill such
witness;
4. When perpetrated against the President or Vice President of
the United States of America, any official in the line of succession to
the Presidency of the United States of America, the Governor or
Lieutenant Governor of this state, a judge of any appellate court or
court of record of this state, or any person actively engaged in a
campaign for the office of the Presidency or Vice Presidency of the
United States of America;
5. When perpetrated by any person engaged in the pirating of an
aircraft, train, bus or other commercial vehicle for hire which
regularly transports passengers;
6. When perpetrated by a person who effects the death of a
human being in exchange for money or any other thing of value, or
by the person procuring the killing;
7. Murder by a person under a sentence of life imprisonment in
the penitentiary;
8. When perpetrated against two or more persons arising out of
the same transaction or occurrence or series of events closely related
in time and location;
9. When perpetrated against a child while in violation of Section
843, Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
10. Intentional murder by the unlawful and malicious use of a
bomb or of any similar explosive.
Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 701.1 (1973).
These state legislative responses to Furman in turn led to new court
challenges. On July 2, 1976, the United States Supreme Court issued a trio of
decisions addressing the two general types of revised death penalty schemes. In
Woodson, 428 U.S. at 305, and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325, 336 (1976),
15
the Court held that mandatory death penalty schemes adopted by North Carolina
and Louisiana, i.e., schemes under which a person convicted of first degree
murder was automatically sentenced to death without consideration of the
defendant’s character and record or of the circumstances of the particular offense,
violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. In the third decision issued that
day, Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), the Court held that Georgia’s post-
Furman death penalty scheme, which provided for bifurcated capital trial
proceedings, set forth specific procedures guiding the sentencing judge or jury in
its selection of an appropriate sentence (including the consideration of
aggravating and mitigating circumstances), and mandated expedited direct review
by the Georgia Supreme Court “of the appropriateness of imposing the sentence
of death in the particular case,” id. at 166, survived Eighth Amendment scrutiny.
Id. at 187, 207. In doing so, the Court held that “the concerns expressed in
Furman that the penalty of death not be imposed in an arbitrary or capricious
manner can be met by a carefully drafted statute that ensures that the sentencing
authority is given adequate information and guidance,” and that “[a]s a general
proposition these concerns are best met by a system that provides for a bifurcated
proceeding at which the sentencing authority is apprised of the information
relevant to the imposition of sentence and provided with standards to guide its use
of the information.” Id. at 195.
Four days later, on July 6, 1976, the Supreme Court applied its decisions in
16
Woodson and Roberts and reversed six Oklahoma capital cases that were pending
before it. Williams v. Oklahoma, 428 U.S. 907 (1976); Justus v. Oklahoma, 428
U.S. 907 (1976); Rowbotham v. Oklahoma, 428 U.S. 907 (1976); Lusty v.
Oklahoma, 428 U.S. 907 (1976); Green v. Oklahoma, 428 U.S. 907 (1976); Davis
v. Oklahoma, 428 U.S. 907 (1976). In doing so, the Supreme Court held that
“[t]he imposition and carrying out of the death penalty under the law of
Oklahoma constitute[d] cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth
and Fourteenth Amendments.” Williams, 428 U.S. at 907.
The Oklahoma legislature responded to these Supreme Court decisions by
calling a special session, repealing the 1973 statute, and enacting, effective July
24, 1976, new first and second degree murder statutes. Importantly, for purposes
of the instant appeal, the new statutes effectively expanded the definition of first
degree murder by defining it in the following manner:
A. A person commits murder in the first degree when he
unlawfully and with malice aforethought causes the death of another
human being. Malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take
away the life of a human being, which is manifested by external
circumstances capable of proof.
B. A person also commits the crime of murder in the first degree
when he takes the life of a human being, regardless of malice, in the
commission of forcible rape, robbery with a dangerous weapon,
kidnapping, escape from lawful custody, first degree burglary or first
degree arson.
Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 701.7 (1976). In other words, in contrast to the 1973 murder
statute, which defined first degree murder to require both malice aforethought and
17
commission of the murder in one of several specified circumstances, the 1976
statute defined first degree murder to require only malice aforethought or
commission of the murder during one of several enumerated felonies.
The OCCA first addressed these judicial and legislative events in its Riggs
decision issued on September 2, 1976. The petitioner in Riggs had been charged
with first degree murder under Oklahoma’s 1973 death penalty statute. However,
that charge was filed on July 9, 1976, three days after the Supreme Court held
Oklahoma’s 1973 death penalty statute to be unconstitutional. Immediately after
the charge was filed, Riggs responded by filing a petition for writ of habeas
corpus with the state trial court “alleging that the Supreme Court . . . had declared
Oklahoma’s First Degree Murder Statute unconstitutional and thus he was being
illegally restrained.” Riggs, 554 P.2d at 824. After the state trial court denied the
petition, Riggs appealed to the OCCA. The OCCA noted at the outset that its task
was
to determine the status of those defendants either charged or having
committed the crime of Murder in the First Degree or Murder in the
Second Degree, and those defendants convicted of said offenses prior
to the effective date of our new [1976] murder statutes. We find it
appropriate to move with the necessary speed to clarify and attempt
to fill what has been termed “the apparent void” in our Murder law
prior to the effective date of our new homicide murder statute.
Id. at 825. Continuing, the OCCA noted that
[t]his determination [wa]s mandatory as to that class of defendants
charged with or committing homicide murder prior to the effective
date of our new statute; they cannot be tried under the new statute, as
18
the evidentiary burden of proof under it ha[d] been changed to their
detriment. * * * To [hold] otherwise in th[is] situation[] would be to
violate the ex post facto provision of the Constitution of the United
States, Article 1, Section 10. * * * For this reason the new homicide
murder statute cannot be applied retroactively by judicial
construction.
Id. (emphasis added).
The OCCA then addressed “the status of those defendants . . . convicted of
First Degree Murder and sentenced to death prior to the enactment of the new
[1976] statute.” Id. “A threshold inquiry in resolving the status of th[is] class[]
of defendants,” id., the OCCA held, was “to examine the effect of the Supreme
Court decisions upon the Oklahoma homicide murder statutes,” id. at 825-26.
Citing the Supreme Court’s post-Woodson and Roberts reversal of the six pending
Oklahoma capital cases, the OCCA “conclude[d] the death penalty as provided in
21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.3 [(the 1973 death penalty statute)], ha[d] been
effectively stricken from [the] statute, which [itself had been] repealed.” Id. at
827. However, the OCCA in turn concluded that “the remaining provisions of
[Oklahoma’s 1973] homicide murder statute remain[ed] in effect after the striking
of the death penalty provision.” Id. The OCCA then addressed “what
constitute[d] the appropriate constitutionally permissible punishment which
should befall [defendants] . . . convicted of murder in the first degree, or . . .
committing the offense of murder in the first degree prior to 12:01 a.m. of July
24, 1976[, the date the 1976 murder statute became effective].” Id. at 828.
19
Noting that a section of the 1973 murder statute authorized the OCCA to exercise
its discretion and modify a sentence of death, the OCCA concluded “that the
alternative sentence [that could] be imposed against those individuals convicted
of murder in the first degree prior to the effective date of [the] new murder
homicide statute [wa]s life imprisonment.” Id. at 829. As for “individual[s]
committing, but not convicted of, the crime of murder in the first degree prior to
12:01 a.m., July 24, 1976,” the OCCA held, “the appropriate penalty for murder
in the first degree [wa]s ‘life in the penitentiary at hard labor,’ under the 1973
statute.” Id.
On June 17, 1977, approximately nine months after the issuance of Riggs,
the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbert v. Florida, 432 U.S. 196 (1977).
The petitioner in Dobbert was a Florida state prisoner convicted of two murders
and sentenced to death. “The murders of which petitioner was convicted were
alleged to have occurred” in late 1971 and early 1972. Id. at 288. “During that
period of time, Fla. Stat. Ann. §§ 775.082 (1971) and 921.141 (Supp.1971-1972),
as then written, provided that a person convicted of a capital felony was to be
punished by death unless the verdict included a recommendation of mercy by a
majority of the jury.” Id. “[O]n July 17, 1972, . . . the Florida Supreme Court
found the 1971 Florida death penalty statutes inconsistent with Furman.” Id.
“Late in 1972 Florida enacted a new death penalty procedure,” id., under which
the trial judge, after considering the recommendation of a sentencing jury, was
20
required to “weigh eight aggravating factors against seven statutory mitigating
factors to determine whether the death penalty should be imposed,” Proffitt v.
Florida, 428 U.S. 242, 242 (1976). 4 The petitioner in Dobbert “argue[d] that the
change in the role of the judge and jury in the imposition of the death sentence in
Florida between the time of the first-degree murder [he committed] and the time
of [his] trial constitute[d] an ex post facto violation.” 432 U.S. at 292 (italics in
original). The Supreme Court rejected this argument, however, “conclud[ing] that
the changes in the law [we]re procedural, and on the whole ameliorative, and that
there [wa]s no ex post facto violation.” Id. (italics in original). More
specifically, the Supreme Court noted that “[t]he new statute simply altered the
methods employed in determining whether the death penalty was to be imposed;
there was no change in the quantum of punishment attached to the crime.” Id. at
293-94. The petitioner also asserted a “second ex post facto claim,” i.e., “that at
the time he” committed the murders “there was no death penalty ‘in effect’ in
Florida . . . because the earlier statute enacted by the legislature was, after the
time he acted, found by the Supreme Court of Florida to be invalid under . . .
Furman . . . .” Id. at 297 (italics in original). In other words, petitioner argued,
4
It is significant to note that although the Florida legislature in late 1972
altered the state’s procedural scheme for imposition of the death penalty, it did
not substantially alter the pre-existing definition of murder in the first degree.
See Fla. Stat. § 782.04 (2010), Amendment Notes (explaining historical changes
to statute).
21
“there was no ‘valid’ death penalty in effect in Florida as of the date of his
actions.” Id. The Supreme Court disagreed, stating that petitioner’s “sophistic
argument mock[ed] the substance of the Ex Post Facto Clause.” Id. (italics in
original). According to the Court, “the existence of the [first degree murder]
statute served as an ‘operative fact’ to warn the petitioner of the penalty which
Florida would seek to impose on him if he were convicted of first-degree
murder,” and [t]his was sufficient compliance with the ex post facto provision of
the United States Constitution.” Id. at 298 (italics in original).
The final relevant piece of procedural history occurred in 1997. At that
time, Selsor was being retried in state court pursuant to this court’s decision in
Kaiser II. Selsor moved to strike the Bill of Particulars filed by the prosecution,
arguing that “[a]llowing the State to seek the death penalty against [him would]
violate[] the prohibition against ex post facto laws and expose [him] to more
severe punishment than was lawful at the time [he] committed the alleged crime”
of Murder in the First Degree. S. R., Vol. II at 203. The state trial court denied
Selsor’s motion, and Selsor immediately petitioned the OCCA for a writ of
mandamus. On October 14, 1997, the OCCA issued its decision in Turnbull and,
at the urging of the prosecution, expressly overturned its decision in Riggs. In
doing so, the OCCA stated:
Riggs was decided during the chaos caused when the United
States Supreme Court overturned the death penalty statutes of several
states, and during the scramble by those states to ensure there were
22
constitutional penalty provisions in place for the offense of Murder
in the First Degree. Riggs, 554 P.2d at 824-25 nn.1-3. This Court
attempted to analyze United States Supreme Court precedent in effect
at the time, and determined that Riggs, and other defendants who had
committed homicide murder while the statutes with unconstitutional
death penalty provisions were in effect, could not be tried under
newly enacted statutes. Riggs, 554 P.2d at 825. This Court found
the evidentiary burden of proof under the newly enacted statutes had
been changed to the detriment of Riggs and the other defendants, and
to apply the newly enacted statutes to them would be to violate the
ex post facto provisions of the Constitution of the United States. Id.
After this Court attempted to construe federal ex post facto law in
Riggs, the United States Supreme Court directly addressed the issue
of whether the ex post facto clause prohibited the application, of
newly enacted statutes for imposing the death penalty, to defendants
whose crimes were committed prior to the enactment of the new
statutes. Dobbert v. Florida, 432 U.S. 282, 97 S.Ct. 2290, 53
L.Ed.2d 344 (1977). In its ex post facto analysis, the Supreme Court
compared the newly enacted statutes to the statutes in effect on the
date the crime was committed, even though the old statutes, like
Section 701.3, had been declared unconstitutional. The United States
Supreme Court held the changes in death penalty statutes were
procedural and on the whole ameliorative, and could be applied
retroactively without an ex post facto violation. Id.
In different contexts, this Court has adopted and applied the
reasoning and analysis of Dobbert. Cartwright v. State, 778 P.2d 479
(Okl.Cr.1989). This Court has acknowledged an ex post facto
argument is not won by proving disadvantage alone. Cartwright, 778
P.2d at 482. In addition, the true focus of ex post facto analysis is on
(1) the elements of the offense, (2) the conditions and quantum of
punishment, and (3) the quantity and degree of proof necessary to
establish guilt. Id.
Contrary to Petitioner’s arguments, there was a death penalty
statute in effect in 1975, and on the date his crime was committed, in
the form of 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.3. Contrary to this Court’s
analysis in Riggs, the newly enacted death penalty statutes did not
change the burden of proof to the detriment of Riggs and other
defendants, as compared to the burden of proof under Section 701.3.
23
Under Section 701.3, the only available sentence was death. Under
newly enacted death penalty statutes, the sentencing options
increased in favor of a defendant to include not only death but also
the possibility of life imprisonment, and now life without parole. 21
O.S.Supp.1976, §§ 701.9 and 701.10; 21 O.S.1991, § 701.9, and
Supp.1996, § 701.10. Under Section 701.3, the State was only
required to prove the elements of the crime of First Degree Murder.
