United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 07-2585
DANIEL YEBOAH-SEFAH,
a/k/a HENRY K. BOATENG,
Petitioner, Appellant,
v.
EDWARD FICCO,
Respondent, Appellee.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
[Hon. Rya W. Zobel, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Torruella, Selya, Circuit Judges,
and Domínguez,* District Judge.
Chauncey B. Wood, with whom Wood & Nathanson, LLP, was on
brief for appellant.
David T. Huang, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division,
with whom Martha Coakley, Attorney General, was on brief for
appellee.
February 19, 2009
*
Of the District of Puerto Rico, sitting by designation.
TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge. Petitioner, Daniel Yeboah-
Sefah, a/k/a Henry K. Boateng,1 is a state prisoner convicted in
Massachusetts of charges stemming from the murder of his five-week
old son and the severe beating of his former girlfriend. He was
sentenced to life imprisonment. His primary defense at trial was
that he was not guilty by reason of insanity.
Petitioner's present appeal challenges the district
court's denial of his federal petition for habeas corpus relief.
Among the issues raised on habeas, petitioner argues that (1) he
did not make a "knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver" of his
constitutional right to "conflict-free counsel"; (2) he was
deprived of effective assistance of counsel; and (3) he was
deprived of due process by the trial court's failure to hold
competency and voluntariness hearings sua sponte. After careful
consideration, we affirm the denial of habeas corpus relief by the
district court.
I. Background
A. Facts
We take the facts largely as recounted by the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ("SJC") decision affirming
Yeboah-Sefah's conviction, "supplemented with other record facts
1
Petitioner was known at the time of his conviction as "Henry K.
Boateng." He has since legally changed his name to "Daniel Yeboah-
Sefah," the name under which he filed the instant habeas petition.
We will hereinafter refer to petitioner as "Yeboah-Sefah."
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consistent with the SJC's findings." Healy v. Spencer, 453 F.3d
21, 22 (1st Cir. 2006).
Yeboah-Sefah and Alecia Moore ("Moore") met in Worcester,
Massachusetts in June of 1991 and began to date. In January 1992,
Yeboah-Sefah began attending the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst, but soon dropped out. Yeboah-Sefah then discovered that
Moore was pregnant with his child. In the fall of 1992, Yeboah-
Sefah moved in with Moore and a week later their son, Jameel, was
born.
As a condition for Yeboah-Sefah moving in with her, Moore
asked that he either return to school or find a job. Yeboah-Sefah
failed to do so and on October 24, 1992, Moore initiated a
conversation with him during which she told him that he would have
to move out. This discussion took place in Yeboah-Sefah's bedroom,
down the hall from where Moore and the baby slept. The discussion
continued into the morning of October 25th.
When Moore got up to leave the room, Yeboah-Sefah sprang
up, threw her to the floor, and yelled "I'm going to kill you" as
he strangled, hit and kicked her. The attack on Moore lasted about
two hours, and included the use of a stick. At some point during
the assault, Yeboah-Sefah announced "I'm going to get the baby."
He then retrieved five-week old Jameel from his crib, threw him on
the floor, and began to kick and strangle him. When Moore tried to
intervene, Yeboah-Sefah kicked her in the face. Yeboah-Sefah
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eventually took the baby and put him back in his crib. Jameel died
from his injuries.
Moore managed to crawl back to her room and lie down on
the bed. Yeboah-Sefah entered and held a knife over Jameel, and
then over Moore. Eventually Moore's mother, Enid Hall ("Hall"),
called, and Yeboah-Sefah answered the phone. Yeboah-Sefah told
Hall that Moore was out doing laundry. He then hung up and ripped
the telephone cord out of the wall. As Moore had just been to her
house the day before to do laundry, Hall's suspicion were aroused
so she and Moore's sister drove to Moore's apartment to
investigate. When no one answered the door, they contacted the
police. Moore's mother and sister also yelled for Moore from
outside the apartment. Upon hearing them, Yeboah-Sefah became
disconsolate and went into the bathroom where he drank from a
container of bleach, saying he would not go to jail. He prevented
Moore from going downstairs to reach her mother and sister.
The police soon arrived. Moore was taken to a hospital
while a detective read Yeboah-Sefah the Miranda warnings and
questioned him about what had happened. Based on the testimony of
the officer at trial, Yeboah-Sefah responded that he and Moore had
gotten into a fight, and that he had beaten her with his fists and
knees. When asked about what happened to the baby, he admitted to
hitting Jameel's head on the bedroom wall and kicking him.
-4-
Yeboah-Sefah never denied killing Jameel or assaulting
Moore. His principal defense at trial was an insanity defense;
that he lacked criminal responsibility for his actions on account
of mental illness. Yeboah-Sefah presented testimony that, since
1988, he had been receiving treatment for a major psychiatric
disorder, diagnosed as depression with psychotic features and the
possibility of schizophrenia, and that he had been prescribed and
been taking various antidepressant and anti-psychotic medications.
A psychiatrist, Dr. David Rosemarin, was called as a defense
witness. Dr. Rosemarin testified that on the day of the crimes
Yeboah-Sefah was likely in the grip of psychosis, feeling under the
control of a spirit and hearing voices mocking him and telling him
to kill himself. Dr. Rosemarin related that Yeboah-Sefah had told
him that after assaulting Moore, but before attacking Jameel, he
had responded to these voices by mixing all of his medications and
taking them in one dose. While Dr. Rosemarin could come to no
conclusion regarding Yeboah-Sefah's state of mind during his attack
on Moore, he opined that Yeboah-Sefah had suffered a hallucination
causing him to believe that Jameel was some sort of evil creature
or cat who would kill him if he did not kill it first. It was Dr.
Rosemarin's further opinion that Yeboah-Sefah was not criminally
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responsible for the killing of the child within the meaning of
Massachusetts law.2
The Commonwealth called its own expert, Dr. Marc Whaley,
a psychologist who acknowledged that Yeboah-Sefah suffered from
mental illness and that anti-psychotic drugs had helped him
function. However, Dr. Whaley opined that Yeboah-Sefah's actions
on the day in question displayed a rationality that belied any
claim of actual insanity and, on that basis, concluded that Yeboah-
Sefah had sufficient mental capacity to be criminally responsible
for his actions on that date of his crimes. Dr. Whaley further
concluded that Yeboah-Sefah's mental illness impaired his capacity
to "premeditate" his actions. The Commonwealth also called a
medical examiner, Dr. Stanton Kessler. Dr. Kessler, who had
performed the autopsy on Jameel, testified about the decedent's
injuries and concluded that the cause of death was multiple blunt
traumatic injuries.
The case was submitted to the jury on two theories of
murder in the first degree: premeditation and "extreme atrocity or
cruelty." The jury convicted Yeboah-Sefah of the murder of Jameel
with "extreme atrocity or cruelty," but not murder with deliberate
premeditation. For the attack on Moore, Yeboah-Sefah was convicted
2
See Commonwealth v. McHoul, 226 N.E.2d 556, 557-558 (Mass. 1967)
(holding that criminal responsibility requires that a person have
the substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts
and to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law).
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of armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery by
means of a dangerous weapon, assault by means of a dangerous weapon
and assault and battery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
B. Procedural History
Yeboah-Sefah appealed his conviction and subsequently
filed a motion for a new trial, premised, among other things, on
the ineffective assistance of his trial counsel, Mr. John LaChance
("LaChance"). The appeal was stayed pending the outcome of the
motion. The motion judge, who was not the trial judge, conducted
an evidentiary hearing at which Yeboah-Sefah's new counsel called
three new expert witnesses, including two other psychologists and
a medical examiner. Yeboah-Sefah claimed that these witnesses, if
they had been called to testify at trial, would have presented a
stronger case for insanity, and that trial counsel's failure to
call them was manifestly unreasonable, constituting ineffective
assistance. Yeboah-Sefah's trial counsel also testified and
explained his trial tactics and strategy. The motion for a new
trial was denied. See Commonwealth v. Boateng, No. 92-0656, 2000
WL 1481424 (Mass. Super. Ct. Sept. 19, 2000).
Yeboah-Sefah timely appealed the denial of his new trial
motion, which the SJC consolidated with the direct appeal of his
convictions. On January 21, 2003, the SJC issued a decision
affirming both the murder conviction and the denial of the new
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trial motion. Commonwealth v. Boateng, 781 N.E.2d 1207 (Mass.