Once those elements were proven, the State had no further burden of
proof because the death penalty was required. Under newly enacted
death penalty statutes, the State not only must prove the same
elements of the crime of First Degree Murder, but also must prove
aggravating circumstances before the death penalty can be imposed.
Id. Therefore, newly enacted death penalty statutes (1) did not
increase the elements of the offense of First Degree Murder, (2) did
not increase but in fact decreased the conditions and quantum of
punishment, and (3) did not decrease but in fact increased the
quantity and degree of proof necessary to establish guilt, and are not
ex post facto. Dobbert, supra; Cartwright, supra. The ex post facto
analysis and the holdings thereunder in Riggs v. Branch, 554 P.2d
823 (Okl.Cr.1976) are hereby overturned.
Ex post facto analysis only applies to legislative enactments,
however, changes in the law by judicial construction, such as
overturning Riggs, implicates the Due Process Clause and requires
consideration of ex post facto principles. Cartwright, 778 P.2d at
482. This Court has previously addressed the retroactive application
of a judicial interpretation of a statute, which changed the law thus
allowing independent reweighing of aggravating and mitigating
circumstances and denying defendants automatic modification of a
death sentence to life imprisonment, and found the Due Process
Clause was not violated under an ex post facto analysis. Castro v.
State, 749 P.2d 1146 (Okl.Cr.1987), cert. denied 485 U.S. 971, 108
S.Ct. 1248, 99 L.Ed.2d 446 (1988). Similarly, the change in law by
judicial decision that Riggs should be overturned does not violate the
Due Process Clause or ex post facto principles, because it does not
change the crime for which Petitioner is charged, increase the
punishment prescribed therefor, or increase the quantity or degree of
proof necessary to establish his guilt. Castro, 749 P.2d at 1151.
Petitioner’s equal protection claim can be easily and summarily
disposed of. Petitioner is simply no longer similarly situated to those
24
defendants subject to Oklahoma’s unconstitutional death penalty
statute, 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.3, or to those defendants whose
sentences were modified in accordance with Riggs. Petitioner’s
Judgment and Sentence has been vacated and he stands before this
Court, similarly situated to defendants awaiting trial under current
murder and death penalty statutes. Dobbert, 432 U.S. at 301, 97
S.Ct. at 2302, 53 L.Ed.2d at 361; see also Cheatham v. State, 900
P.2d 414, 428-30 (Okl.Cr.1995).
Finally, we reject Petitioner’s claim that to subject him to the
death penalty, because his Sixth Amendment right to effective
assistance of counsel was violated, flies in the face of due process.
Petitioner has not supported this claim with citation to any authority.
Rule 3.5(C)(4), Rules [of the Court of Criminal Appeals]. Moreover,
if a defendant has not been acquitted of the death penalty and his
conviction and sentence are reversed on appeal or collateral
proceedings, the slate is wiped clean and a defendant may be
subjected to any punishment authorized by law, including death.
Salazar v. State, 919 P.2d 1120, 1127 (Okl.Cr.1996). Finally,
subjecting Petitioner to the death penalty does not appear to be
punishment for Petitioner’s successful attack on his Judgment and
Sentence, but merely an application of the correct law, and/or a
correction of the applicable law. See Stafford v. State, 800 P.2d 738,
740 (Okl.Cr.1990).
947 P.2d at 582-83.
b) Selsor’s arguments
Selsor contends that “the OCCA both unreasonably applied clearly
established federal law and deprived [him] of due process” when, in Turnbull, it
“constru[ed] its 1976 decision in Riggs[] to mean something no reasonable person
would have understood that case to mean, overruling this purported holding, and
applying the overruling retroactively to [him], thereby permitting the State to
obtain a death sentence against him.” Aplt. Br. at 21-22. In support, Selsor
25
contends that “Riggs held that even if someone in [his] position were retried for
murder, he faced a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.” Id. at 22.
According to Selsor, he “reasonably relied on [Riggs] when he pursued post-
conviction relief,” believing he could not again be subjected to a sentence of
death. Id. Selsor argues that the OCCA’s “Turnbull decision, overruling Riggs,
was both unforeseeable and indefensible” because “Riggs had stood unchallenged
for two decades, had produced the very result the State requested in that case, had
provided the basis for [his] life sentence, and had been cited only with approval
by the OCCA.” Id. In turn, Selsor contends that “[t]he due process question . . .
is whether [he] had fair warning when he collaterally attacked his unconstitutional
conviction that he could be resentenced to death if he secured a new trial.” Id. at
33.
c) Clearly established federal law applicable to the issue
Selsor contends, citing Bouie v. City of Columbia, 378 U.S. 347, 353-54
(1964), that “[w]hen a state court unforeseeably changes the scope of a criminal
law, and applies that change retroactively, to a defendant’s detriment, it violates
the Due Process Clause.” 5 Aplt. Br. at 32 (emphasis in original). Bouie “arose
5
Selsor also quotes and cites the Supreme Court’s decision in Rogers v.
Tennessee, 532 U.S. 451 (2001). Aplt. Br. at 32-33. Rogers, however, was
issued approximately four years after the OCCA’s decision in Turnbull.
Consequently, Rogers cannot be treated as part of the “clearly established Federal
law” we must consider in reviewing the OCCA’s Turnbull decision under the
(continued...)
26
out of a ‘sit-in’ demonstration at Eckerd’s Drug Store in Columbia, South
Carolina,” on March 14, 1960. 378 U.S. at 348. The petitioners, “two Negro
college students, took seats in a booth in the restaurant department at Eckerd’s,”
“which was reserved for whites,” “and waited to be served.” Id. “After they
were seated, an employee of the store put up a chain with a ‘no trespassing’ sign
attached.” Id. After refusing to leave, petitioners were eventually arrested and
charged with breach of the peace, resisting arrest, and criminal trespass.
Petitioners were subsequently acquitted of breach of the peace, but convicted of
resisting arrest and criminal trespass. On direct appeal, the South Carolina
Supreme Court reversed the resisting arrest charges due to insufficient evidence,
but affirmed the criminal trespass convictions. Petitioners subsequently sought
and were granted certiorari review by the United States Supreme Court.
Before the Supreme Court, petitioners argued, in pertinent part, “that they
were denied due process of law . . . because the [trespass] statute failed to afford
5
(...continued)
deferential standard of review outlined in 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). See Lockyer v.
Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, (2003) (holding that “‘clearly established Federal law’
under § 2254(d)(1) is the governing legal principle or principles set forth by the
Supreme Court at the time the state court renders its decision.”). This does not,
however, appear to have any impact whatsoever on our resolution of Selsor’s due
process claim. Indeed, as we outline below in our discussion of Selsor’s ex post
facto claim, Rogers appears to have narrowed the reach of the Bouie decision, and
thus Rogers lends no support to Selsor’s due process claim. As the Supreme
Court’s interpretation of the Due Process Clause in Bouie can be read more
broadly than its later rulings in Rogers, it is to Selsor’s benefit that we apply
Bouie to this claim challenging the OCCA’s overruling of Riggs.
27
fair warning that the conduct for which they [were] convicted had been made a
crime.” Id. at 349. In support, petitioners noted that although the statute of
conviction prohibited “entry upon the lands of another . . . after notice from the
owner or tenant prohibiting such entry,” id., the South Carolina Supreme Court, in
affirming their convictions, had “construed the statute to cover not only the act of
entry on the premises of another after receiving notice not to enter, but also the
act of remaining on the premises of another after receiving notice to leave,” id. at
350. Petitioners argued “that by applying such a construction of the statute to
affirm their convictions . . . , the State . . . punished them for conduct that was not
criminal at the time they committed it, and hence . . . violated the requirement of
the Due Process Clause that a criminal statute give fair warning of the conduct
which it prohibits.” Id.
In addressing petitioners’ argument, the Supreme Court began by
acknowledging “[t]he basic principle that a criminal statute must give fair
warning of the conduct that it makes a crime . . . .” Id. In turn, the Court held
“[t]here can be no doubt that a deprivation of the right of fair warning can result
not only from vague statutory language but also from an unforeseeable and
retroactive judicial expansion of narrow and precise statutory language.” Id. at
352. Indeed, the Court noted, “an unforeseeable judicial enlargement of a
criminal statute, applied retroactively, operates precisely like an ex post facto
law, such as Art. I, § 10, of the Constitution forbids.” Id. at 353 (italics in
28
original). And, the Court emphasized, “[i]f a state legislature is barred by the Ex
Post Facto Clause from passing [an ex post facto] law, it must follow that a State
Supreme Court is barred by the Due Process Clause from achieving precisely the
same result by judicial construction.” Id. at 353-54 (italics in original). Thus, the
Court held, “[w]hen a[n] . . . unforeseeable state-court construction of a criminal
statute is applied retroactively to subject a person to criminal liability for past
conduct, the effect is to deprive him of due process of law in the sense of fair
warning that his contemplated conduct constitutes a crime.” Id. at 354-55.
Finally, applying these principles to the facts before it, the Court “agree[d] with
petitioners that” the statute of conviction “did not give them fair warning, at the
time of their conduct . . . , that the act for which they . . . st[oo]d convicted was
rendered criminal by the statute.” Id. at 355.
Selsor also suggests that Lankford v. Idaho, 500 U.S. 110 (1991), is
relevant to, and supportive of, his due process claim. 6 The petitioner in Lankford,
an Idaho state criminal defendant, was charged with two counts of first-degree
6
On March 1, 2011, Selsor filed a notice of supplemental authority
pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 28(j) identifying three additional authorities in
support of his due process claim: NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson, 357 U.S.
449, 456-57 (1958); Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 605, 608-09
(1987); and Wiley v. Epps, 625 F.3d 199, 211 (5th Cir. 2010). Notably, Selsor
did not cite either of the two Supreme Court cases in the appellate brief he filed
with the OCCA raising the due process issue. And Wiley, aside from being a
circuit rather than a Supreme Court decision, was decided long after the OCCA
addressed the due process issue. In any event, we are not persuaded that any of
these decisions are relevant to Selsor’s due process issue.
29
murder and advised by the trial judge at the time of arraignment that the
maximum punishment on either charge was life imprisonment or death. The
petitioner was subsequently convicted by a jury of both counts. In response to a
presentencing order issued by the trial judge, the prosecution advised petitioner
and the trial judge that it would not be seeking the death penalty. Consequently,
at the sentencing hearing, neither side discussed the death penalty as a possible
sentence. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, however, the trial judge
concluded that the petitioner’s crimes warranted punishment more severe than
that recommended by the prosecution, and sentenced petitioner to death on the
basis of five aggravating circumstances. On appeal, the Idaho Supreme Court
rejected petitioner’s claim that the trial judge violated the Due Process Clause by
failing to give notice of his intention to consider imposing the death sentence
despite the prosecution’s notice that it was not seeking that penalty. In so ruling,
the Idaho Supreme Court held that the trial judge’s express advisement at the time
of arraignment, combined with the terms of the Idaho Code, provided sufficient
notice that the death penalty might be imposed.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari “to decide whether the sentencing
process followed in th[e] . . . case satisfied the requirements of the Due Process
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Id. at 111. At the outset of its opinion,
the Court emphasized two undisputed facts: first, “that the character of the
sentencing proceeding did not provide petitioner with any indication that the trial
30
judge contemplated death as a sentence,” id. at 119; and second, that “[t]he
presentencing order entered by the trial court requiring the [prosecution] to advise
whether it sought the death penalty, and if so, requiring the parties to specify the
aggravating and mitigating circumstances on which they intended to rely, was
comparable to a pretrial order limiting the issues to be tried,” id. at 120. The
Court also presumed that “[i]f defense counsel had been notified that the trial
judge was contemplating a death sentence based on five specific aggravating
circumstances, . . . she would have advanced arguments that addressed these
circumstances . . . .” Id. at 122. Based upon these facts and this presumption, the
Court concluded that the trial judge’s “silence following the [prosecution]’s
response to the presentencing order had the practical effect of concealing from the
parties the principal issue to be decided at the hearing.” Id. at 126. “Notice of
issues to be resolved by the adversary process,” the Court emphasized, “is a
fundamental characteristic of fair procedure.” Id. In sum, the Court held,
“[p]etitioner’s lack of adequate notice that the judge was contemplating the
imposition of the death sentence created an impermissible risk that the adversary
process may have malfunctioned in th[e] case.” Id. at 127. Consequently, the
Court reversed the judgment of the Idaho Supreme Court and remanded the case
for further proceedings. Id. at 128.
d) The OCCA’s ruling on the issue
In Turnbull, in which Selsor sought mandamus relief on the eve of his
31
retrial, the OCCA sua sponte addressed and rejected the question of whether its
overruling of Riggs violated Selsor’s due process rights. On direct appeal
following his 1998 retrial, Selsor asked the OCCA to revisit the issue. The
OCCA again concluded that no due process violation occurred, stating as follows:
In Selsor v. Turnbull, this Court . . . anticipated and resolved [an]
issue[] Selsor failed specifically to raise then but which he raises
now in Proposition[] . . . III . . . : whether the retroactive application
of this Court’s decision overruling Riggs v. Branch violated due
process. * * * This Court . . . found that the retroactive application
of this Court’s decision overruling Riggs v. Branch to this case did
not violate due process. We specifically stated: “the change in law
by judicial decision that Riggs should be overturned does not violate
due process . . . because it does not change the crime for which
[Selsor] is charged, increase the punishment prescribed therefore, or
increase the quantity, or degree of proof necessary to establish his
guilt.” In sum, Selsor’s argument[] in Proposition[] . . . III w[as]
adequately resolved in Selsor v. Turnbull; nothing in his brief is
convincing or persuasive enough to change those results.