2003).3
On January 20, 2004, petitioner filed the instant habeas
corpus petition with the United States District Court for the
District of Massachusetts. The petition was followed by a motion,
which was granted, to stay federal proceedings until petitioner had
exhausted state avenues of relief. Petitioner then filed a second
motion for new trial in the Massachusetts Superior Court. On
March 25, 2005, an addendum to the motion was filed, along with
motions for an evidentiary hearing and funds to hire a psychiatric
expert. Following a non-evidentiary hearing before a new judge,
the second new trial motion was also denied. Commonwealth v.
Boateng, No. WO Cr. 1992-00656 (Mass. Super. Ct. Dec. 16, 2005).
Petitioner then appealed this denial to the SJC, where on May 5,
2006, pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, § 33E, a single justice
issued a memorandum and order denying the petition for appellate
review on the ground that it did not raise a "new or substantial"
issue for the Court. Commonwealth v. Boateng, No. SJ-2006-0021
(SJC Memorandum, Cowin, J., May 5, 2006).
Yeboah-Sefah thereupon returned to the federal court
where the district court denied his habeas claims on September 13,
2007. Yeboah-Sefah v. Ficco, No. 04-10125-RWZ, 2007 WL 2713392 (D.
3
The SJC did vacate Boateng's conviction for armed assault with
intent to murder based on an erroneous jury instruction. Boateng,
781 N.E.2d at 1223.
-8-
Mass. Sept. 13, 2007). Petitioner has timely appealed this denial
and the district court has granted a certificate of appealability
as to all issues.
II. Discussion
A. Applicable Law
1. Standard of Review
"We review the district court's denial of habeas relief
de novo." Lynch v. Ficco, 438 F.3d 35, 44 (1st Cir. 2006) (citing
Ellsworth v. Warden, 333 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 2003)). "Put
differently, the district court opinion, while helpful for its
reasoning, is entitled to no deference." Healy, 453 F.3d at 25.
Our review of a federal claim on habeas is governed by
the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
("AEDPA"). Under AEDPA, where a federal claim was "adjudicated on
the merits in State court proceedings," the application for habeas
corpus must be denied unless the state court's adjudication of the
claim satisfies either of two conditions: (1) it "resulted in a
decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable
application of, clearly established Federal law as determined by
the Supreme Court of the United States," or (2) it "resulted in a
decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the
facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court
proceeding." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).
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For purposes of section 2254(d)(1), "clearly established
Federal law" refers only to "the holdings, as opposed to the dicta,
of [the Supreme Court's] decisions at the time of the relevant
state court decision." Carey v. Musladin, 549 U.S. 70, 74 (2006)
(quoting Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 412 (2000))(emphasis
added).
An "unreasonable application" of federal law
occurs when the state court identifies the
correct legal principle, "but (i) applies
those principles to the facts of the case in
an objectively unreasonable manner; (ii)
unreasonably extends clearly established legal
principles to a new context where they should
not apply; or (iii) unreasonably refuses to
extend clearly established legal principles to
a new context where they should apply."
Malone v. Clarke, 536 F.3d 54, 63 (1st Cir. 2008) (quoting Sleeper
v. Spencer, 510 F.3d 32, 38 (1st Cir. 2007)). A decision can still
be "reasonable" even if the reviewing court "concludes in its
independent judgment that the relevant state-court decision applied
clearly established federal law erroneously or incorrectly,"
rather, "unreasonable" here means something more than incorrect or
erroneous. Williams, 529 U.S. at 411. Moreover, even if a state
court's error rises to the level of being "unreasonable," habeas
relief is nevertheless unavailable unless petitioner can show that
the error had a "substantial and injurious effect or influence in
determining the jury's verdict." Delany v. Bartee, 522 F.3d 100,
105 (1st Cir. 2008) (quoting Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619,
631 (1993)).
-10-
A matter is "adjudicated on the merits," giving rise to
deference under § 2254(d) of AEDPA, "if there is a 'decision
finally resolving the parties' claims, with res judicata effect,
that is based on the substance of the claim advanced, rather than
on a procedural, or other, ground.'" Teti v. Bender, 507 F.3d 50,
56-57 (1st Cir. 2007) (quoting Sellan v. Kuhlman, 261 F.3d 303, 311
(2d Cir. 2001)). However, where petitioner raises a federal claim
during state proceedings that is not decided by the state court,
this court reviews that claim de novo. Horton v. Allen, 370 F.3d
75, 80 (1st Cir. 2004). After all, "we can hardly defer to the
state court on an issue that the state court did not address."
Fortini v. Murphy, 257 F.3d 39, 47 (1st Cir. 2001).
"AEDPA [also] sets out a separate and exacting standard
applicable to review of a state court's factual findings." Pike v.
Guarino, 492 F.3d 61, 68 (1st Cir. 2007). The state court's
factual finding are "presumed to be correct" unless the petitioner
rebuts this "presumption of correctness" with "clear and convincing
evidence." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1).
2. Procedural Default
The "independent and adequate state ground doctrine" is
also relevant to the claims and defenses before us. This doctrine
"applies to bar federal habeas when a state court declined to
address a prisoner's federal claims because the prisoner has failed
to meet a state procedure requirement." Coleman v. Thompson, 501
-11-
U.S. 722, 730-31 (1991). Thus, where a claim was procedurally
defaulted by the petitioner in state court, we are barred from
reaching the merits of the claim unless the petitioner meets the
federal habeas standard for excusing the procedural waiver. See
id. at 750 ("In all cases in which a state prisoner has defaulted
his federal claims in state court pursuant to an independent and
adequate state procedural rule, federal habeas review of the claims
is barred unless [the default is excused]."). A procedural waiver
can be excused if "the prisoner can demonstrate cause for the
default and actual prejudice as a result of the alleged violation
of federal law, or . . . a fundamental miscarriage of justice."
Id.
B. Waiver of Right to Conflict-Free Counsel
In his first claim, petitioner asserts that his Sixth
Amendment right to counsel was violated because he was represented
at trial by counsel who had a conflict of interest that petitioner
did not knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waive. The
alleged conflict involves trial counsel's simultaneous
representation of a prosecution witness, the medical examiner, Dr.
Kessler, in an unrelated civil matter. Although all parties were
on notice of the conflict prior to the commencement of trial, and
the trial judge conducted an inquiry of the petitioner and obtained
petitioner's consent before permitting the representation to
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continue,4 petitioner argues that because his consent was not
knowing, intelligent and voluntary, as required to establish an
4
As set forth in the record, the inquiry proceeded as follows:
THE COURT: Yes Mr. Boateng, we are talking about [the
medical examiner] Dr. Kessler and the fact that your
lawyer represents him in a civil matter. Now he says
that he talked to you about that a couple of times.
DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And that from the nature of this case, in
the way in which this case is going to be tried, that his
understanding of your position is the fact that he is
representing him in this civil matter, and that
represents, in a technical sense, a conflict of interest,
that your position is that you have no objection to his
representing you and having to question Dr. Kessler in
your behalf and the like, all of those questions that
surround that subject. Is that so?
DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
....
THE COURT: I would just say this to you: – you can
stay where you are, Mr. Boateng - that you are always a
little bit concerned about situations where there is a
conflict of interest, because you can't always reach out
and deal with situations when you don't anticipate them,
when they happen in the course of a trial. Sometimes,
for example, a witness says something which you didn't
know about ahead of time, and its necessary for the
lawyer to take a rather forceful position with the
witness, for example, really cross-examine that witness.
So that when you deal with the situation in advance, like
we are here, and you say that you are agreeable to this
lawyer, under these circumstances acting as your lawyer,
you have to accept with that the fact that it's
conceivable something could happen while Kessler was
testifying that made his position, Kessler, and your
position, somewhat antagonistic. Do you understand that?
DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And you are agreeable to that?
DEFENDANT: Yes Your Honor.
THE COURT: Nevertheless, right?
DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor.
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effective waiver, the trial court violated his constitutional
rights in permitting the representation to go forward. He
challenges the validity of his waiver on two grounds, namely: (1)
that a combination of circumstances, including his mental illness,
the medications he was taking, discovering the conflict only upon
the eve of trial, and having not been provided the opportunity to
consult with conflict-free counsel in making the decision, rendered
his waiver involuntary; and (2) that the trial judge's colloquy,
which failed to produce a narrative response5 from him, was
inadequate as a matter of law to establish voluntariness.