Selsor II, 2 P.3d at 349-50.
e) § 2254 analysis
The OCCA’s resolution of Selsor’s due process issue was neither contrary
to, nor an unreasonable application of, Bouie. 7 To begin with, Selsor’s case
7
The OCCA’s decision in Turnbull was erroneous in one key respect: the
OCCA was mistaken in concluding that “the newly enacted death penalty statutes
did not change the burden of proof to the detriment of Riggs and other
defendants, as compared to the burden of proof under Section 701.3.” 947 P.2d at
582. In reaching this conclusion, the OCCA overlooked a key difference between
the Florida statute at issue in Dobbert and the Oklahoma statute at issue before it.
As previously noted, the changes implemented by Florida to its murder scheme
did not alter the definition of first degree murder. In contrast, Oklahoma’s 1976
(continued...)
32
differs from Bouie in terms of the substance of the judicial decision at issue:
whereas the South Carolina Supreme Court in Bouie was interpreting the scope of
a criminal statute, the OCCA in Turnbull was revisiting one of its own decisions
involving an issue of constitutional law (i.e., whether application of the
punishment scheme set forth in Oklahoma’s 1976 murder statute to defendants
charged with violating the prior 1973 murder statute violated the prohibition
against ex post facto laws). Moreover, even ignoring this distinction, the OCCA’s
reversal of Riggs in Turnbull did not have an ex post facto effect. Specifically,
by concluding, contrary to its decision in Riggs, that defendants charged with
violating Oklahoma’s 1973 murder statute could be sentenced to death, the OCCA
in Turnbull did not authorize a greater punishment “than the law annexed to the
crime . . . when committed.” Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386, 390 (1798)
(outlining four types of ex post facto criminal laws); see Johnson v. United States,
529 U.S. 694, 699 (2000) (“To prevail on this sort of ex post facto claim, [a
defendant] must show both that the law [or decision] he challenges operates
retroactively . . . and that it raises the penalty from whatever the law provided
when he acted.”). At the time Selsor murdered Clayton Chandler, Oklahoma’s
7
(...continued)
murder statute altered the definition of first degree murder to require proof of
either (but not both) of the two critical elements required under the 1973 murder
statute (i.e., malice aforethought and commission of the murder during a
statutorily designated felony offense). But the OCCA’s error in this regard does
not lend support to Selsor’s due process claim.
33
1973 murder statute required imposition of the death penalty for any defendant
convicted of first degree murder. Thus, because Turnbull did not “raise[] the
penalty from what[] the law provided when [Selsor] acted,” Johnson, 529 U.S. at
699, it did not have an ex post facto effect. And, because Turnbull did not have
an ex post facto effect, it could not have violated the due process principles
outlined in Bouie, i.e., in 1975, when Clayton Chandler was murdered, Selsor had
“fair warning” that a conviction of first degree murder in Oklahoma would result
in the death penalty.
Likewise, the OCCA’s resolution of Selsor’s due process issue was neither
contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, Lankford. Unlike the petitioner
in Lankford, who was effectively deprived of notice that the trial judge was
considering imposition of the death penalty, Selsor was afforded adequate notice
of the prosecution’s intent to seek the death penalty at the 1998 retrial
proceedings. In turn, Selsor was able to utilize the adversary process to challenge
(albeit unsuccessfully) the constitutionality of the prosecution’s action. Thus,
unlike the situation in Lankford, there was no “risk [in Selsor’s case] that the
adversary process may have malfunctioned . . . .” 500 U.S. at 127.
2. Double jeopardy violation
In Proposition Two of his appellate brief, Selsor contends that the OCCA
effectively acquitted him of the death penalty in Selsor I when it modified his
sentence to life imprisonment, and that, consequently, his resentencing to death
34
following his second trial violated his rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause.
a) Clearly established federal law
Between 1919 and 1980, the Supreme Court repeatedly held “that the
Double Jeopardy Clause imposes no absolute prohibition against the imposition of
a harsher sentence at retrial after a defendant has succeeded in having his original
conviction set aside.” Bullington v. Missouri, 451 U.S. 430, 438 (1981) (citing
Stroud v. United States, 251 U.S. 15 (1919); North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S.
711 (1969); Chaffin v. Stynchcombe, 412 U.S. 17 (1973); and United States v.
DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. 117 (1980)). These holdings rest on the principle that the
reversal of a defendant’s conviction results in “the slate [being] wiped clean,” and
that, consequently, “whatever punishment has actually been suffered under the
first conviction . . . is . . . an unmitigated fiction . . . .” Pearce, 395 U.S. at 721.
Notably, “the sentencing procedures considered in [these] cases did not have the
hallmarks of [a] trial on guilt or innocence,” Bullington, 451 U.S. at 439, and thus
“[t]he imposition of a particular sentence . . . [wa]s not regarded as an ‘acquittal’
of any more severe sentence that could have been imposed,” id. at 438.
In Bullington, the Court granted certiorari to consider “whether the
reasoning of [these cases] . . . appl[ied] under a system,” specifically Missouri’s
1978 capital murder scheme, “where a jury’s sentencing decision is made at a
bifurcated proceeding’s second stage at which the prosecution has the burden of
proving certain elements beyond a reasonable doubt before the death penalty may
35
be imposed.” Id. at 432. The petitioner in Bullington was convicted by a jury of
capital murder. At the ensuing penalty phase of the trial, the prosecution
attempted to prove the existence of two aggravating circumstances. The jury,
however, “returned its additional verdict fixing petitioner’s punishment not at
death, but at imprisonment for life without eligibility for probation or parole for
50 years.” Id. at 435-36. Thereafter, the petitioner successfully moved for a new
trial on the grounds “that Missouri’s constitutional and statutory provisions
allowing women to claim automatic exemption from jury service deprived [him]
of his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-
section of the community.” Id. at 436.
On retrial, the prosecution served notice “that it intended again to seek the
death penalty” on the basis of the “same aggravating circumstances” it attempted
to prove at the first trial. Id. The petitioner “moved to strike the notice, arguing
that the Double Jeopardy Clause . . . barred the imposition of the penalty of death
when the first jury had declined to impose the death sentence.” Id. After the trial
court informally announced its intention to grant petitioner’s motion to strike, the
prosecution sought a writ of prohibition first from an intermediate state appellate
court, and then from the Supreme Court of Missouri. The Supreme Court of
Missouri “issued a preliminary writ of prohibition” and, “[a]fter argument, . . .
sustained the [prosecution]’s position and made the writ absolute.” Id. at 437. “It
held that neither the Double Jeopardy Clause, nor the Eighth Amendment, nor the
36
Due Process Clause barred the imposition of the death penalty upon petitioner at
his new trial . . . .” Id.
The United States Supreme Court, in granting certiorari and addressing the
issues raised by petitioner, noted at the outset that “[t]he procedure that resulted
in the imposition of the sentence of life imprisonment upon [the] petitioner . . . at
his first trial . . . differ[ed] significantly from those employed in any of the
Court’s cases where the Double Jeopardy Clause ha[d] been held inapplicable to
sentencing.” Id. at 438. Specifically, the Court noted, the sentencing phase of
the trial “resembled and, indeed, in all relevant respects was like the immediately
preceding trial on the issue of guilt or innocence.” Id. This procedural
difference, the Court went on to conclude, “meant that the jury ha[d] already
acquitted the [petitioner] of whatever was necessary to impose the death
sentence,” id. at 445 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), and thus
served to place the case within “an important exception . . . to the [clean slate]
rule recognized in Pearce,” id. at 442 (citing Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1
(1978)), i.e., that “Pearce is inapplicable whenever a jury agrees or an appellate
court decides that the prosecution has not proved its case” against the defendant,
id. at 443. In reaching this conclusion, the Court emphasized that “[t]he values
that underlie th[e] principle” that “[a] verdict of acquittal on the issue of guilt or
innocence is . . . absolutely final” “are equally applicable when a jury has rejected
the State’s claim that the defendant deserves to die . . . .” Id. at 445. Finally, the
37
Court emphasized that its decision did “not at all depend upon the [prosecution]’s
announced intention to rely only upon the same aggravating circumstances it
sought to prove at petitioner’s first trial or upon its statement that it would
introduce no new evidence in support of its contention that petitioner deserve[d]
the death penalty.” Id. at 446. “Having received one fair opportunity to offer
whatever proof it could assemble,” the Court held, “the State [wa]s not entitled to
another.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
Three years later, in Arizona v. Rumsey, 467 U.S. 203 (1984), the Supreme
Court applied Bullington to reverse a death sentence imposed on an Arizona state
defendant. The defendant therein was convicted by a jury of first degree murder
and armed robbery, and sentenced by the trial judge to life imprisonment for the
murder conviction and 21 years’ imprisonment for the armed robbery conviction.
In imposing the life sentence, the trial judge found that none of the three statutory
aggravating factors alleged by the prosecution existed. On appeal, the
prosecution “contended that the trial court had committed an error of law in
interpreting the [alleged] pecuniary gain aggravating circumstance to apply only
to contract killings.” Rumsey, 467 U.S. at 207. The Arizona Supreme Court
agreed and thus ordered “the sentence of life imprisonment . . . to be set aside and
the matter remanded for redetermination of aggravating and mitigating
circumstances and resentencing.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted). “On remand the trial court held a new sentencing hearing,” during
38
which the parties presented arguments but no new evidence. Id. The trial court
ultimately found the presence of the pecuniary gain aggravating circumstance and
sentenced the defendant to death for the murder conviction. Id. at 208. On direct
appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court “concluded that, under . . . Bullington . . . ,
[defendant]’s [death] sentence violated the constitutional prohibition on double
jeopardy” and “therefore ordered [the] sentence . . . reduced to life imprisonment
. . . .” Id. at 208-09.
The United States Supreme Court subsequently granted the state of
Arizona’s petition for writ of certiorari and affirmed the decision of the Arizona
Supreme Court. Id. at 209. In doing so, the Supreme Court noted that “[t]he
capital sentencing proceeding in Arizona share[d] the same characteristics of the
Missouri proceeding [at issue in Bullington] that ma[d]e it resemble a trial for
purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause.” Id. The Court in turn concluded that
“[a]pplication of the Bullington principle render[ed] [defendant]’s death sentence
a violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause because [defendant]’s initial sentence
of life imprisonment was undoubtedly an acquittal on the merits of the central
issue in the proceeding — whether death was the appropriate punishment for
[defendant]’s offense.” Id. at 211. More specifically, “[t]he trial court entered
findings denying the existence of each of the seven statutory aggravating
circumstances, and as required by state law, the court then entered judgment in
[defendant]’s favor on the issue of death.” Id. The Court held that the state trial
39
court’s “judgment, based on findings sufficient to establish legal entitlement to
the life sentence, amount[ed] to an acquittal on the merits and, as such, bar[red]
any retrial of the appropriateness of the death penalty.” Id. Lastly, the Court
held that the trial court’s reliance in the original sentencing proceeding “on a
misconstruction of the pecuniary gain aggravating circumstance” did “not change
the double jeopardy effects of a judgment that amount[ed] to an acquittal on the
merits.” Id. In other words, the Court held, “an acquittal on the merits bars
retrial even if based on legal error.” Id.
In 1986, the Court granted certiorari in another Arizona death penalty case
to decide “whether the Double Jeopardy Clause bars a further capital sentencing
proceeding when, on appeal from a sentence of death, the reviewing court finds
the evidence insufficient to support the only aggravating factor on which the
sentencing judge relied, but does not find the evidence insufficient to support the
death penalty.” Poland v. Arizona, 476 U.S. 147, 148 (1986). The two
petitioners in Poland committed an armed robbery of “a Purolator van that was
making cash deliveries to various banks in northern Arizona.” Id. As part of the
robbery, petitioners killed two armed guards by taking them “to a lake and
dump[ing] them into the water in sacks weighted with rocks.” Id. Petitioners
were subsequently convicted by a jury in Arizona state court of first degree
murder and sentenced to death by the trial judge. In support of the death
sentences, the trial judge found that the murders were committed in an especially
40
heinous, cruel, or depraved manner. Although the prosecution argued the
existence of another statutory aggravating factor, specifically that petitioners had
committed the offense as consideration for the receipt, or in expectation of the
receipt, of something of pecuniary value, the trial judge rejected it on the grounds
that the aggravator encompassed only “contract killing[s].” Id. at 149.
On direct appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court concluded that the
petitioners’ convictions were “tainted by a jury-room discussion of evidence not
admitted at trial,” and accordingly reversed the convictions and ordered a retrial.
Id. at 150. The Arizona Supreme Court also reviewed the sentencing proceedings
and concluded that (a) the evidence “was insufficient to support a finding of the
‘especially heinous, cruel, or depraved’ aggravating circumstance,” (b) the trial
judge misinterpreted the law by concluding that the “pecuniary gain” aggravator
was limited to situations involving contract killings, and (c) the trial judge could,
if petitioners were again convicted of first degree murder, “find the existence of
this aggravating circumstance.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted).
On remand, the “petitioners were again convicted of first-degree murder.”
Id. At the sentencing hearing, the prosecution alleged the same two aggravators
(the “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved” aggravator and the “pecuniary gain”
aggravator) it had asserted at the original trial, as well as a third aggravator
against one of the petitioners (that this petitioner was previously convicted of a
41
felony involving the use or threat of violence on another person). Id. “The trial
judge found all of the aggravating circumstances alleged by the prosecution, and
again sentenced both petitioners to death.” Id.
“Petitioners argued on [direct] appeal . . . that the Double Jeopardy Clause
barred reimposition of the death penalty” because, in their view, “the Arizona
Supreme Court’s decision on their first appeal that the evidence failed to support
the ‘especially heinous, cruel, or depraved’ aggravating circumstance amounted to
an ‘acquittal’ of the death penalty.” Id. at 151. The Arizona Supreme Court
rejected this argument, emphasizing that its earlier holding “‘was simply that the
death penalty could not be based solely upon [the “especially heinous, cruel, or
depraved”] aggravating circumstance because there was insufficient evidence to
support it.’” Id. (quoting State v. Poland, 698 P.2d 183, 199 (Ariz. 1985)).
Although the Arizona Supreme Court agreed with petitioners that the evidence
was insufficient to support the “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved”
aggravator, it concluded the evidence was sufficient to support the other two
aggravators and, after independently weighing the mitigating and aggravating
circumstances, “concluded that the death penalty was appropriate in each
petitioner’s case.” Id.
The United States Supreme Court subsequently “granted certiorari to
consider whether reimposing the death penalties on petitioners violated the
Double Jeopardy Clause.” Id. Applying the principles outlined in Bullington and
42
Rumsey, the Court stated that “the relevant inquiry in the cases before [it] [wa]s
whether the sentencing judge or the reviewing court ha[d] ‘decid[ed] that the
prosecution ha[d] not proved its case’ for the death penalty and hence ha[d]
‘acquitted’ petitioners.” Id. at 154 (quoting Bullington, 451 U.S. at 443).
Addressing this question, the Court concluded that “[a]t no point during
petitioners’ first capital sentencing hearing and appeal did either the sentencer or
the reviewing court hold that the prosecution had ‘failed to prove its case’ that
petitioners deserved the death penalty.” Id. Further, the Court rejected
petitioners’ argument “that the Arizona Supreme Court ‘acquitted’ them of the
death penalty by finding the ‘evidence [insufficient] to support the sole
aggravating circumstances found by the sentencer.’” Id. at 155 (quoting
petitioners’ brief; brackets in original). More specifically, the Court “reject[ed]
the fundamental premise of petitioners’ argument, namely, that a capital
sentencer’s failure to find a particular aggravating circumstance alleged by the
prosecution always constitutes an ‘acquittal’ of that circumstance for double
jeopardy purposes.” Id. “Bullington,” the Court noted, “indicates that the proper
inquiry is whether the sentencer or reviewing court has ‘decided that the
prosecution has not proved its case’ that the death penalty is appropriate.” Id.
(emphasis in original). And, the Court further noted, it was “not prepared to
extend Bullington further and view the capital sentencing hearing as a set of
minitrials on the existence of each aggravating circumstance.” Id. at 155-56.
43
Because “[a]ggravating circumstances . . . are ‘standards to guide the making of
[the] choice’ between the alternative verdicts of death and life imprisonment,” the
Court stated, “the [trial] judge’s finding of any particular aggravating
circumstance does not of itself ‘convict’ a defendant (i.e., require the death
penalty), and the failure to find any particular aggravating circumstances does not
‘acquit’ a defendant (i.e., preclude the death penalty). Id. at 156. Although the
Court acknowledged “that the sentencer’s finding, albeit erroneous, that no
aggravating circumstance is present is an ‘acquittal’ barring a second death
sentence proceeding,” the Court emphasized “[t]his [wa]s because ‘the law
attaches particular significance to an acquittal.’” Id. (quoting United States v.
Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 91 (1978)). “This concern with protecting the finality of
acquittals is not implicated,” the Court held, “when, as in the[] cases [before it], a
defendant is sentenced to death, i.e., ‘convicted.’” Id. The Court thus held “that
the trial judge’s rejection of the ‘pecuniary gain’ aggravating circumstance . . .
was not an ‘acquittal’ of that circumstance for double jeopardy purposes, and did
not foreclose its consideration by the reviewing court.” Id. at 157.
“Furthermore,” the Court held, “because the reviewing court did not find the
evidence legally insufficient to justify imposition of the death penalty, there was
no death penalty ‘acquittal’ by that court,” and thus “[t]he Double Jeopardy
Clause . . . did not foreclose a second sentencing hearing at which the ‘clean
slate’ rule applied.” Id.
44
The most recent Supreme Court decision relevant to Selsor’s double
jeopardy claim is Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania, 537 U.S. 101 (2003). The petitioner
in Sattazahn was convicted in a Pennsylvania state court of various crimes,
including first degree murder. At the penalty phase of the trial, the prosecution
“presented evidence of one statutory aggravating circumstance: commission of the
murder while in the perpetration of a felony,” and the petitioner presented
evidence of two mitigating circumstances. Id. at 104. At the close of the
evidence, “the jury deliberated for some 3½ hours” before sending a note to the
trial court stating they were “hopelessly deadlocked at 9-3 for life imprisonment.”
Id. “The trial judge, in accordance with Pennsylvania law, discharged the jury as
hung, and indicated that he would enter the required life sentence, which he later
did.” Id. at 104-05 (internal citations omitted). On direct appeal, the
Pennsylvania Superior Court concluded that the jury instructions were erroneous
and “reversed petitioner’s first-degree murder conviction and remanded for a new
trial.” Id. at 105. On remand, the prosecution filed a notice of intent to seek the
death penalty, alleging the same aggravating circumstance it had attempted to
prove at the first trial, but also “a second aggravating circumstance, petitioner’s
significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to
the person.” Id. “At the second trial, the jury again convicted petitioner of first-
degree murder, but this time imposed a sentence of death.” Id. On direct appeal,
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court “concluded that neither the Double Jeopardy
45
Clause nor the Due Process Clause barred Pennsylvania from seeking the death
penalty at petitioner’s retrial.” Id.
The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to “consider once again
the applicability of the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause in the context
of capital-sentencing proceedings.” Id. at 103. Although the Court’s precedent
established that “‘a retrial following a “hung jury” does not violate the Double
Jeopardy Clause,’” id. at 109 (quoting Richardson v. United States, 468 U.S. 317,
324 (1984)), the petitioner argued “that given the unique treatment afforded
capital-sentencing proceedings under Bullington, double-jeopardy protections
were triggered when the jury deadlocked at his first sentencing proceeding and
the court prescribed a sentence of life imprisonment pursuant to Pennsylvania
state law,” id. The Supreme Court rejected petitioner’s argument. “Under the
Bullington line of cases,” the Court explained, “the touchstone for double-
jeopardy protection in capital-sentencing proceedings is whether there has been
an ‘acquittal.’” Id. And, the Court further explained, neither the jury’s deadlock
nor the trial court’s subsequent entry of a life sentence constituted an acquittal
because there were no factual findings sufficient to establish petitioner’s legal
entitlement to a life sentence. Id.
b) OCCA’s resolution of the issue
In Turnbull, the OCCA sua sponte “anticipated and resolved” the double
jeopardy argument that Selsor now asserts. Selsor II, 2 P.3d at 349. Specifically,
46
the OCCA stated:
[I]f a defendant has not been acquitted of the death penalty and his
conviction and sentence are reversed on appeal or collateral
proceedings, the slate is wiped clean and a defendant may be
subjected to any punishment authorized by law, including death.
Turnbull, 947 P.2d at 583 (citing Salazar v. State, 919 P.2d 1120, 1127 (Okla.
Crim. App. 1996)).
Selsor asked the OCCA to revisit the issue on direct appeal following his
retrial. Selsor argued that his “case present[ed] the unique question of whether an
appellate court’s modification of a death sentence on appeal to life imprisonment
on the grounds that the statute under which the defendant was sentenced was
subsequently declared unconstitutional constitutes an implied acquittal of the
death penalty.” State Aplt. Br. at 38. Selsor in turn argued “that under the
Supreme Court’s jurisprudence,” specifically Bullington, Rumsey, and Poland, the
OCCA’s decision in Selsor I “to modify [his] death sentence to life imprisonment
constituted an ‘implied acquittal’ on the merits of the central issue in the
proceeding: whether death was the appropriate punishment for the offense.” Id.
The OCCA summarily rejected the claim, concluding that the argument was
“adequately resolved in . . . Turnbull,” and that “nothing in [Selsor’s new
appellate] brief [wa]s convincing or persuasive enough to change th[at] result[].”
Selsor II, 2 P.3d at 350.
c) § 2254(d) analysis
47
Underlying the OCCA’s rejection of Selsor’s double jeopardy claim was
the implicit conclusion that the OCCA had not, in modifying Selsor’s death
sentence to life imprisonment in Selsor I, “acquitted” Selsor of the death penalty.
As discussed in greater detail below, this conclusion was neither contrary to, nor
an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law.
On direct appeal from his first trial, Selsor argued that he was sentenced
under an unconstitutional death penalty statute (i.e., Oklahoma’s 1973 death
penalty statute). The OCCA agreed with Selsor, summarily stating:
In his first assignment of error, defendant asserts the
unconstitutionality of Oklahoma’s death penalty statute, 21 O.S.
Supp. 1973, § 701.3. With this we agree. See Riggs v. Branch
(State), Okl.Cr., 554 P.2d 823 (1976).
Selsor I, 562 P.2d at 927. At the conclusion of its decision, the OCCA then
stated, in pertinent part:
For the foregoing reasons, the sentence in Case No. CRF-75-
2181, Murder in the First Degree, is hereby MODIFIED to Life
imprisonment, and otherwise AFFIRMED . . . .
Id. at 931.
The conclusory nature of the OCCA’s reasoning in Selsor I, combined with
its citation to Riggs, makes it necessary to examine Riggs in some detail. As
previously noted, Riggs was decided in the immediate wake of the Supreme
Court’s rejection of post-Furman, mandatory death penalty schemes adopted by a
number of states, including Oklahoma. The OCCA acknowledged these Supreme
48
Court decisions at the outset of Riggs and in turn concluded that its task was “to
determine the status of . . . those defendants[, like Selsor,] convicted of [First
Degree Murder] prior to the effective date of [Oklahoma’s] new [1976] murder
statute[].” Riggs, 554 P.2d at 825. In resolving this question, the OCCA
concluded that “the death penalty as provided in [the 1973 first degree murder
statute] ha[d] been effectively stricken from [the] statute,” id. at 827, but that “a
constitutionally permissible penalty remain[ed]” for those defendants convicted of
first degree murder under the 1973 statute, id. at 828. Specifically, the OCCA
noted that although the 1973 murder statute mandated a sentence of death for
anyone convicted of first degree murder, it also authorized the OCCA to modify a
sentence of death to life imprisonment based upon “errors of law occurring at
trial” or because “the death penalty was discriminatorily or disproportionately
imposed.” Id. (internal quotations omitted; citing Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 701.5
(1973)). Finally, exercising that modification power, the OCCA concluded “that
the appropriate penalty for murder in the first degree . . . under the 1973 statute”
was life imprisonment. Id. at 829. Thus, in sum, the OCCA effectively modified,
on the basis of constitutional error, all death sentences imposed on defendants
convicted of first degree murder under Oklahoma’s 1973 murder statute.
Returning to Selsor I, it is apparent that the OCCA, by applying its decision
in Riggs to modify Selsor’s death sentence to a term of life imprisonment, did
not, as Selsor now suggests, “acquit” him of the death sentence. See Aplt. Br. at
49
50 (suggesting that Selsor I amounted to a determination “‘that the prosecution
ha[d] not proven its case that the death penalty [wa]s appropriate.’” (quoting
Poland, 476 U.S. at 155)). Indeed, the OCCA’s decision could not have amounted
to such an acquittal because the prosecution in Selsor’s original trial was never
required, and thus did not attempt, to prove that Selsor should be sentenced to
death. Rather, Oklahoma’s 1973 murder statute mandated the imposition of the
death penalty for any defendant convicted of first degree murder. And it was the
mandatory nature of the death penalty and the consequential Eighth Amendment
violation that prompted the OCCA to modify Selsor’s sentence to life
imprisonment. Thus, there was never any determination by the OCCA that the
prosecution failed to prove its case for the death penalty to be imposed against
Selsor.
We thus conclude that Selsor is not entitled to federal habeas relief on the
basis of his double jeopardy claim.
3. Ex post facto/due process violation
In Proposition Three of his appellate brief, Selsor contends that at his 1998
retrial he was effectively prosecuted and convicted under Oklahoma’s 1976
murder statute, rather than the 1973 murder statute he was charged with violating,
and that, as a result, his first degree murder conviction violates the Ex Post Facto
Clause. In support, Selsor notes that in Turnbull the OCCA “proclaimed that [he]
was now ‘similarly situated to defendants awaiting trial under current murder and
50
death penalty statutes.’” Aplt. Br. at 55 (quoting Turnbull, 947 P.2d at 583).
Selsor contends that “[t]he prosecutor, defense counsel, and the trial court
apparently took that pronouncement at face value, and conducted [his] trial under
the 1976 murder statute, including its changed definition of first-degree murder.”
Id. However, Selsor notes, when he argued on direct appeal from his second trial
“that this violated his rights under the Ex Post Facto Clause, the OCCA once
again changed its tune,” id., and held that “Selsor was not tried under the 1976
law,” id. at 56. “In so ruling,” Selsor argues, “the OCCA unreasonably
determined the factual question of whether [he] was tried under the 1976 murder
statute . . . .” Id. Consequently, he argues, “this Court should review [his] ex
post facto claim de novo and grant him the writ as to his unconstitutional
conviction.” Id.
a) Clearly established federal law
Although Selsor frames the alleged error as an ex post facto violation, we
believe the alleged error is more appropriately treated as a due process violation.
“The Ex Post Facto Clause, by its own terms, does not apply to courts.” Rogers,
532 U.S. at 460. Instead, “[t]he Ex Post Facto Clause is a limitation upon the
powers of the Legislature . . . .” Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 191
(1977). In this case, there is no assertion that the alleged error resulted from a
51
legislative act 8; instead, Selsor’s claim hinges on the assertion that the state trial
court erroneously instructed the jury as to the elements of the 1976 murder
statute, rather than the elements of the 1973 murder statute Selsor was charged
with violating.
The Supreme Court has “observed . . . that limitations on ex post facto
judicial decisionmaking are inherent in the notion of due process.” Rogers, 532
U.S. at 456. In other words, a judicial decision that has an ex post facto effect
can give rise to “a valid due process claim.” United States v. Marcus, 130 S. Ct.