The SJC heard this claim and rejected it on the merits,
finding that petitioner's waiver of the conflict was knowing and
intelligent, and that Yeboah-Sefah was not deprived of any
constitutional rights as a result of its acceptance:
On learning of the dual representation, the
trial judge conducted an inquiry of
[petitioner] to determine whether his decision
to continue with his trial counsel was
intelligently made. The judge asked
[petitioner] several questions in regard to
the potential conflict, and received
assurances that he found to be informed and
adequate. While the colloquy . . . did not
elicit the type of narrative responses for
which we expressed preference . . . this does
not mean it was inadequate. We are satisfied
that any deficiency in the colloquy as it
5
In objecting to the absence of a "narrative response,"
petitioner seems to suggest that the judge should have elicited an
explicit statement from petitioner, in so many words, that he has
been advised of his rights, understands his attorney's conflict of
interest and voluntarily waives his Sixth Amendment protections.
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appears in the transcript was due less to the
diligence of the judge in ensuring that the
decision was knowing and voluntary than to the
reticence of the defendant. [Petitioner]
knowingly and voluntarily assented to the dual
representation.
Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1217 (citations and footnote omitted).
Petitioner's claim regarding the validity of his waiver
of the right to conflict-free counsel was heard and adjudicated on
the merits by the SJC.6 Therefore, our review of that decision is
subject to the deferential AEDPA standard. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).
As the question of whether the petitioner made a knowing,
intelligent and voluntary waiver of his right to counsel in state
court is a "mixed question of law and fact" we review it under
§ 2254(d)(1)'s "unreasonable application" clause. See Williams,
529 U.S. at 409. Applying this standard, we hold that the SJC's
decision -- that the trial court's colloquy was adequate to
establish petitioner's knowing and voluntary waiver of his right to
conflict-free counsel -- did not involve "an unreasonable
6
The Commonwealth parses the petitioner's argument and asserts
that the first portion of the argument, that a combination of
circumstances surrounding petitioner's waiver rendered it
involuntary, was procedurally defaulted because it was untimely
raised in the course of state proceedings, and therefore, we are
precluded from even reaching it on habeas. See Walker v. Russo,
506 F.3d 19, 21 (1st Cir. 2007) ("Normally, the fact that a claim
is procedurally defaulted in state court is an adequate and
independent state ground precluding federal habeas relief").
However, petitioner responds that the Commonwealth has waived its
procedural default argument by failing to raise it before the
district court. See Pike, 492 F.3d at 72-73. In any event,
because we easily reject petitioner's claim on the merits, we need
not resolve this dispute.
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application" of "clearly established Federal law, as determined by
the Supreme Court." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1).
Under clearly established federal law as determined by
the Supreme Court, petitioner has a Sixth Amendment right to the
effective assistance of counsel that includes "a correlative right
to representation that is free from conflicts of interest." Wood
v. Georgia, 450 U.S. 261, 271 (1981). "Even where an actual
conflict exists," however, a defendant "may waive this conflict
. . . and elect to have the attorney continue representation, so
long as that waiver is knowing, intelligent, and voluntary."
United States v. Ross, 33 F.3d 1507, 1524 (11th Cir. 1994); see
also Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748 (1970) ("[W]aivers
of constitutional rights not only must be voluntary but must be
knowing, intelligent acts done with sufficient awareness of the
relevant circumstances and likely consequences.").
The Supreme Court has held that the trial judge bears the
"serious and weighty responsibility . . . of determining whether
there is an intelligent and competent waiver by the accused," and
"must investigate as long and as thoroughly as the circumstances of
the case before him demand" before accepting the waiver.
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 244 & n.32 (1973) (citing
Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S. 708, 723-24 (1948)). However, this
obligation is generally and broadly stated, and there are no
clearly established Supreme Court decisions bearing directly on the
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constitutional requirements for an adequate conflict-waiver
colloquy. See 21A Am. Jur. 2d. Criminal Law § 1153 (2008) ("no
particular cautionary instruction or form [by court] is required to
ensure the validity of [defendant's] waiver" of right to counsel).
Rather, the Supreme Court offers only general guidance as to the
requirements for a voluntary waiver. See, e.g., Edwards v.
Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 488 (1981) ("the determination of whether
there has been an intelligent waiver of right to counsel must
depend . . . upon the particular circumstances surrounding the
case, including the background, experience, and conduct of the
accused" (quoting Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938))).
Applying these general federal guidelines to the factual
determinations made by the Massachusetts court, we cannot conclude
that the SJC's decision that petitioner made a knowing and
intelligent waiver of his right to conflict-free counsel involved
an "unreasonable application" of federal law. Nor did the decision
involve an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the
evidence. The SJC found that defense counsel discussed the matter
with the petitioner and the medical examiner prior to trial, and
all believed that the parallel representation in the civil case did
not create a conflict of interest. It also determined that on
learning of the dual representation the trial judge conducted an
inquiry of the petitioner to ensure that petitioner's decision to
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continue with his current trial counsel, despite the dual
representation, was intelligently and voluntarily made.
The judge's colloquy was conducted after petitioner had
been found competent to stand trial, and thus presumably capable of
making an intelligent decision to waive his rights. See Godinez v.
Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 399-400 (1993) (holding that the standard of
competency for waiving the right to counsel is the same as the
competency standard for standing trial). Moreover, the judge's
colloquy can reasonably be considered a thorough investigation
sufficient to render petitioner's waiver "knowing and voluntary" as
well, in that the trial judge made sure that petitioner was aware
of the potential conflict, directed petitioner's attention to the
possible negative implications of the dual representation, and
obtained the petitioner's verbal assent that he nevertheless wanted
his trial counsel to continue to represent him. See id. at 401
n.12 (distinguishing "competency" inquiry as relevant to whether
defendant has ability to understand, from "knowing and voluntary"
inquiry, designed to determine whether defendant actually does
understand the significance and consequences of a particular
decision and whether the decision is uncoerced). The inquiry did
not elicit the type of narrative responsive for which some lower
federal courts have expressed a preference. See, e.g., United
States v. García, 517 F.2d 272, 278 (5th Cir. 1975), abrogated on
other grounds by Flanagan v. United States, 465 U.S. 259 (1984);
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but see, United States v. Hernández-Lebrón, 23 F.3d 600, 605 (1st
Cir. 1994) (finding adequate inquiry into waiver of conflict where
defendant answered "yes" to judge's inquiries, noting that "[w]e do
not require that defendants make narrative responses").
Nevertheless, as in Hernández-Lebrón, petitioner did clearly answer
in the affirmative, stating "Yes, Your Honor," to each of the
judge's questions. In any event, no Supreme Court precedent has
explicitly imposed a "narrative response" requirement, and thus,
such cannot constitute "clearly established law" for purposes of
§ 2254(d)(1).
Based on these facts, both the motion judge who
considered petitioner's new trial motion, as well as the SJC,
concluded that petitioner made a knowing and intelligent waiver of
the conflict. Given the generalized nature of the Supreme Court's
guidance on the subject, we are unable to conclude that the SJC
"unreasonabl[y] appli[ed] clearly established Federal law." Carey,
549 U.S. at 77; see also Yarborough v. Alvarado, 541 U.S. 652, 664
(2004) (noting that "[t]he more general the rule, the more leeway
courts have in reaching outcomes in case-by-case determinations").
C. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
The Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution afford a defendant the right to the effective
assistance of counsel in all state criminal prosecutions which may
result in the loss of his liberty. Strickland v. Washington, 466
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U.S. 668, 684 (1984). However, to establish constitutionally
ineffective assistance of counsel as a ground for federal habeas
relief, the petitioner bears a doubly heavy burden.
First, petitioner must satisfy the two-prong Strickland
standard for establishing constitutionally ineffective assistance
of counsel -- namely, "(1) deficient performance by counsel (2)
resulting in prejudice." Malone, 536 F.3d at 63 (citing Rompilla
v. Beard, 545 U.S. 374, 380 (2005)). "To establish that counsel's
performance was deficient, a defendant must show that it fell below
an objective standard of reasonableness under the circumstances."
Sleeper, 510 F.3d at 38 (citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687-88).
"[J]udicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly
deferential," and "a reviewing court must not lean too heavily on
hindsight: a lawyer's acts and omissions must be judged on the
basis of what he knew, or should have known, at the time his
tactical choices were made and implemented." Ouber v. Guarino, 293
F.3d 19, 25 (1st Cir. 2002) (citing Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685
(2002)). To establish that the deficiency was prejudicial,
defendant must show "that, but for counsel's unprofessional error,
there is a reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding
would have been different." Sleeper, 510 F.3d at 39 (citing
Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 537 (2003)). In other words,
prejudice requires "a reasonable probability that, absent the
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errors, the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting
guilt." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 695.