2159, 2165 (2010) (citing Bouie, 378 U.S. at 353-54). The Supreme Court has
cautioned, however, that the Due Process Clause does not, depending upon the
context of the judicial decision at issue, necessarily incorporate all of the specific
prohibitions of the Ex Post Facto Clause. Rogers, 532 U.S. at 458-60.
b) Facts relevant to claim
Selsor was originally charged by information with first degree murder in
violation of Oklahoma’s 1973 murder statute. See Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 701.1
(1973). That statute defined the crime of first degree murder to require proof of
“a premeditated design to effect the death of the person killed, or of any other
human being,” and commission of the murder during the course of one of several
8
There is no indication that the Oklahoma legislature intended for the
1976 murder statute to be applied retroactively to criminal defendants, such as
Selsor, who committed their crimes prior to its enactment, and respondents do not
argue otherwise.
52
enumerated felony offenses, including armed robbery. Id. Consistent with that
statutory definition, the information filed against Selsor alleged that he, “with a
premeditated design to effect the death of one CLAYTON CHANDLER,” and
“while being then and there engaged in committing the crime of Robbery With
Firearms did kill the said CLAYTON CHANDLER by means of a firearm loaded
with powder . . . .” S. R., Vol. I at 10.
At Selsor’s retrial proceedings, the prosecution relied on the original
information. However, the prosecution also filed a Bill of Particulars (something
it was not required to do under the 1973 murder statute) alleging the existence of
two aggravating circumstances enumerated in Oklahoma’s 1976 murder statute.
See Okla. Stat. tit. 21, §701.12 (1976). Selsor moved to strike the Bill of
Particulars. After the state trial court denied Selsor’s motion, Selsor petitioned
the OCCA for a writ of mandamus and asserted a number of constitutional
objections to the Bill of Particulars.
The OCCA, in its Turnbull decision, rejected Selsor’s petition. In rejecting
Selsor’s claim that the prosecution’s pursuit of the death penalty against him
violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause, the OCCA stated that Selsor
“[wa]s no longer similarly situated to those defendants subject to Oklahoma’s
unconstitutional death penalty statute, 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.3, or to those
defendants whose sentences were modified in accordance with Riggs.” Turnbull,
947 P.2d at 583. Selsor’s “Judgment and Sentence has been vacated,” the OCCA
53
stated, “and he stands before this Court, similarly situated to defendants awaiting
trial under current murder and death penalty statutes.” 9 Id. (emphasis added).
Following the issuance of Turnbull, Selsor’s case returned to the state trial
court, where his retrial proceedings began. At the close of the first-stage
evidence, the state trial court read to the jury the language of the information that
was filed against Selsor in 1975. S. R., Vol. III at 351-54. That language stated,
in pertinent part:
The Defendant in this case, MICHAEL B. SELSOR, stands
charged by an Information filed by the State of Oklahoma with the
crime of MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE.
The Information alleges that RICHARD EUGENE DODSON and
MICHAEL B. SELSOR, on or about the 15th day of September,
1975, in Tulsa County, State of Oklahoma, and within the
jurisdiction of this Court, did unlawfully, feloniously, and willfully,
while acting in concert each with the other, without authority of law,
and with a premeditated design to effect the death of one CLAYTON
CHANDLER, the said RICHARD EUGENE DODSON and the said
MICHAEL B. SELSOR did, while being then and there engaged in
committing the crime of Robbery with firearms, did kill the said
CLAYTON CHANDLER by means of a firearm loaded with powder
and shot, held in the hands of the said defendants and with which
they pointed at, fired, and shot the said CLAYTON CHANDLER,
said shot causing mortal wounds in the body of the said CLAYTON
CHANDLER, from which mortal wounds the said CLAYTON
CHANDLER did languish and die;
9
Although Selsor now suggests that these statements amounted to a factual
determination by the OCCA that he was being tried under Oklahoma’s 1976
murder statute, we disagree. In our view, the OCCA was simply explaining that
Selsor was “similarly situated” to defendants being tried under the 1976 murder
statute in that he was awaiting retrial, with no existing conviction or sentence in
place.
54
***
The Defendant in this case, MICHAEL B. SELSOR, stands
charged by an Information filed by the State of Oklahoma with the
crime of ROBBERY WITH FIREARMS.
The Information alleges that RICHARD EUGENE DODSON and
MICHAEL B. SELSOR, on or about the 15th day of September,
1975, in Tulsa County, State of Oklahoma and within the jurisdiction
of this Court, did unlawfully, feloniously and wrongfully, while
acting in concert each with the other, rob one CLAYTON
CHANDLER, by wrongfully taking and carrying away certain money
belonging to U-TOTE-M STORE #918, and in the possession of said
CLAYTON CHANDLER, and in his immediate presence, without his
consent and against his will, said robbery being accomplished by said
defendants with the use of a certain firearm, to-wit: a .22 caliber
pistol, and which they used to menace and threaten the said
CLAYTON CHANDLER with harm if he resisted, and by said
assault, threats and menace did then and there put the said
CLAYTON CHANDLER in fear of immediate and unlawful injury to
his person and overcame all his resistance, and while so intimidating
him did then and there wrongfully take and obtain from him the
money aforesaid, contrary to the form of the Statutes in such cases
made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State.
Id. at 351-54.
The state trial court then proceeded to provide the jury with specific
instructions regarding the crime of first degree murder. In doing so, the state trial
court outlined for the jury the essential elements of first degree murder under
Oklahoma’s 1976 murder statute, rather than the 1973 murder statute under which
Selsor was charged:
The defendant is charged with:
MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE of CLAYTON CHANDLER
on September 15, 1975, in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
55
Id. at 361.
No person may be convicted of murder in the first degree unless
the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the
crime. These elements are:
First, the death of a human;
Second, the death was unlawful;
Third, the death was caused by the defendant;
Fourth, the death was caused with malice aforethought.
Id. at 363.
The state trial court also separately instructed the jury on the elements of
the crime of Robbery With Firearms:
The defendant is charged with:
ROBBERY WITH FIREARMS of CLAYTON CHANDLER on
September 15th, 1975, in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
Id. at 371.
No person may be convicted of ROBBERY WITH FIREARMS
unless the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each element
of the crime. These elements are:
First, wrongful;
Second, taking;
Third, carrying away;
Fourth, personal property;
Fifth, of another;
Sixth, from the person of another;
Seventh, by force/fear;
Eighth, through use of a loaded firearm.
Id. at 372. After deliberating, the jury found Selsor guilty of both of these
crimes, as well as the crime of Shooting With Intent to Kill.
c) OCCA’s rejection of the claim
56
On direct appeal to the OCCA from his retrial, Selsor argued, in pertinent
part, that the state trial court’s retroactive application of the 1976 first degree
murder statute and its corresponding penalty provisions violated the prohibition
against ex post facto laws. The OCCA rejected that argument, stating as follows:
In Proposition I, Selsor argues that the ex post facto provisions of
the federal and state constitutions were violated because he was tried
in 1998 pursuant to the First Degree Murder statute (21 O.S.1991, §
701.7(A)) in effect then rather than the statute in effect when he
allegedly committed the crime (21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701). In
Proposition V, he asserts that his jury was mis-instructed on the
applicable elements of First Degree Murder and that the Information
did not adequately notify him of the charges against which he had to
defend. We address these propositions together and conclude that
they both lack merit.
This Court focuses on the following factors when determining
whether there has been an ex post facto violation: i, the elements of
the offense; ii, the conditions and quantum of punishment; and iii,
the quantity and degree of proof necessary to establish guilt.
Although the elements of First Degree Murder and the burden of
proof contained in the 1973 statute (under which Selsor was charged)
differ from those contained in the current statute, Selsor’s jury was
instructed on all the elements of First Degree Murder under the 1973
statute.
While all elements of First Degree Murder under the 1973 statute
were not contained within Instruction 9, they were included within
the instructions as a whole. Instruction 18 correctly informs the jury
on the elements of Robbery with Firearms. The essential elements of
that offense are the same under the statute applicable at the time of
Selsor’s crime ( 21 O.S.1971, § 801) and the current statute ( 21
O.S.1991, § 801). Thus, considering Instructions 9 and 18 together
indicates that Selsor’s jury was instructed upon and found him guilty
of all the elements of First Degree Murder under the applicable 1973
statute. As such, the defendant was not convicted under a lesser
burden of proof, and under these circumstances, we do not find a
violation of the ex post facto provisions of the State and Federal
57
constitutions.
Selsor II, 2 P.3d at 350 (internal paragraph numbers and footnotes omitted).
d) § 2254(d) analysis
The OCCA correctly noted that the state trial court’s first degree murder
instruction (Instruction 9) failed to include all of the essential elements under the
1973 murder statute. But rather than considering whether this resulted in
constitutional error, the OCCA instead looked to the remainder of the state trial
court’s jury instructions and concluded that, because Instruction 18 correctly
informed the jury of the elements of Robbery with Firearms, the instructions as a
whole encompassed all of the essential elements of the 1973 murder statute. In
turn, the OCCA concluded that no constitutional error occurred.
This reasoning is backwards. While the presence of Instruction 18 may be
relevant to the question of harmlessness, it does nothing to alter the fact that
Selsor was convicted of first degree murder under the elements of the 1976
murder statute. As we have noted, Oklahoma’s 1976 murder statute, in contrast
to Oklahoma’s 1973 murder statute, allowed the State to convict a defendant of
first degree murder on the basis of malice aforethought alone, without proving
that the killing occurred during the commission of one of several statutorily
designated felony offenses. And because the 1976 murder statute required fewer
elements of proof than the 1973 murder statute, the state trial court’s instructional
error clearly had an ex post facto effect on Selsor. Specifically, Selsor was
58
effectively subjected to a law “that aggravate[d] a crime, or ma[d]e[] it greater
than it was, when committed.” Calder, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) at 390 (emphasis in
original). Consequently, we conclude the OCCA unreasonably determined that no
constitutional error resulted from the state trial court’s first degree murder
instructions.
Having concluded that the state trial court’s instructions effectively
violated Selsor’s due process rights, and that the OCCA’s resolution of this issue
was contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law,
two related questions remain: whether the error is subject to harmless error
review and, if so, “whether the error was harmless.” Patton v. Mullin, 425 F.3d
788, 819 (10th Cir. 2005). Although Selsor correctly notes that the Supreme
Court has never addressed whether ex post facto violations are subject to harmless
error review, the constitutional violation that occurred here is not, as we have
already explained, an ex post facto violation. Rather, it is a due process violation
with an ex post facto effect. And on that point, the Supreme Court has recently
and clearly spoken.
In Marcus, a criminal defendant was indicted on charges that he engaged in
unlawful conduct between January 1999 and October 2001. At trial, the
government presented evidence of the defendant’s conduct during that entire
period, and the jury convicted him. On appeal, the defendant argued that because
the statutes he was convicted of violating did not become law until October 28,
59
2000, there was an Ex Post Facto Clause violation, and that the violation was a
structural error that warranted reversal without a showing of prejudice. The
Supreme Court, however, rejected those arguments. The Court first held, citing
its decision in Marks, that it was “incorrect to classify the error at issue as an Ex
Post Facto Clause violation . . . .” Marcus, 130 S. Ct. at 2165. Instead, the Court
held, “if the jury . . . convicted [the defendant] based exclusively on noncriminal,
preenactment conduct, [the defendant] would have a valid due process claim.” Id.
(citing Bouie, 378 U.S. at 353-54). The Court in turn rejected the notion that
such a due process violation was a structural error. Id. (“We see no reason why,
when a judge fails to give an instruction, a reviewing court would find it any
more difficult to assess the likely consequences of that failure than with numerous
other kinds of instructional errors that we have previously held to be
non-‘structural’ . . . .”).
In light of Marcus, we conclude that the due process violation that resulted
from the state trial court’s instructional error is amenable to harmless error
review. And “[b]ecause the OCCA did not reach th[e] issue, it is reviewed by this
court under the harmless error standard announced in Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507
U.S. 619, 637-38, 113 S. Ct. 1710, 123 L. Ed. 2d 353 (1993).” Marcus, 130 S. Ct.
at 2165; see Fry v. Pliler, 551 U.S. 112, 121-22 (2007) (holding that the Brecht
standard governs in federal habeas cases regardless of whether state courts
recognized the error and applied any harmless error review). Under Brecht, “the
60
standard for determining whether habeas relief must be granted is whether the . . .
error [at issue] ‘had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining
the jury’s verdict.’” 507 U.S. at 623 (quoting Kotteakos v. United States, 328
U.S. 750, 776 (1946)). In other words, did the constitutional error at issue
“result[] in ‘actual prejudice’”? Id. at 637.
We have little trouble concluding that the state trial court’s instructional
error did not have a substantial and injurious effect on the jury’s guilt phase
verdict. To be sure, the instructional error, as we have already discussed, allowed
the jury to convict Selsor of first degree murder on the basis of fewer essential
elements than were required for conviction under the applicable 1973 murder
statute. But the presence of Instruction 18, which correctly outlined for the jury
the elements of Robbery with Firearms, combined with the jury’s findings of guilt
on the First Degree Murder and Robbery with Firearms charges, meant that the
jury found the existence of all but one of the essential elements of the 1973
murder statute. And the only essential element that was not covered by the state
trial court’s instructions, i.e., that the murder occurred “while in the commission”
of the robbery, was essentially undisputed. In other words, the prosecution’s
evidence clearly established, without dispute from Selsor, that Selsor murdered
Chandler during the course of the convenience store robbery. In short, then, the
instructional error resulted in no “actual prejudice” at the guilt phase of Selsor’s
61
trial. 10
We must still address, however, whether the state trial court’s instructional
error had a substantial and injurious effect on the jury’s penalty phase verdict.