Second, where the petitioner's claim was adjudicated on
the merits by the state court, as most of Yeboah-Sefah's
ineffective assistance claims were, petitioner must also satisfy
the AEDPA standard.7 Since an ineffective assistance of counsel
claim is a mixed question of law and fact, Strickland, 466 U.S. at
698, it is evaluated under the "unreasonable application" clause of
§ 2254(d). Williams, 529 U.S. at 409 (mixed questions are reviewed
under § 2254(d)(1)'s "unreasonable application" clause).
Therefore, in order to prevail, petitioner must demonstrate that
the state court's resolution of his ineffective assistance of
counsel claim resulted in a decision that involved an "unreasonable
application of clearly established Federal law." 28 U.S.C. § 2254
(d)(1). Because petitioner does not argue that the state court
extended or refused to extend Strickland to a new context, our
7
Petitioner argues that his federal ineffective assistance claim
was not adjudicated on the merits by the SJC because the SJC did
not address the claim under the two-prong Strickland standard.
However, the SJC reviewed petitioner's ineffective assistance of
counsel claim by asking "whether there was an error in the course
of the trial (by defense counsel . . . ) and, if there was, whether
that error was likely to have influenced the jury's conclusion."
Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1216 (quoting Commonwealth v. Wright, 584
N.E.2d 621 (Mass. 1992)). "Because this court has previously
determined that [the Wright] standard . . . is at least as
protective of defendants as the federal ineffective assistance of
counsel standard, see Horton v. Allen, 370 F.3d 75, 86 (1st Cir.
2004). . . 'we will presume the federal law adjudication to be
subsumed within the state law adjudication.'" Sleeper, 510 F.3d at
39 (quoting Teti, 507 F.3d at 56).
-21-
ultimate inquiry, where the claim was "adjudicated on the merits,"
is whether the state court applied Strickland to the facts of
petitioner's case in an objectively unreasonable manner. Malone,
536 F.3d at 63. We will address each of petitioner's ineffective
assistance claims in turn.
1. Failure to Provide Conflict-Free Representation
Petitioner alleges that he was deprived of the effective
assistance of counsel because his trial counsel's conflict of
interest prevented counsel from aggressively challenging the
testimony of Dr. Kessler, the Commonwealth's medical examiner whom
counsel concurrently represented. Because his trial counsel
labored under an "actual conflict of interest" in representing him,
petitioner argues that prejudice is presumed and he is entitled to
relief without independent proof of prejudice as required under
Strickland. See Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 349-50 (1980).
Alternatively, petitioner argues that he can show that the dual
representation adversely affected the representation because it
caused counsel to: (a) refrain from cross-examining Dr. Kessler
about the timing and cause of Jameel's death as aggressively as he
would have absent the conflict; and (b) refrain from calling
another expert witness to rebut Dr. Kessler's conclusion that
Jameel died as a result of multiple blunt traumatic injuries.8 As
8
At the evidentiary hearing on the motion for a new trial Yeboah-
Sefah called an expert, Dr. Ira Kanfer, who testified that while
the child suffered several other injuries, he felt that the cause
-22-
a result, petitioner contends that trial counsel failed to advance
a theory that Jameel died after the first blow, which, if pursued,
would have undermined the prosecution's theory of first degree
murder based on extreme atrocity and cruelty, of which petitioner
was ultimately convicted.
As a threshold matter, although petitioner has failed to
establish that his waiver of trial counsel's conflict was
involuntary or invalid, "under our precedent it would appear that
even a knowing acceptance by defendant of counsel's representation
despite a potential conflict of interest does not preclude a
showing, under the standard of Cuyler, that the conflict became
actual and had an adverse effect on representation." United States
v. Rodríguez-Rodríguez, 929 F.2d 747, 750 (1st Cir. 1991)(citations
omitted); see also United States v. Fahey, 769 F.2d 829, 835 (1st
Cir. 1985) ("Although we find that [petitioner] executed a knowing
and intelligent waiver of [counsel's] potential conflict of
interest, a waiver doesn't foreclose the possibility that an actual
conflict could adversely have affected the adequacy of
representation and violated [petitioner's] [S]ixth Amendment right
to counsel."). "However, '[if] a defendant has voluntarily chosen
to proceed with [a potential conflict] . . . it is fair, if he
later alleges ineffective assistance growing out of a conflict, to
require that he demonstrate that a conflict of interest actually
of death was "one blow" to the head, "which came first."
-23-
affected the adequacy of representation.'" Fahey, 769 F.2d at 835
(quoting Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 335 (Brennan, J., concurring)).
The SJC heard this claim and rejected it on the merits,
holding that the dual representation did not warrant a reversal of
the convictions because trial counsel's conflict of interest, was
"only potential, not actual." Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1217.9 In so
holding, the SJC distinguished a state case petitioner relied upon,
Commonwealth v. Hodge, 434 N.E.2d 1246 (Mass. 1982), in which the
SJC concluded that a defendant received ineffective assistance
because his trial counsel's law firm partner represented a key
prosecution witness in an unrelated civil proceeding. Here the SJC
noted that unlike in Hodge, where the conflict of interest caused
the conflicted attorney to refuse to present important evidence on
the defendant's behalf, it could not conclude, in this case, that
"trial counsel's representation of the medical examiner prevented
him from presenting important evidence on [petitioner's] behalf .
. . ." Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1218. Rather, the court "disagree[d]
that the circumstances [were] similar and that the evidence to
which [petitioner] now points would have assisted him." Id.
The SJC reasoned that to the extent that a more
aggressive cross-examination of Dr. Kessler or the rebuttal
9
The trial court, in rejecting petitioner's new trial motion also
found "that the potentiality of conflict never did metamorphose,
during trial, into an actual conflict." Boateng, 2000 WL 1481424
at *5.
-24-
testimony of Dr. Kanfer would have "present[ed] an alternative
'single blow' theory10 to rebut the conclusions of the medical
examiner," such testimony would not have assisted the petitioner in
defending against charges of "extreme atrocity or cruelty." This
is because, as a matter of Massachusetts law, even a single blow,
especially when directed against an infant, may support a finding
of extreme atrocity or cruelty. Id. (citing Commonwealth v.
O'Brien, 736 N.E.2d 841 (Mass. 2000)). Moreover, under
Massachusetts law, murder may be found to have been committed "with
extreme atrocity or cruelty" based on a jury's finding of any one
of the so-called Cunneen factors: defendant's indifference to the
victim's suffering, the degree of the victim's suffering, the
extent of the injuries, the number of blows, the manner and force
with which the wounds occurred, and the disproportion between the
means necessary to cause death and the force employed by the
defendant. See Commonwealth v. Cunneen, 449 N.E.2d 658, 665 (Mass.
1983). Given that the jury heard evidence that Yeboah-Sefah
"crushed [the baby's] skull, broke several of his ribs, and
seriously damaged his lungs," the SJC concluded that the jury had
"ample evidence" from which to make such a finding. Boateng, 781
N.E.2d at 1218. Further, the SJC found that "the medical
10
Petitioner's "single blow" theory is basically that despite
administering multiple blows to the baby, the baby may have died
from the first blow. Thus, the additional blows did not result in
additional suffering during the remainder of the attack, detracting
from the atrocity or cruelty of the murder.
-25-
examiner's testimony regarding the cause of death was peripheral to
[petitioner's] defense of insanity," and in fact, based on trial
counsel's testimony at the hearing on the new trial motion,
"aspects of the medical examiner's testimony, . . . including the
ghastliness of the killing, that supported the defense theory of
insanity." Id.
We find that § 2254(d)(1) of AEDPA applies to
petitioner's claim that his trial attorney provided ineffective
assistance of counsel due to a conflict of interest because the SJC
heard and adjudicated this claim on the merits.11 Analyzing that
decision through the lens of AEDPA, we are unable to conclude that
the SJC "appli[ed] [Supreme Court] precedents to the facts in an
objectively unreasonable manner." Brown v. Payton, 544 U.S. 133,
141 (2005). Under "clearly established Federal law, as determined
by the Supreme Court," 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1), an ineffective
assistance claim normally requires demonstrating "prejudice," i.e.
a "reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional
11
Petitioner argues that the SJC failed to address petitioner's
federal constitutional claim on the merits because it applied its
own conflict of interest law, established in Hodge, 434 N.E.2d
1246, to the claim rather than a federal standard and therefore, we
must review this claim de novo. However, Hodge is premised on a
Massachusetts constitutional standard governing conflicts of
interest expressly held to be more favorable to defendants than
federal law. See Teti, 507 F.3d at 56-57. "[W]here state law is
explicitly more favorable to defendants than the federal standard,
we will presume the federal law adjudication to be subsumed within
the state law adjudication." Id. at 56 (quotation marks omitted).