Selsor argues that the error had precisely such an effect because it “led to the
jury’s consideration and finding of an invalid aggravating factor . . . .” Aplt. Br.
at 69. In support, Selsor notes that the jury at the penalty phase “was instructed
that it could find the ‘avoid arrest or prosecution’ aggravator only if it determined
that Selsor killed Chandler to avoid arrest for ‘another crime separate and distinct
from the murder.’” Id. (quoting S. R., Vol. III at 403; emphasis in original). This
instruction, Selsor argues, “was consistent with the OCCA’s decisions holding
that the ‘avoid arrest or prosecution’ aggravator required proof of ‘a predicate
offense, separate from the murder, for which the defendant seeks to avoid arrest
or prosecution,’” id. at 69-70 (quoting Scott v. State, 891 P.2d 1283, 1294 (Okla.
Crim. App. 1995)), and “was also consistent with the guilt phase instructions [his]
jury received . . . explaining that the murder and robbery were separate offenses,
each of which ‘must stand on its own merits,’” id. at 70 (quoting S. R., Vol. III at
360). Had the jury been properly instructed on the 1973 murder statute, Selsor
10
Selsor does not argue that the state trial court’s instructional error
resulted in actual prejudice at the guilt phase of his trial. Instead, he argues that
“the ex post facto violation render[ed] [his] conviction legally void . . . .” Aplt.
Br. at 68. As we have explained, however, the state trial court’s error did not
result in an ex post facto violation, but rather a due process violation that is
amenable to harmless error review.
62
argues, “the jury could not have found the aggravator” because, “[u]nder the 1973
law, the robbery was an essential element of” first degree murder “and thus could
not serve as a predicate for the ‘avoid arrest or prosecution’ aggravator.” Id. In
turn, Selsor argues, the jury “thus would have found only the ‘risk of death to
more than one person’ aggravator,” and “[t]he . . . finding of only a single
aggravator likely would have shifted the balance in favor of a life sentence.” Id.
at 71. Thus, Selsor asserts, the district court’s instructional error “had a
substantial and injurious effect on the jury’s death verdict . . . .” Id.
We disagree. To be sure, the OCCA’s decisions provide that establishment
of the “avoid arrest or prosecution” aggravator requires proof that “the defendant
committed some ‘predicate crime,’ separate from the murder.” Mitchell v. State,
136 P.3d 671, 677 (Okla. Crim. App. 2006) (citing cases from the mid-1990’s).
But what Selsor overlooks is that the OCCA’s decisions also provide that “in
cases in which the capital defendant is charged with first-degree felony murder,
the crime that serves as the underlying felony for the murder conviction can also
serve as the predicate crime for the avoid arrest aggravator in the second stage.”
Id. at 678 (citing prior cases from 1994, 2000, and 2004). Thus, even though the
prosecution in Selsor’s case had to prove commission of the robbery in order to
convict Selsor of first degree murder under the 1973 murder statute, the robbery
could still properly serve as the predicate crime for the avoid arrest aggravator.
Accordingly, the state trial court’s instructional error did not invalidate the avoid
63
arrest aggravator, and in turn did not have a substantial and injurious effect on the
jury’s second-stage findings.
4. Equal protection - imposition of death penalty for pre-1976 murder
In Proposition Four of his appellate brief, Selsor contends that “[b]y
resentencing [him] to death, both the State and the OCCA have deprived him of
equal protection of the laws, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Aplt.
Br. at 72. More specifically, Selsor contends that “[t]he State treated [him]
differently from all other defendants convicted of murders occurring between May
17, 1973 and July 24, 1976, by obtaining a death sentence against him alone.” Id.
a) Clearly established federal law applicable to the claim
Selsor points to a number of Supreme Court decisions in support of his
equal protection claim. To begin with, Selsor cites to City of Cleburne v.
Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 439 (1985), for the general proposition that
“[t]he Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . . . is essentially a
direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike.” Selsor also
notes that in Jones v. Helms, 452 U.S. 412, 423-24 (1981), the Supreme Court
held that “[t]he Equal Protection Clause provides a basis . . . for contending that
general rules are being applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory way.” In turn,
Selsor notes that the State typically must establish “a rational basis for [a]
difference in treatment,” Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 564
(2000), meaning that “the classification itself [must be] rationally related to a
64
legitimate governmental interest,” U.S. Dep’t of Agric. v. Moreno, 413 U.S. 528,
533 (1973). Lastly, Selsor asserts that where, as here, the challenged government
action implicates a fundamental right (in his case, he asserts, the right to life),
“the government has the burden of proving that [the challenged] classifications
‘are narrowly tailored measures that further compelling governmental interests.’”
Johnson v. California, 543 U.S. 499, 505 (2005) (quoting Adarand Constructors,
Inc. v. Peña, 515 U.S. 200, 227 (1995)).
b) The OCCA’s resolution of the claim
Selsor presented his equal protection claim to the OCCA in the context of
the mandamus action he filed in 1997 seeking to challenge the state trial court’s
denial of his motion to dismiss the prosecution’s Bill of Particulars. The OCCA
rejected the claim, concluding as follows:
Petitioner’s equal protection claim can be easily and summarily
disposed of. Petitioner is simply no longer similarly situated to those
defendants subject to Oklahoma’s unconstitutional death penalty
statute, 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.3, or to those defendants whose
sentences were modified in accordance with Riggs. Petitioner’s
Judgment and Sentence has been vacated and he stands before this
Court, similarly situated to defendants awaiting trial under current
murder and death penalty statutes. Dobbert, 432 U.S. at 301, 97
S.Ct. at 2302, 53 L.Ed.2d at 361; see also Cheatham v. State, 900
P.2d 414, 428-30 (Okl.Cr.1995).
Turnbull, 947 P.2d at 583.
c) § 2254(d) analysis
According to Selsor, the relevant comparison group for purposes of his
65
equal protection claim includes all Oklahoma state defendants convicted of
murders occurring between May 17, 1973 and July 24, 1976. In so defining this
comparison group, Selsor obviously “regards . . . as immaterial to the similarly-
situated analysis,” United States v. Moore, 543 F.3d 891, 897 (7th Cir. 2008), the
fact that he, unlike every other member of that group, obtained federal habeas
relief, had his original convictions and sentences invalidated, and was afforded a
new trial, Kaiser II, 81 F.3d at 1506.
In our view, however, the OCCA’s more narrow construction of the
“similarly situated” test, and its related conclusion that Selsor was not similarly
situated to the identified group because of his successful federal habeas action
and subsequent retrial, was an entirely reasonable construction of clearly
established federal law. Although the Supreme Court, as far as we can determine,
has never precisely defined the meaning of “similarly situated,” it has emphasized
that the comparative group identified by the plaintiff/petitioner must be “similarly
situated in relevant respects.” Bd. of Trs. of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett, 531 U.S.
356, 366 n.4 (2001). This court, in turn, has attempted to provide a somewhat
more detailed definition, noting that “the degree to which others are viewed as
similarly situated [for equal protection analysis purposes] depends substantially
on the facts and context of the case,” and that, consequently, many “legitimate”
“variables” may serve to distinguish the plaintiff from those other persons.
Jennings v. Stillwater, 383 F.3d 1199, 1213-14 (10th Cir. 2004). Other circuits
66
have held that the comparison group identified by the party asserting an equal
protection claim must be “identical in all relevant respects.” Srail v. Village of
Lisle, 588 F.3d 940, 945 (7th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Together, these principles clearly support the OCCA’s conclusion that Selsor was
not, because of having obtained federal habeas relief and received a new trial,
“similarly situated” to his identified comparison group. Thus, we conclude Selsor
is not entitled to federal habeas relief on the basis of his equal protection claim.
5. Vindictive prosecution - due process violation
In Proposition Five of his appellate brief, Selsor contends that the State
violated his due process rights when, following his successful federal habeas
action, it actively sought the death penalty against him. Selsor contends that the
State’s action in this regard raises an “unrebuttable presumption” of vindictive
prosecution. Aplt. Br. at 77.
a) Clearly established federal law applicable to the claim
In support, Selsor points to Blackledge v. Perry, 417 U.S. 21 (1974), and
subsequent Supreme Court “decisions construing that case.” Aplt. Br. at 80.
According to Selsor, “[t]hat body of law holds that where, as here, an appellate
court reverses a defendant’s conviction, and the State, on retrial, seeks a more
severe sentence than it sought before the reversal, a presumption of vindictive
prosecution arises that mandates invalidation of the more severe sentence, unless
the State produces objective proof rebutting the presumption.” Id. (emphasis in
67
original).
The general principle relied on by Selsor appears to have first originated in
North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 726 (1969). In Pearce, the Supreme
Court addressed the following question: “When at the behest of the defendant a
criminal conviction has been set aside and a new trial ordered, to what extent
does the Constitution limit the imposition of a harsher sentence after conviction
upon retrial?” Id. at 713. The Court first held “that neither the double jeopardy
provision nor the Equal Protection Clause imposes an absolute bar to a more
severe sentence upon reconviction.” Id. at 723. In other words, the Court held,
“[a] trial judge is not constitutionally prohibited . . . from imposing a new
sentence, whether greater or less than the original sentence, in light of events
subsequent to the first trial that may have thrown new light upon the defendant’s
‘life, health, habits, conduct, and mental and moral propensities.’” Id. (quoting
Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241, 245 (1949)). The Court in turn held,
however, that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment places
certain limitations on the sentence that can be imposed following retrial. In
particular, the Court held that “[d]ue process of law . . . requires that
vindictiveness against a defendant for having successfully attacked his first
conviction must play no part in the sentence he receives after a new trial.” Id. at
725. “And,” the Court further held, “since the fear of such vindictiveness may
unconstitutionally deter a defendant’s exercise of the right to appeal or
68
collaterally attack his first conviction, due process also requires that a defendant
be freed of apprehension of such a retaliatory motive on the part of the sentencing
judge.” Id. “In order to assure the absence of such a motivation,” the Court held,
“whenever a judge imposes a more severe sentence upon a defendant after a new
trial, the reasons for his doing so must affirmatively appear,” and “[t]hose reasons
must be based upon objective information concerning identifiable conduct on the
part of the defendant occurring after the time of the original sentencing
proceeding.” Id. at 726.
In Blackledge, the Court addressed the related question of whether the
Constitution places limitations on the ability of a prosecutor, following a
defendant’s successful appeal or habeas action, to file more serious charges
against the defendant, i.e., charges that carry a more severe sentence than was
originally imposed on the defendant after the first trial. In addressing this
question, the Court examined Pearce and two of its own post-Pearce decisions and
concluded that “[t]he lesson that emerge[d] from [them] [wa]s that the Due
Process Clause is not offended by all possibilities of increased punishment upon
retrial after appeal, but only by those that pose a realistic likelihood of
‘vindictiveness.’” Blackledge, 417 U.S. at 27. Applying that lesson to the
situation before it, the Court held that “[a] person convicted of an offense is
entitled to pursue his statutory right to [appeal], without apprehension that the
State will retaliate by substituting a more serious charge for the original one, thus
69
subjecting him to a significantly increased potential period of incarceration.” Id.
at 28.
In 1984, the Court, prompted by a “conflict among the Circuits,” revisited
“the meaning of [its] holding in Pearce.” Wasman v. United States, 468 U.S. 559,
563 (1984). In doing so, the Court outlined the key portion of Pearce’s holding:
To prevent actual vindictiveness from entering into a decision and
allay any fear on the part of a defendant that an increased sentence is
in fact the product of vindictiveness, the Court fashioned what in
essence is a “prophylactic rule,” see Colten v. Kentucky, 407 U.S.
104, 116, 92 S.Ct. 1953, 1960, 32 L.Ed.2d 584 (1972), that
“whenever a judge imposes a more severe sentence upon a defendant
after a new trial, the reasons for his doing so must affirmatively
appear.” 395 U.S., at 726, 89 S.Ct., at 2081. This rule has been read
to “[apply] a presumption of vindictiveness, which may be overcome
only by objective information in the record justifying the increased
sentence.” United States v. Goodwin, 457 U.S. 368, 374, 102 S.Ct.
2485, 2489, 73 L.Ed.2d 74 (1982). The rationale for requiring that
“the factual data upon which the increased sentence is based” be
made part of the record, of course, is that the “constitutional
legitimacy,” of the enhanced sentence may thereby be readily
assessed on appeal. Ibid.
Id. at 564-65 (brackets in original). The Court in turn noted that Blackledge was
the “only . . . other circumstance [in which it] ha[d] identified a need to indulge a
presumption of vindictiveness of the kind imposed in Pearce.” Id. at 565.
Describing Blackledge, the Court stated:
Although there was no affirmative evidence tendered that the
prosecutor brought the [greater] felony charge in bad faith, we agreed
that, because the record was devoid of any explanation for the new
indictment, relief should be granted. Consistent with Pearce,
however, we explicitly observed that a different disposition would
have been called for had the State advanced a legitimate
70
nonvindictive justification for the greater charge. This
acknowledgment, of course, was no more than a reaffirmation that
Pearce established a rebuttable presumption of vindictiveness, not an
absolute prohibition on enhancement of sentence.
Id. at 566. The Court proceeded to describe four cases in which it “expressly
declined invitations to extend the presumption.” Id. After doing so, the Court
summarized the impact of Pearce, Blackledge, and the other four cases:
In sum, where the presumption applies, the sentencing authority
or the prosecutor must rebut the presumption that an increased
sentence or charge resulted from vindictiveness; where the
presumption does not apply, the defendant must affirmatively prove
actual vindictiveness.