Therefore, deference under AEDPA applies to petitioner's claim.
-26-
errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different."
Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694. If however, "the defendant
demonstrates that counsel 'actively represented conflicting
interests' and that 'an actual conflict of interest adversely
affected his lawyer's performance,'" then Strickland's stricter
prejudice showing does not apply. Id. at 692-93 (quoting Cuyler,
446 U.S. at 348); see United States v. Segarra-Rivera, 473 F.3d
381, 385 n.2 (1st Cir. 2007) (distinguishing claims alleging
counsel performed incompetently, which require showing of
prejudice, from claims showing that counsel labored under "actual
conflict of interest," which may entitle petitioner to "relief
without regard to proof of prejudice"). Under the standard
delineated by the Supreme Court, however, a "mere theoretical
division of loyalties" is not itself, contrary to petitioner's
contentions, an "actual conflict of interest." Mickens v. Taylor,
535 U.S. 162, 171 (2002). Rather, a potential division of
loyalties rises to the level of an "actual conflict" only where
defendants shows that the conflict "actually affected the adequacy
of his representation." Id.; see also United States v. Newton, 326
F.3d 253, 264 (1st Cir. 2003) ("adverse performance is the
touchstone of Sixth Amendment error under the Supreme Court's
actual conflict-of-interest jurisprudence . . ."). "Showing an
adverse effect . . . requires more than mere speculation." United
-27-
States v. DeCologero, 530 F.3d 36, 77 (1st Cir. 2008).12 Rather,
"some adverse action or inaction is required that can be traced to
the conflict in loyalty." United States v. Burgos-Chaparro, 309
F.3d 50, 53 (1st Cir. 2002).
Here, the SJC determined that trial counsel presenting
the "single blow" theory, through questioning of Dr. Kessler or by
calling a separate pathologist, would not have helped petitioner's
defense, and thus, petitioner had failed to establish that the dual
representation adversely affected the adequacy of representation.
In light of the overwhelming evidence of brutality present on the
record, it was certainly reasonable to conclude that any testimony
elicited from Dr. Kessler or another expert, that in fact the first
of petitioner's numerous blows to the baby was of sufficient force
as to be fatal, would not cause a reasonable juror to doubt whether
the murder was atrocious or cruel. The SJC, thus, logically held
that counsel's alleged conflict of interest did not rise to the
level of an actual conflict of interest.
We cannot conclude that the SJC's decision constituted an
unreasonable application of Federal law.
12
As this court has interpreted the "adverse effect" requirement,
the defendant "must show that [the attorney] might plausibly have
pursued an alternative defense strategy, and that the alternative
strategy was in conflict with, or may not have been pursued because
of, [the attorney's] other loyalties or interests." DeCologero,
530 F.3d at 77 (quoting United States v. Ramírez-Benítez, 292 F.3d
22, 30 (1st Cir. 2002))(alterations in original).
-28-
2. Failure to Elicit Opinion from Government Witness
With Respect to Extreme Atrocity or Cruelty
Petitioner further alleges that his trial counsel
rendered constitutionally deficient performance by failing to
elicit testimony, on cross-examination, from the Commonwealth's
psychologist, Dr. Whaley, regarding petitioner's capacity to
appreciate the atrocity or cruelty of his actions. In an affidavit
submitted by Dr. Whaley, after trial, in support of petitioner's
new trial motion, Dr. Whaley states that he believed that
petitioner's "mental illness prevented him from being able to
mentally appreciate that he was acting with extreme atrocity or
cruelty when he killed his son." Although Dr. Whaley testified at
trial as to petitioner's diminished capacity to premeditate -- a
defense to the other theory of murder of which he was acquitted --
Dr. Whaley was not asked, and thus did not testify to his
conclusions regarding the effect of petitioner's diminished
capacity upon his subjective ability to appreciate atrocity and
cruelty. Petitioner argues that trial counsel's failure to elicit
that opinion prejudiced petitioner in fact because such testimony
would have been a colorable defense to charges of first degree
murder based on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty, of which
he was ultimately convicted.
The government asserts that this claim, which petitioner
raised for the first time in an addendum to his second new trial
motion, was rejected by the state court based on an adequate and
-29-
independent state procedural ground, and thus, federal habeas
review is barred. See Walker, 506 F.3d at 21 ("Normally, the fact
that a claim is procedurally defaulted in state court is an
adequate and independent state ground precluding federal habeas
relief."). As "[i]t is customary to address the procedural default
issue on habeas first," Lynch, 438 F.3d at 47 n.10, we will begin
by considering whether Yeboah-Sefah's claim regarding ineffective
assistance based on the failure to elicit this particular opinion
from Dr. Whaley was denied by the Massachusetts court based on an
"independent and adequate" state procedural ground. We concluded
that it was.
This federal claim was raised by petitioner for the first
time in petitioner's second new trial motion in 2005, which was
denied by the trial court. Petitioner appealed the denial and the
claim was ultimately disposed of in a memorandum decision by a
single justice of the SJC pursuant to Massachusetts' "gatekeeper
statute," on the ground that the motion did not raise a "new or
substantial" issue for the court.13 Boateng, No. SJ-2006-0021, at
4. An issue is not "new" for purposes of the statute if it could
13
Under Massachusetts' "gatekeeper statute", judicial review of
the denial of a post-conviction motion in a first degree murder
case is prohibited unless permitted at the discretion of a single
justice of the SJC "on the ground that it presents a new and
substantial question which ought to be determined by the full
court." Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, § 33E. Because Yeboah-Sefah was
convicted of murder in the first degree, his state appeals from the
denial of state collateral attacks on his conviction after his
direct appeal were governed by § 33E.
-30-
have been addressed at trial or on direct review, had the defendant
properly raised it there. See Commonwealth v. Ambers, 493 N.E.2d
837, 839 (Mass. 1986) (explaining that § 33E "requires that the
defendant present all his claims of error at the earliest possible
time, and failure to do so precludes relief on all grounds
generally known and available at the time of trial or appeal"). We
hold that the single justice's decision to deny full SJC review of
petitioner's claim under § 33E is based on a state procedural
waiver, namely, his failure to raise that claim in prior state
proceedings, and therefore, rests on an independent and adequate
state ground for decision. See Coleman, 501 U.S. at 729-30.
This court has previously held, on facts similar to those
before us, that a "gatekeeper" justice's denial of a petition for
collateral review on the ground that the federal claim raised
therein was not "new and substantial," pursuant to § 33E,
constitutes an independent and adequate state ground for decision.
See Simpson v. Matesanz, 175 F.3d 200, 206 (1st Cir. 1999). At
least "[w]here there has been procedural waiver below," the denial
of review under § 33E qualifies as an independent and adequate
state ground. Id., cf. Phoenix v. Matesanz, 189 F.3d 20, 25-26
(1st Cir. 2000) (finding that denial of review by gatekeeper
justice on grounds that petitioner's ineffective assistance claim
was "not substantial" (although new), reached the merits of the
-31-
federal claim, and thus could not be treated as being grounded in
state law) (emphasis added).
The single justice who considered petitioner's § 33E
petition found that this particular ineffective assistance claim,
which was raised for the first time in petitioner's second new
trial motion, was "not new or substantial," within the meaning of
the statute. Noting that "[a]n issue is not 'new' under the
statute 'if it could have been addressed at trial or during a
previous appeal,'" Boateng, No. SJ-2006-0021 at 4 (citing
Commonwealth v. Rudolph, 780 N.E.2d 58, 64 n.7 (Mass. 2002)), the
justice reasoned that because "the essential factual basis of this
second motion for new trial was spread upon the pages of the 2003
[SJC] decision [on petitioner's direct appeal], the questions
raised here 'could' have been addressed in that appeal." Id. at 5.
Although the gatekeeper justice briefly discussed the merits of
petitioner's waived claim in determining that it was also "not
substantial," the decision primarily rested on the determination
that the claim was not "new," based on a procedural waiver below,
which serves as an independent and adequate procedural basis. See
Phoenix, 189 F.3d at 26 n.2 (noting that "it does not undercut the
adequacy and independence of the state grounds" if the single
justice found a procedural default, but then briefly reviewed the
merits of a claim for miscarriage of justice under state law).
Thus, we are persuaded that the state court decision rejecting
-32-
petitioner's claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel
rested on adequate and independent state procedural grounds.
Finding procedural default, we are precluded from
reaching the merits of the claim unless petitioner can show "cause
for the default and actual prejudice as a result of the alleged
violation of federal law." Lynch, 438 F.3d at 45 (citing Coleman,
501 U.S. at 750); see also Walker, 506 F.3d at 21 (discussing
grounds upon which procedural default can be excused). To the
extent that Yeboah-Sefah makes a cursory attempt to attribute
"cause" to the ineffective assistance of his prior post-conviction
counsel, this argument is easily dismissed. Deficiency by counsel
rising to the level of constitutionally ineffective assistance
under Strickland can serve as cause to excuse the procedural
default of another habeas corpus claim. See Edwards v. Carpenter,
529 U.S. 446, 451 (2000).14 However, to the extent that petitioner
superficially makes such a claim, he fails to develop it properly,
and in any event, has not exhausted it by raising it in the state
courts. See Lynch, 438 F.3d at 46 (explaining that any ineffective
14
Alternatively, a lesser error by counsel can also serve as
"cause" for procedural default, but "must ordinarily turn on
whether the prisoner can show that some objective factor external
to the defense impeded counsel's efforts to comply with the State's
procedural rule," such as, for example, the "factual or legal basis
for a claim [not being] reasonably available to counsel," or "some
interference by officials." Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 488
(1986) (internal citations omitted). Petitioner alleges no such
external impediments to the inclusion of this claim in his initial
new trial motion.
-33-
assistance claim must be itself exhausted before it may be used to
excuse a procedural default of another federal claim). As
petitioner has failed to excuse his procedural default,
"[c]onsiderations of comity and federalism bar the federal court's
review." Simpson, 175 F.3d at 206. (internal quotation marks
omitted).
3. Failure to Call Promised Mental Health Expert
Petitioner further alleges that his trial counsel's
performance was constitutionally deficient in failing to present
the testimony of a particular psychologist, Dr. Paul Spiers,
despite "promising" the jury in his opening that both
"[p]sychologists and psychiatrists" would testify in support of
petitioner's insanity defense. This failure prejudiced him,
petitioner argues, because Dr. Paul Spiers, a psychologist who
examined him, would have provided petitioner with his only defense
to charges arising from the assault upon Alecia Moore.
Specifically, unlike Dr. Rosemarin, who testified regarding Yeboah-
Sefah's diminished mental capacity at the time of the attack on
Jameel but was unable to form an opinion regarding petitioner's
mental state during the attack on Moore, Dr. Spiers had concluded
and could have testified that petitioner lacked criminal
responsibility for his actions on October 25, 1992 with respect to
his assaults on both Alecia and Jameel. Therefore, Yeboah-Sefah's
trial counsel's unreasonable failure to call Dr. Spiers, in breach
-34-
of his promise to the jury, constituted deficient performance that
prejudiced the defense.
The SJC heard this claim and rejected it on the merits,
holding that trial counsel's failure to call Dr. Spiers "was not a
manifestly unreasonable tactical decision on trial counsel's part."
Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1220. The court reasoned that because Dr.
Spiers' diagnosis regarding Yeboah-Sefah's condition conflicted
with Dr. Rosemarin's and Dr. Whaley's, Dr. Spiers' testimony had
the potential to confuse the jury, and thus, was reasonably
omitted.15 Id. at 1219-1220. The SJC also held that there was no
prejudice as a result of the decision, noting that "while Dr.
Spiers' testimony might have provided [Yeboah-Sefah] with a more
complete defense in the sense that he was of the opinion that
[Yeboah-Sefah] was not criminally responsible for either of the
attacks on Jameel or Moore, it is unlikely that the jury, who
rejected [Yeboah Sefah's] insanity defense as a defense to the
murder of Jameel, would have accepted it regarding the assault on
Moore that occurred just before." Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1220. We
15
The SJC found, in contrast to Dr. Rosemarin, that Dr. Spiers
"testified to a different diagnosis of [Yeboah-Sefah's] condition,"
namely, that Yeboah-Sefah, in a recent trip abroad, had been
exposed to a virus that caused "encephalitis and seizures," and
that he "was suffering from one of these seizures on the day of the
attacks." Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1219. Accordingly, the SJC
concluded that Dr. Spiers' testimony "could certainly have confused
a jury that had, until that point, heard fairly consistent
testimony that [Yeboah-Sefah] suffered from a different serious
mental condition," and that trial counsel "elected not to call [Dr.
Spiers] in an effort to avoid this confusion." Id. at 1220.
-35-
find that this decision was not an unreasonable application of
Strickland.16
The SJC, however, did not explicitly address petitioner's
claim that it was the failure to call Dr. Spiers in light of
counsel's "promise" to do so in his opening statement that rendered
his performance ineffective. In other words, despite the pros and
cons of calling Dr. Spiers, petitioner argues that counsel's
"failure to follow through" was itself deficient. See Anderson v.
Butler, 858 F.2d 16, 17 (1st Cir. 1988) (noting that "little is
more damaging than to fail to produce important evidence that had
been promised in an opening"). Because the state court was
presented with, but did not expressly resolve this portion of
petitioner's claim, we assume, without deciding, that de novo
review applies. See Fortini, 257 F.3d at 47 (holding that
preserved federal constitutional claims that were "never addressed
by the state courts" would be reviewed de novo on habeas).
Applying Strickland de novo, we are unable to conclude that trial
16
In so holding we consider various factual determinations made
by the trial court in petitioner's first new trial motion, which,
under AEEDPA, we presume to be correct. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1);
see also Teti, 507 F.3d at 58. The court determined that trial
counsel's decision to present the insanity defense through Dr.
Rosemarin rather than Dr. Spiers was grounded upon "Dr. Rosemarin's
more defense-supportive diagnoses, his abstention from reliance on
the improbable evidence of hallucination, and his more extensive
familiarity with the defendant's circumstances." Moreover, defense
counsel believed that "Dr. Spiers' testimony might contradict the
opinions of Dr. Rosemarin, thus undermining the defense of NGI."
Boateng, 2000 WL 1481424 at *3.
-36-
counsel's reference to "psychologists and psychiatrists" in his
opening statement coupled with the failure to call a particular
psychiatrist deprived petitioner of the effective assistance of
counsel.
"This court . . . has invalidated convictions because of
broken promises [in an opening statement]." Sleeper, 510 F.3d at
40 (citing Anderson, 858 F.2d 16; United States v. González-
Maldonado, 115 F.3d 9 (1st Cir. 1997); and Ouber, 293 F.3d 19).
However, considering trial counsel's reference to "psychologists
and psychiatrists" in the context of the record, we find that the
statement did not contain an explicit promise that the defense
would call both psychiatrists and psychologists to the stand, let
alone a specific promise to call Dr. Spiers.17 Rather, counsel told
the jury that "[p]sycholgists and psychiatrists will talk about the
medical affects [sic] of [Yeboah-Sefah's] medication" upon him, and
that the jury would "hear testimony by experts" during the course
17
Counsel's statement, in relevant context proceeded as follows:
You will hear evidence about how that medication affects
[Yeboah-Sefah] and how it makes him look in front of you
as he sits here today. Psychologists and psychiatrists
will talk about the medical affects [sic] of that
medication, what they do to a person's mind and how they
make that person appear to others.
[Yeboah-Sefah] was seen by psychiatrists, psychologists
after the incident, seen by those retained by [the
prosecutor] . . . You will hear testimony by experts
during the course of this trial as to their assessment
of [Yeboah-Sefah's] level of capacity at the time of the
incident on October 25, 1992.
-37-
of [the] trial assessing petitioner's capacity. Thus, the only
actual "promises" made by counsel therein were not in fact broken.
Over the course of the trial, jurors did in fact hear the testimony
of both a psychiatrist (Dr. Rosemarin) and a psychologist (Dr.
Whaley) regarding the effects of petitioner's medications upon him
and his mental capacity at the time of the crime.