Id. at 569. 11
b) The OCCA’s resolution of the claim
Selsor presented this claim to the OCCA in 1997 when, following the state
trial court’s denial of his motion to strike the Bill of Particulars filed by the
prosecution, he petitioned the OCCA for a writ of mandamus. In his filing with
the OCCA, Selsor argued, in pertinent part, that in light of Riggs, “there was no
death penalty statute in effect in Oklahoma in 1975, when [he] [wa]s alleged to
have committed the crime of murder in the first degree,” but that he was
nevertheless “facing the death penalty, a greater punishment than that in place at
11
In 1989, the Court refined Pearce slightly, “hold[ing] that no presumption
of vindictiveness arises when the first sentence was based upon a guilty plea, and
the second sentence follows a trial.” Alabama v. Smith, 490 U.S. 794, 795
(1989). That holding appears to have no impact on Selsor’s case.
71
the time of the alleged commission of the crime, because his Sixth Amendment
right to effective assistance of counsel was violated” and ultimately vindicated in
a federal habeas proceeding. App. to Assume Original Jurisdiction and Pet. for
Writ of Prohibition and/or Mandamus at 6, 8-9. Exposing him to such possible
punishment, Selsor argued, “fl[ew] in the face of due process.” Id. at 9. Notably,
Selsor did not cite to Pearce or Blackledge, nor did he argue that the prosecution
acted vindictively in filing the Bill of Particulars against him. 12
In addressing Selsor’s arguments, the OCCA first held that, “[c]ontrary to
[Selsor]’s arguments, there was a death penalty statute in effect in 1975, and on
the date his crime was committed, in the form of 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.3.”
Turnbull, 947 P.2d at 582. In support, the OCCA stated:
Contrary to this Court’s analysis in Riggs, the newly enacted death
penalty statutes did not change the burden of proof to the detriment
of Riggs and other defendants, as compared to the burden of proof
under Section 701.3. Under Section 701.3, the only available
sentence was death. Under newly enacted death penalty statutes, the
sentencing options increased in favor of a defendant to include not
only death but also the possibility of life imprisonment, and now life
without parole. 21 O.S.Supp.1976, §§ 701.9 and 701.10; 21
O.S.1991, § 701.9, and Supp.1996, § 701.10. Under Section 701.3,
the State was only required to prove the elements of the crime of
First Degree Murder. Once those elements were proven, the State
had no further burden of proof because the death penalty was
required. Under newly enacted death penalty statutes, the State not
only must prove the same elements of the crime of First Degree
12
Despite Selsor’s failings, we conclude that the claim he asserted before
the OCCA was “the substantial equivalent” of the claim he now asserts in this
federal habeas proceeding. Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 278 (1971).
72
Murder, but also must prove aggravating circumstances before the
death penalty can be imposed. Id. Therefore, newly enacted death
penalty statutes (1) did not increase the elements of the offense of
First Degree Murder, (2) did not increase but in fact decreased the
conditions and quantum of punishment, and (3) did not decrease but
in fact increased the quantity and degree of proof necessary to
establish guilt, and are not ex post facto. [citations omitted] The ex
post facto analysis and the holdings thereunder in Riggs v. Branch,
554 P.2d 823 (Okl.Cr.1976) are hereby overturned.
Id. at 582-83. Later in its opinion, the OCCA rejected Selsor’s due process
argument:
Finally, we reject Petitioner’s claim that to subject him to the
death penalty, because his Sixth Amendment right to effective
assistance of counsel was violated, flies in the face of due process.
Petitioner has not supported this claim with citation to any authority.
Rule 3.5(C)(4), Rules[ of the Court of Criminal Appeals]. Moreover,
if a defendant has not been acquitted of the death penalty and his
conviction and sentence are reversed on appeal or collateral
proceedings, the slate is wiped clean and a defendant may be
subjected to any punishment authorized by law, including death.
Salazar v. State, 919 P.2d 1120, 1127 (Okl.Cr.1996). Finally,
subjecting Petitioner to the death penalty does not appear to be
punishment for Petitioner’s successful attack on his Judgment and
Sentence, but merely an application of the correct law, and/or a
correction of the applicable law. See Stafford v. State, 800 P.2d 738,
740 (Okl.Cr.1990).
Id. at 583. Both the Salazar and Stafford decisions cited by the OCCA expressly
cited to Pearce and its progeny. Salazar, 919 P.2d at 1127 n.8; Stafford, 800 P.2d
at 740.
c) § 2254(d) analysis
Selsor contends the OCCA’s decision “directly conflicts with” Blackledge
and the Supreme Court’s “later decisions construing that case.” Aplt. Br. at 80.
73
According to Selsor, “[t]he OCCA ruled contrary to this clearly established law,
because in resting its decision on the perceived absence of evidence of retaliation,
it failed to recognize that vindictiveness must be presumed, and that the State
bore the burden of rebutting that presumption.” Id.
It is apparent from its decision that the OCCA did not expressly address the
question of whether Selsor was, under Pearce and its progeny, entitled to a
presumption of vindictiveness, or whether Selsor was instead required to prove
actual vindictiveness on the part of the prosecution. As the Supreme Court
recently emphasized, however, it is unnecessary that a state court “explain[] [its]
reasoning.” Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770, 784 (2011). Thus, we must
assume, in applying the standards outlined in § 2254(d), that the OCCA
concluded Selsor was not entitled to a presumption of vindictiveness and that, in
turn, Selsor failed to prove actual vindictiveness.
Neither of these implicit conclusions reached by the OCCA are contrary to,
or an unreasonable application of, Pearce or its progeny. Turning first to the
question of whether Selsor was entitled to a presumption of vindictiveness, the
relevant comparison, according to the Supreme Court, is between the “original
sentence” and the “new” or newly-sought sentence. Pearce, 395 U.S. at 723;
Blackledge, 417 U.S. at 27-28. In Selsor’s case, we conclude that the “original
sentence” was the death sentence imposed by the state trial court pursuant to the
jury’s verdict, and not, as suggested by Selsor, the modified sentence of life
74
imprisonment that was ordered by the OCCA on direct appeal in Selsor I. To be
sure, neither Pearce nor its progeny dealt with a situation identical to the one at
issue here. However, under the standard of review set forth in § 2254(d)(1),
Selsor cannot obtain federal habeas relief unless we determine that the OCCA
unreasonably construed Pearce and its progeny to require comparison of the
“original” sentence to the sentence ultimately sought by the prosecution on retrial.
And on that question, Selsor cannot prevail. In other words, because Selsor’s
situation differed in a key respect from the circumstances in Pearce and its
progeny, the OCCA was left to determine whether to define Selsor’s “original
sentence” as the death sentence imposed at his original trial, or the modified life
sentence imposed on direct appeal. Nothing in Pearce or its progeny indicates
that the OCCA acted unreasonably in treating Selsor’s death sentence as his
“original sentence.” Thus, in turn, the OCCA’s refusal to apply a presumption of
vindictiveness was not violative of § 2254(d)(1).
That leaves only the OCCA’s implicit conclusion that Selsor failed to prove
actual vindictiveness on the part of the prosecution in filing the Bill of Particulars
and seeking the death penalty on retrial. In this federal habeas action, Selsor
asserts a host of arguments in an attempt to prove actual vindictiveness: the fact
that in his first direct appeal “the State asked the OCCA to modify [his] sentence
to life,” Aplt. Br. at 82; “[t]he extraordinary lengths to which the State went in
seeking the death penalty following [his] habeas victory,” including “its
75
aggressive and surprising campaign to overrule Riggs,” id. at 83; “[t]he State’s
pursuit of an excessive sentence on the shooting with intent to kill conviction,”
i.e., “ask[ing] the jury for a sentence 250 times greater than it had requested at the
first trial,” id. at 84; and the lack “of any explanation by the State for its decision
to seek the death penalty,” id. at 86. The problem, however, is that Selsor made
no mention of any of these factors (or of Pearce or its progeny) when he presented
his due process claim to the OCCA. Thus, the OCCA’s implicit conclusion that
Selsor failed to carry his burden of presenting sufficient evidence to justify a
remand to the state trial court for determination of the actual vindictiveness issue,
or, alternatively, its implicit finding of no actual vindictiveness, was entirely
reasonable. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) and (2).
6. Prosecutorial misconduct
In Proposition Six of his appellate brief, Selsor contends that the penalty-
phase of his trial was rendered “fundamentally unfair” by prosecutorial
misconduct. Aplt. Br. at 87. Specifically, Selsor contends that the prosecution,
“[b]oth by suggesting, absent a shred of evidentiary support, that [his] mitigation
witnesses were testifying untruthfully out of fear of reprisals, and by comparing
the value of [his] life in prison to the victim’s death, . . . created a grave risk that
the jury’s death verdict was based on passion and prejudice, rather than a
reasoned review of the evidence.” Id.
a) Relevant background facts
76
Selsor’s penalty-phase mitigation evidence was comprised of testimony
from five non-familial witnesses. The first of those, LaDonna Penny, a data entry
clerk for the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department, testified that Selsor received no
write-ups during the nineteen months he was confined in the Tulsa County Jail.
The remaining four witnesses, Kenneth Williamson, Bervin Knott, Fred Cook, and
Linda Morgan, were either employed by, or retired from employment with, the
Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODC) and had interacted with Selsor
during his imprisonment following his original conviction. All four of these
witnesses testified that, despite supporting the death penalty generally, they
disagreed with the prosecution’s recommended sentence of death for Selsor.
In cross-examining these latter four witnesses, the prosecution focused on
certain episodes of misconduct committed by Selsor during his period of
confinement, in particular his attempted escape in the early 1980’s. The
prosecution also elicited a concession from one of the witnesses, Knott, that he
would likely again be assigned to supervise Selsor if Selsor was sentenced to life
in prison. Knott, however, expressly disagreed with the prosecution’s suggestion
on cross-examination that it could potentially place him in danger to say negative
things about Selsor; indeed, Knott testified that he was not concerned about the
ramifications of his testimony. Nevertheless, during its final second-stage closing
argument, the prosecution argued that Knott and the other ODC witnesses were
scared to say anything negative about Selsor:
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And let’s talk about the State employees, the [ODC] personnel. I
would ask each and every one of you to think about their testimony
in context of the evidence in this case. I would submit to you, liken
it to your neighbors that you live next door to. Think about if you
were asked to come in here and sit in judgment of your neighbors,
and all you knew about your neighbors and whether they should
receive the death penalty or not is whether they mow their yard, took
out their trash, dressed okay, painted their house, and said good
morning appropriately. Would you be biased? Would you know all
the facts? Would you know why someone wants your neighbor
killed? And think about this, ladies and gentlemen, if they’re your
neighbors, where are they gonna go if they don’t receive a sentence
of death? They’re gonna come right back and they’re gonna live
right next door to you. Do you think those people don’t know that
they’re rubbing elbows with this Defendant every day?
Do they know anything about Anne Chandler [(the victim’s wife)]
and what she’s been through for the last 23 years? Do they know
anything about his daughter Debbie? Do they know anything about
Ina Morris? No. You’ve heard their testimony. They really don’t
know. One of them read it in the paper.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a jury system where you all get to
come in here and hear both sides. Remember, one of their witnesses
was very candid. No, it’s not fair to the victims to sit and make a
decision if I don’t know both sides. Total agreement with that.
You’ve got to know both sides.
But you’ve got individuals who only knew this Defendant in a
controlled prison environment for a couple of years. Some of those
witnesses, are they biased? Do they have to survive in that system?
You bet they do. Their word is their bond. They’ve worked in the
same system. They’ve worked next to long-term offenders. How is
it gonna go when they get back to the walls and all those long-term
offenders hear that someone like [Selsor’s] last witness, Ms. Morgan,
came in here and starts saying, well, this Defendant deserves to die?
How do you think that’s gonna sit well with the other long-term
offenders, the other killers that she works with? Do you think that
could put her in jeopardy? Is it fair to those people in that position,
knowing what they knew about this case? Was that fair?
78
Tr., Vol. V at 1200-02.
The prosecution also, during its final second-stage closing argument, asked
the jury to consider what Selsor’s life would be like if sentenced to life
imprisonment, and, in doing so, contrasted that with the plight of Selsor’s
victims:
Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you, based on the evidence
you’ve heard in this case, you’ve got to decide the punishment in this
case. Let’s think about the punishment. If you vote for a verdict
other than death, what is going to be Mike Selsor’s punishment?
What is he going to have? He’s going to have freedom, freedom to
do what he wants.
What have you heard about over the last 23 years? This will be
your punishment. He [(Selsor)] can do what he wants. He can
smoke dope, he can hang out with his friends, he can read books,
watch TV, write letters, participate in rodeos, workout, play ball,
work in the garden. He doesn’t have to have a job. You’ve heard he
doesn’t even hold a job. He sits around and does what he wants.
And all of his needs are met: clothing, food, and shelter. Is that too
good for what he’s done? Is that the appropriate punishment in this
case? Because you do have to live with yourselves and you do have
to know what you vote for is what’s right.
If you believe, hey, Mike [Selsor], here you go. There you go,
that’s what you get for what you’ve done, and you go back there and
you vote for life without parole. If you feel that is the appropriate
punishment that Mike Selsor deserves, then I submit to you, you go
back there with conscience, you vote for it.
But what has he done? What has been his reign of terror?
Clayton Chandler lost his life, brutally, savagely, without mercy,
without pity, without hesitation, without any concern for human life.
He took Clayton Chandler from his family. His little girl did not get
to see daddy come home that night. When she went into the door to
put her arms around dad, there was no dad. He took a husband. Her
dreams were in that man. Her dreams. He took the father, the pillar
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of this society. This was a good man. He didn’t do anything to
deserve to die like a dog in that store. The nightmare, he created a
nightmare. You bet he did. They [(the government’s second-stage
witnesses)] told you about it, and they lived it every single day while
he’s doing this.
Physical suffering. Clayton suffered. He suffered. You bet he
did. The surviving family, her 29-year mate, the person she loved,
her best friend, her provider, her security, her hero, he’s gone. He
lays right over there.