Even if counsel's statement could be construed as an
implied promise that the defense would call a psychologist, it
still would not amount to the kind of specific, significant and
dramatic promise upon whose breach our case law supports
invalidating a conviction. "[O]ur cases that premise a habeas writ
on an unfulfilled promise during opening argument generally require
greater specificity in the promise and greater contemporaneousness
between the promise and jury deliberations." Phoenix, 233 F.3d at
85.18 In this case, the "promise," which was made in an opening
statement six days before the end of trial, can hardly be
considered contemporaneous with the jury's deliberations. Cf.
Anderson, 858 F.2d at 17 (finding ineffective assistance of counsel
where the jury began deliberating the following day after counsel's
18
In Phoenix we rejected an ineffective assistance claim on
habeas, holding that the failure to grant new trial based on
unfulfilled promise in opening that "if anything, tests will show
that . . . some of the blood that was on the bag . . . could not
have been the blood of [the victim]" was not unreasonable, as
promise was not "dramatic" and omitted testimony was not
"strikingly significant." See 233 F.3d at 85 (ellipses in
original).
-38-
opening, in which counsel promised to present a defense based on
expert testimony that he never produced). Moreover, a general
statement that jurors would hear from "psychiatrists and
psycholgists" can hardly be construed as specific. Although
petitioner attempts to characterize the statement as a promise to
call a particular psychologist, Dr. Spiers, that proposition is
unsupported by the record.19
19
Petitioner claims that this case is indistinguishable from our
precedents in Anderson and Ouber. We disagree. In Ouber, we found
deficient performance under Strickland where defense counsel, in
his opening statement, "promised, over and over, that the
petitioner would testify and exhorted the jurors to draw their
ultimate conclusions based on her credibility," but ultimately
advised the defendant against testifying. 293 F.3d at 28. In that
case, we found that "the lawyer structured the entire defense
around the prospect of the petitioner's testimony," which he
ultimately omitted. Id. Ouber is clearly distinguishable from this
case, where defense counsel made a single reference in his opening
to "psychiatrists and psychologists," though the latter was not
ultimately called by the defense. Likewise, in Anderson, we found
deficiency and prejudice under Strickland where trial counsel
failed to call any expert witnesses during first-degree murder
trial, despite promising to call both a psychiatrist and
psychologist in his opening statement the previous day. Anderson,
858 F.2d at 17. In that case, the court characterized the promise
as "dramatic" and the indicated testimony "strikingly significant,"
id., and stated that the chosen course of action could not have
been a "strategic choice," as the "there could be nothing to gain"
from so proceeding. Id. at 19. Unlike in Anderson, where the
entire mental incapacity defense promised was essentially abandoned
as a result of the breach, in this case the testimony of one
additional psychologist can hardly be classified as "strikingly
significant" given that several other mental health experts did
testify regarding petitioner's mental capacity. Moreover, in this
case, unlike in Anderson, as the record indicates, the decision to
not call Dr. Spiers, can fairly be characterized as a "strategic
choice" on the part of counsel to not confuse the jury with
conflicting testimony.
-39-
We find that counsel was not "professionally
unreasonable" and thus, not ineffective in withholding the
testimony of Dr. Spiers, despite the statements made in his
opening. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 691. Petitioner, therefore,
cannot satisfy Strickland, and we must reject this claim.
4. Failure to Challenge Admissibility of Pre-
Trial Statements to Civilians and Police
Petitioner further alleges that his counsel provided
ineffective assistance in failing to challenge, on voluntariness
grounds, the admissibility of Yeboah-Sefah's pre-trial statements
to Moore, Moore's mother, and to the police in the immediate
aftermath of the crime.20 Petitioner alleges that the statements
to Moore and Hall were involuntary, while the statements to police
were also inadmissible because petitioner, due to his mental
illness, could not provide a knowing and intelligent waiver of his
Miranda rights. Petitioner asserts that counsel's failure to
challenge the admission of these statements was prejudicial because
the Commonwealth relied on the statements, to show that petitioner
20
Petitioner challenges the admission of his statement on the
phone to Hall that "Moore was out doing laundry" when Hall called
asking to speak to Moore. He also challenges his statement that he
"wasn't going to jail," made in Moore's presence, after hearing the
knock at the door and proceeding to go into the bathroom and drink
bleach. As for the statements to police, petitioner challenges his
statements made to officers on the scene, after being read and
agreeing to waive his Miranda rights, in which he admits to beating
Moore and Jameel.
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could think rationally at the time of the incident, which
undermined his insanity defense.
The parties dispute whether this claim was "adjudicated
on the merits" so as to give rise to deference under § 2254(d)(1).
This is not entirely clear. While the SJC adjudicated petitioner's
related argument regarding the trial court's failure to conduct a
suppression hearing sua sponte,21 it did not directly address
whether counsel was ineffective in failing to request one. The
ineffective assistance claim was however, addressed in a lower
state court decision, in which the trial court judge denied
21
Petitioner makes a related claim that he is entitled to habeas
relief because, despite counsel's failure to request a hearing on
the admissibility of petitioner's statements to Moore, her mother
and police, the trial court violated his Due Process and Equal
Protection rights by failing to hold a voluntariness hearing sua
sponte. However, federal law, in contrast to Massachusetts law,
imposes no obligation on courts to conduct a voluntariness hearing
sua sponte. Compare Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 86 (1977)
("Constitution does not require a voluntariness hearing absent some
contemporaneous challenge to the use of the confession"), with
Commonwealth v. Harris, 358 N.E.2d 982, 988 (Mass. 1976) (holding
that to prevent miscarriage of justice "trial judge has a
responsibility-independent of a request by defense counsel" to
order voir dire on the voluntariness of a confession). "Ordinarily
a federal court may not issue a writ 'based on a perceived error of
state law.'" Brown v. Maloney, 267 F.3d 36, 44 (2001) (quoting
Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 41 (1984)). "[A]lthough there may
be an exception if an error of state law could be sufficiently
egregious to amount to a denial of equal protection or of due
process of law," we cannot say that the state court's failure to
apply its own rule in this case "rose to the level of a deprivation
of due process where the federal rule governing the same situation
would not require [relief]." Id. (internal citations omitted).
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petitioner's first new trial motion.22 While the SJC did, in a
footnote, cite to the trial court on this issue, it did not
explicitly adopt the trial court's conclusion. See Boateng, 781
N.E.2d. at 1214 n.5. As our sister circuit has recognized, "it is
not clear whether an adjudication on the merits by a trial court,
which is neither explicitly affirmed on the merits nor explicitly
rejected by the appellate court, is sufficient to trigger AEDPA
review." DeBerry v. Portuondo, 403 F.3d 57, 68 (2d Cir. 2005)
(explicitly declining to decide the question). However, as in
DeBerry, we need not decide this question on the facts of this case
because, even reviewing the claim de novo, we are unable to
conclude that trial counsel's failure to challenge the
admissibility of petitioner's pre-trial statements satisfies the
"prejudice" prong of Strickland. See Sleeper, 510 F.3d at 39.
As for petitioner's claim regarding statements to Moore
and Hall, we cannot discern any "reasonable probability" "that the
22
In rejecting petitioner's new trial motion, the trial court
concludes as follows:
The court finds no evidence that TDC's election not to
seek exclusion of defendant's statements was manifestly
unreasonable. TDC did not attempt to suppress
defendant's statements because he thought such a motion
was unlikely to succeed and because he thought that
suppressing or diminishing the effect of defendant's
admissions would probably serve only to erode his
insanity defense. Those decisions were not manifestly
unreasonable.
Boateng, 2000 WL 1481424, at *8.
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outcome of the trial would have been different" had defense counsel
objected to their admission given the unlikelihood that such
objection would have succeeded. Under Massachusetts law,
statements to private parties contemporaneous with a criminal act
are not subject to voluntariness analysis. See Commonwealth v.
LaCava, 783 N.E.2d 812, 822 n.12 (Mass. 2003). As the SJC
concluded, it had "no trouble deciding that [petitioner's]
statements to Moore and her mother occurred during the commission
of the crimes." Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1214 n.3 (emphasis added).
In light of this opinion, rendered by the ultimate authority on
questions of Massachusetts law, it is fair to conclude that any
attempt by counsel to object to the admission of the statements
made to these private individuals would have been fruitless, and
thus, no prejudice resulted from the failure to do so.