Ina Morris. It was a tragedy. That night was a tragedy. She was
on her knees, asking God to forgive her for her sins. She was shot
repeatedly because he [(Selsor)] made a blood pact with his partner
in crime to leave no witnesses. She has suffered, she has suffered.
She lost everything. She lost her innocence, she lost her trust. She
couldn’t even function, ladies and gentlemen. It took years and years
of counseling for, what did it be [sic]? Go outside. And he deserves
this.
Id. at 1202-04.
b) Clearly established federal law applicable to the claim
Selsor points to a trio of Supreme Court cases in support of his claim:
Viereck v. United States, 318 U.S. 236 (1943), Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349
(1977), and Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168 (1986). In Vierick, the Supreme
Court condemned as prejudicial to the defendant’s right to a fair trial closing
remarks made by the prosecutor that were “wholly irrelevant to any facts or issues
in the case, the purpose and effect of which could only have been to arouse
passion and prejudice.” 318 U.S. at 247. In Gardner, a capital case, the Supreme
Court did not address prosecutorial misconduct, but instead held generally that
“[i]t is of vital importance to the defendant [in a capital case] and to the
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community that any decision to impose the death sentence be, and appear to be,
based on reason rather than caprice or emotion.” 430 U.S. at 358. Finally, in
Darden, another capital case, the Supreme Court characterized as “improper,” but
ultimately harmless, “several offensive comments” made by the prosecutor during
second-stage closing arguments that “reflect[ed] an emotional reaction to the
case.” 13 477 U.S. at 180. In concluding that the remarks “did not deprive [the
defendant] of a fair trial,” id. at 181, the Court emphasized that the prosecutor’s
“argument did not manipulate or misstate the evidence, nor did it implicate other
specific rights of the accused such as the right to counsel or the right to remain
silent,” id. at 182.
c) The OCCA’s resolution of the claim
Selsor first presented his claim to the OCCA on direct appeal from his 1998
retrial, arguing, in pertinent part, that the prosecutor’s second-stage arguments
deprived him of his right to a fair sentencing hearing. In doing so, however,
Selsor failed to cite to any of the three Supreme Court cases he now relies on.
In addressing Selsor’s arguments, the OCCA noted at the outset that
Selsor’s counsel failed to object to the purported misconduct at trial, thereby
“waiving all but plain error.” Selsor II, 2 P.3d at 354. The OCCA then rejected
13
These included statements such as, “He [(the defendant)] shouldn’t be out
of his cell unless he has a leash on him and a prison guard at the other end of that
leash,” and “I wish that I could see him [(the defendant)] sitting here with no
face, blown away by a shotgun.” 477 U.S. at 180 n.12.
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Selsor’s arguments, stating:
Selsor . . . contends that the prosecutor demeaned his mitigation
evidence by arguing facts outside the record. The prosecutor’s
arguments were fair challenges to Selsor’s mitigating evidence.
Moreover, the comments were not based upon facts outside the
record but were reasonable inferences and arguments from the facts
adduced at trial. There was no error.
Selsor argues that the prosecutor improperly compared the
advantages of Selsor’s life in prison to the plight of the dead victim.
These comments by the prosecutor are not error. Instead, they fairly
commented on Selsor’s mitigation evidence and merely asked the
jury to consider what Selsor’s life was like and would be like in
prison based upon the evidence at trial in determining the appropriate
punishment. This is proper argument.
Id. (internal paragraph numbers omitted).
d) § 2254(d) analysis
“[W]hen a state court applies plain error review in disposing of a federal
claim, the decision is on the merits to the extent that the state court finds the
claim lacks merit under federal law.” Douglas v. Workman, 560 F.3d 1156, 1171
(10th Cir. 2009). That is precisely the situation here: although the OCCA applied
plain error review to Selsor’s claims, it ultimately concluded the claims lacked
merit under controlling federal law. Consequently, the question we must address
is whether the OCCA’s decision was contrary to, or an unreasonable application
of, the three Supreme Court decisions cited by Selsor. See id.; 28 U.S.C. §
2254(d)(1).
We conclude, contrary to Selsor’s arguments on appeal, that the OCCA’s
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decision was consistent with Viereck, Gardner, and Darden. To begin with, the
challenged remarks by the prosecutor concerning the testimony of the ODC
employees were not “wholly irrelevant to any facts or issues in the case,” Vierick,
318 U.S. at 247, but rather, as noted by the OCCA, were intended to directly
rebut Selsor’s arguments as to why he should be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Specifically, the prosecutor was attempting to argue to the jury that the testimony
of the ODC employees should be discounted both because they were not privy to
all of the relevant facts, and because they might be fearful of future retaliation
from Selsor or others if they agreed with the prosecutor’s recommended sentence.
Although none of the ODC witnesses directly expressed any fear of reprisal, it
was both relevant and proper for the prosecutor to have asked the jury to infer this
fact from their testimony — except perhaps in the case of Knott, who, as noted,
on cross-examination denied any concern for the possible ramifications caused by
his testimony.
As for the prosecutor’s comparison of the plight of the victims and their
families with the life Selsor would lead if sentenced to a term of imprisonment,
the OCCA reasonably concluded that was a valid comment on the evidence
presented during the second-stage proceedings. In cross-examining each of
Selsor’s ODC witnesses, the prosecutor elicited testimony indicating that Selsor,
like other inmates serving terms of imprisonment, could choose whether or not to
work, and could participate (and had participated) in various activities, including
83
prison rodeos and gardening. The prosecutor in turn emphasized this testimony
during closing arguments to highlight for the jury the consequences of a decision
to sentence Selsor to life imprisonment rather than death. To be sure, the
prosecutor’s related discussion of the plight of the victims and their families may
have “arouse[d] [the jury’s] passion,” Vierick, 318 U.S. at 247, or “emotion[s],”
Gardner, 430 U.S. at 358. That said, however, the prosecutor did not manipulate
or misstate the evidence in that regard. Thus, as was the case in Darden, the
prosecutor’s remarks did not ultimately impact Selsor’s right to a fair sentencing
hearing.
In sum, Selsor is not entitled to federal habeas relief on the basis of his
prosecutorial misconduct claim.
7. Impermissible testimony by victim’s family
In his seventh, and final, proposition of error, Selsor contends that the trial
court’s admission, during the penalty-phase, of testimony from Clayton
Chandler’s widow and daughter “that they agreed with the prosecution’s
recommendation of death for Selsor,” Aplt. Br. at 103-04, “served only to inflame
the jury’s passion and prejudice, and therefore violated the Eighth Amendment,”
id. at 104.
a) Relevant background facts
The prosecution, as part of its second-stage evidence, presented testimony
from Debbie Huggins, Chandler’s daughter, and Anne Chandler, Chandler’s
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widow. Both of these witnesses were allowed to read into the record written
victim impact statements they had prepared prior to trial. As part of her victim
impact statement, Huggins stated, “I am in agreement with the District Attorney’s
Office regarding the recommendation of this case.” Tr., Vol. V at 1042.
Similarly, Anne Chandler stated, in reading her victim impact statement, “I agree
with the District Attorney’s recommendations on this case.” Id. at 1045. Selsor’s
counsel timely objected to both statements, but was overruled by the state trial
court.
b) Clearly established federal law applicable to the claim
Selsor, citing Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991), and Booth v.
Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987), contends “[t]he Supreme Court has long held that
a victim-impact witness’s testimony supporting a death sentence for the defendant
violates the Eighth Amendment.” 14 Aplt. Br. at 105. In Booth, the Court held
“that evidence and argument relating to the victim and the impact of the victim’s
death on the victim’s family are inadmissible [under the Eighth Amendment] at a
capital sentencing hearing.” Payne, 501 U.S. at 830 n.2. That holding was
overruled by the Court in Payne. Id. at 830 & n.2. “Booth also held that the
admission of a victim’s family members’ characterizations and opinions about the
14
Selsor also cites to Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 290
(1976). Aplt. Br. at 105. Selsor does not explain, however, how Woodson
supports his claim, and it is not apparent to us how Woodson is relevant.
85
crime, the defendant, and the appropriate sentence violates the Eighth
Amendment.” Id. at 830 n.2. Payne did not overrule this portion of Booth. Id.
“This circuit and several other circuits have [since] expressly recognized
that the portion of Booth prohibiting family members of a victim from stating
‘characterizations and opinions about the crime, the defendant, and the
appropriate sentence’ during the penalty phase of a capital trial survived the
holding in Payne and remains valid.” Welch v. Sirmons, 451 F.3d 675, 703 (10th
Cir. 2006), overruled on other grounds by Wilson v. Workman, 577 F.3d 1284
(10th Cir. 2009) (en banc).
c) Selsor’s failure to present claim to the OCCA
It is uncontroverted that Selsor never presented this claim to the OCCA.
Selsor argues, however, that exhaustion of the claim was futile because the OCCA
has consistently upheld admission of similar evidence. Indeed, Selsor asserts,
“[t]he OCCA upheld admission of a victim’s death recommendation the same day
it decided [his] appeal.” Aplt. Br. at 104 (citing Welch v. State, 2 P.3d 356, 373
(Okla. Crim. App. 2000) (“Victim impact testimony may include information
about the victim, circumstances surrounding the crime, the manner in which the
crime was perpetrated, and the victim’s opinion of a recommended sentence.”)).
A state prisoner generally may not raise a claim for federal habeas corpus
relief unless he “has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State.”
28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A). To exhaust a claim, a state prisoner must pursue it
86
through “one complete round of the State’s established appellate review process,”
giving the state courts a “full and fair opportunity” to correct alleged
constitutional errors. O’Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 845 (1999). If a
state prisoner has not properly exhausted state remedies, the federal courts
ordinarily will not entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus unless
exhaustion would have been futile because either “there is an absence of available
State corrective process” or “circumstances exist that render such process
ineffective to protect the rights of the applicant.” 28 U.S.C. §§ 2254(b)(1)(B)(i),
(ii). The state prisoner bears the burden of proving that he exhausted state court
remedies, see McCormick v. Kline, 572 F.3d 841, 851 (10th Cir. 2009), or that
exhaustion would have been futile, see Clonce v. Presley, 640 F.2d 271, 273 (10th
Cir. 1981).
In the instant case, we conclude, out of an abundance of caution, that Selsor
has sufficiently established that exhaustion of his claim with the OCCA would
have been futile. In particular, Selsor correctly notes that the OCCA, both at the
time it decided his direct appeal and for several years thereafter, consistently
approved of the admission during second-stage capital proceedings of a “victim’s
opinion of [the] recommended sentence.” Welch, 2 P.3d at 373; see Murphy v.
State, 47 P.3d 876, 885 (Okla. Crim. App. 2002) (same).
d) The merits of the claim
The Supreme Court’s decision in Payne and our own post-Payne cases
87
clearly establish that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment to allow a victim
or a victim’s family member to comment, during second-stage proceedings, on the
appropriate sentence for a capital defendant. See Welch v. Workman, 607 F.3d
674, 695 (10th Cir. 2010). Thus, we conclude that Selsor’s Eighth Amendment
rights were violated by admission of the challenged testimony from Huggins and
Anne Chandler.
The question then becomes whether “the prejudicial impact of [this]
constitutional error” rises to the “substantial and injurious effect standard set
forth in” Brecht. Fry v. Pliler, 551 U.S. 112, 120, 121 n. 3 (2007). As we have
noted, this standard affords a state habeas petitioner plenary review to determine
whether a trial error “resulted in actual prejudice.” Id. at 637 (internal quotation
marks omitted). A “substantial and injurious effect” exists when the court finds
itself in “grave doubt” about the effect of the error on the jury’s verdict. O’Neal
v. McAninch, 513 U.S. 432, 435 (1995). Notably, “an error that may justify
reversal on direct appeal will not necessarily support a collateral attack on a final
judgment.” Brecht, 507 U.S. at 634. However, “when a court is ‘in virtual
equipoise as to the harmlessness of the error’ under the Brecht standard, the court
should ‘treat the error ... as if it affected the verdict . . . .’” Fry, 551 U.S. at 121
n.3 (quoting O’Neal, 513 U.S. at 435).
We conclude, after “[a]ssessing the improper parts of the victim impact
evidence in the context of other evidence presented,” that the improper evidence
88
“did not have an actual impact on [Selsor’s] sentence.” Welch, 607 F.3d at 695
(internal quotation marks omitted). To begin with, the challenged statements by
Huggins and Anne Chandler did not expressly refer to Selsor being put to death;
instead, they both simply stated without embellishment they agreed with the
prosecution’s “recommended sentence.” Further, the evidence presented by the
prosecution overwhelmingly supported the two aggravating circumstances found
by the jury. Indeed, those circumstances were all but uncontroverted. Moreover,
although the jury did not find that Selsor represented a continuing threat to
society, the prosecution’s evidence of Selsor’s role in a string of violent robberies
nevertheless painted a picture of Selsor that was certainly less than flattering, and
that weighed heavily in favor of imposition of the death penalty. As for Selsor’s
own mitigating evidence, it was, quite frankly, less than compelling. Although all
four of the ODC witnesses testified they disagreed with the imposition of the
death penalty for Selsor, two of those witnesses conceded that Selsor’s prison
record was simply “a little bit better than average,” Tr., Vol. V at 1124 (testimony
of Knott); id. at 1135 (testimony of Cook), and one of those witnesses effectively
conceded that Selsor remained a threat, id. at 1098 (testimony of Williamson).
Lastly, “the jury was [properly] instructed on the use of mitigating evidence and
its role in the sentencing deliberations.” Welch, 607 F.3d at 695. Considered
together, the challenged victim impact statements did not “so clearly sway[] the
jury as to cause [Selsor] actual prejudice as required by Brecht.” Id.
89
AFFIRMED.
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Selsor v. Workman
Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Date filed: 2011-05-02
Citations: 644 F.3d 984
Copy CitationsCombined Opinion