We are also persuaded that trial counsel's failure to
seek suppression of petitioner's statements to the police in the
aftermath of the incident did not prejudice the petitioner. At the
hearing on petitioner's first new trial motion, trial defense
counsel testified in defense of his trial tactics. On the basis of
said testimony, the trial court made several factual findings
relevant to the instant claim to which, even when reviewing the
legal issues de novo, we are nevertheless required to defer. See
28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1) (requiring that a state court's factual
finding be "presumed to be correct" unless the petitioner rebuts
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this presumption by "clear and convincing evidence"); accord
Demosthenes v. Baal, 495 U.S. 731, 735 (1990) (finding that "state
court's determinations on the merits of a factual issue are
entitled to a presumption of correctness on federal habeas review,"
and further noting that "a state court's conclusion regarding a
defendant's competency is entitled to such a presumption"). Those
findings were as follows:
1. The evidence adduced at the Rule 30
hearings was not persuasive that defendant was
incompetent, by reason of his mental
condition, voluntarily to utter statements and
to waive his Miranda rights.
2. The statements defendant uttered, both
with and without Miranda compliance,
rationally tended to support his
determination, at trial, to pursue the defense
that he was not guilty by reason of insanity
("NGI").
. . .
6. TDC determined that the evidence of
defendant's admissions was not harmful to,
and, indeed, supported the defense theory of
NGI. Accordingly, he did not seek to suppress
that evidence or otherwise exclude it from
evidence. So too, his determination not to
call upon medical professionals to challenge
the voluntariness of defendant's admissions
was founded upon his view that, were he to
succeed in suppressing or diminishing the
effect of the admissions, he would most
probably accomplish only an erosion of his NGI
defense. He wanted some of the statements,
such as the threats against Alecia, to come
into evidence to bolster the NGI defense; he
did not want to reveal certain information
about defendant's mental state in advance of
trial; and, in any event, he believed that a
challenge to voluntariness was, on the facts,
unlikely to succeed. In sum, counsel,
resolved, as a tactical choice, to support the
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NGI theory with defendant's admissions and
insanity-evocative conduct.
Boateng, 2000 WL 1481424 at *2-3. Based on these findings, as well
as our own review of the record, we are persuaded that trial
counsel's failure to challenge the admissibility of petitioner's
statements to police as either involuntary or obtained through an
invalid waiver of his Miranda rights, did not prejudice the
petitioner within the meaning of Strickland.
First, any attempt by counsel to suppress the statements
likely would have failed. Even where Miranda warnings and
procedures are adhered to, if petitioner's waiver of his Fifth
Amendment privilege was not in fact knowing and intelligent, the
subsequently made statements would be subject to suppression. See
Dickerson v. United States, 530 U.S. 428, 444 (2000). But "[w]hile
the fact that a defendant was given Miranda warnings does not
"dispense with the voluntariness inquiry," the "cases in which a
defendant can make a colorable argument that a self-incriminating
statement was 'compelled' despite the fact that the law enforcement
authorities adhered to the dictates of Miranda are rare." Id.
Petitioner here does not claim that the warnings and
procedures required by Miranda were breached by the police.
Moreover the trial court made a factual finding, entitled to a
presumption of correctness under § 2254(e)(1), that the evidence
showed petitioner to be sufficiently competent to accomplish a
voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights. Boateng, 2000 WL 1481424
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at *2. These facts, along with petitioner's calm demeanor
following the incident when the challenged statements were made,
and the absence of any evidence of police coercion or intimidation,
collectively suggest that it was quite unlikely that counsel would
have actually succeeded in suppressing the statements had he
endeavored to do so. See United States v. Guerrero, 114 F.3d 332,
338 (1st Cir. 1997) (discussing factors relevant to voluntariness
determination).
Secondly, although petitioner argues that he was
prejudiced by the admission of his statements to police officers,
in that the prosecution relied on them to negate his insanity
defense, it appears that what was most prejudicial about those
statements was not their substance (after all, it was never
disputed that petitioner committed the criminal acts), but the
calm, rational manner in which he made them. But even if the
statements were suppressed, the testimony of police officers as to
their observations of petitioner's calm demeanor after the incident
would nevertheless likely be admissible and probative on the
question of sanity, thereby undermining any claim of prejudice from
the admission of the statements themselves. See United States v.
LeRoy, 944 F.2d 787 (10th Cir. 1991)(lay opinion as to person's
sanity is admissible if witness has observed his conduct). Thus,
to the extent that petitioner's statements constituted evidence
adverse to his insanity defense, we are convinced that they
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constituted peripheral circumstantial evidence that could not have
had a decisive effect on the jury's verdict. Moreover, the trial
court's issuance of a "humane practice" instruction, whereby the
jury was specifically instructed to determine independently whether
petitioner's statements were voluntary before considering them as
evidence of guilt, further reduces the risk of adverse effect from
trial counsel's failure to move for the suppression of petitioner's
statements to police on voluntariness grounds.23 As petitioner
cannot establish prejudice as required under Strickland, this
ineffective assistance claim must fail.
5. Failure to Request Second Competency Hearing
Finally, petitioner contends that his trial counsel's
failure to request a second competency hearing on the day of trial
renders his representation constitutionally defective. He asserts
that under Massachusetts law, the court is required to hold an
23
Petitioner makes a separate ineffective assistance of counsel
claim based on trial counsel's failure to object to the "humane
practice" jury instruction. Petitioner argues that the instruction
was incomplete because while it instructed the jury to determine
whether petitioner's statements were voluntary before considering
them, it failed to inform the jury that the Commonwealth had the
burden of proving voluntariness beyond a reasonable doubt. See
Commonwealth v. Grenier, 615 N.E.2d 922, 926 (Mass. 1993).
Petitioner alleges that he was prejudiced by this failure because
the absence of "beyond a reasonable doubt" language increased the
likelihood that the jury would consider the statements. For mainly
the same reasons that we find that counsel's failure to challenge
the admission of the statements themselves did not prejudice the
petitioner, we also find non-prejudicial counsel's failure to
object to the jury instruction regarding the circumstances under
which the jury could consider those statements.
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evidentiary hearing on the defendant's competency to stand trial
when there arises a "substantial question of possible doubt" about
the defendant's competence, see Commonwealth v. Hill, 375 N.E.2d
1168, 1170-71 (Mass. 1978), and that such doubt existed in this
case. However, a competency hearing had taken place on
February 24, 1994, just five days before the start of trial. At
that hearing a forensic psychologist testified that defendant was
"competent to stand trial," an opinion which the court adopted.
Thereafter, trial counsel advised the court that he was waiving a
previously-filed motion for a second competency hearing. The judge
responded, "I am satisfied, unless someone tells me that there has
been a change of circumstances." Trial counsel responded that he
was "unaware of any since [the holding of the competency hearing]
last week." As a result, the court made no further competence
inquiry.
This claim was heard and adjudicated on the merits by the
SJC, and therefore, deference under AEDPA applies. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 2254(d). The SJC concluded that counsel's performance was not
deficient, reasoning that petitioner had "presented no evidence
whatsoever to contradict trial counsel's statement to the court on
the first day of trial that [petitioner's] condition had not
changed in the intervening week." Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1219.
Thus, the court concluded that "[t]here were no grounds on which to
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request a new hearing, and trial counsel's decision not to request
one was not error." Id.
While "clearly established" federal law provides that a
significant change in circumstances in the midst of trial may
render a second competency hearing proper, see Drope v. Missouri,
420 U.S. 112, 181 (1975), there is no evidence of any such
circumstances present on these facts, and thus, no indication that
trial counsel failed to exercise "reasonable professional judgment"
in not requesting a subsequent hearing. Strickland, 466 U.S. at
690. Thus, we cannot say that the SJC applied Strickland in an
objectively unreasonable manner in finding a lack of deficiency in
counsel's performance.
D. Court's Failure to Conduct Second Competency Hearing
In his final claim petitioner alleges that the trial
court violated his constitutional right to due process of law
because it failed to conduct a competency hearing sua sponte on the
first day of trial or anytime thereafter, despite there being doubt
regarding his competency. As with the related ineffective
assistance claim, the SJC rejected this argument on the merits,
reasoning that a trial judge is required to conduct a sua sponte
inquiry only if a "substantial question of possible doubt" as to
competence arises. Boateng, 781 N.E.2d at 1213. But here, "[o]n
the first day of trial, trial counsel withdrew his previously filed
motion for a competency hearing as moot, and informed the judge
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that nothing had occurred within the past week to warrant a new
inquiry." Id. The court concluded that "[i]n these circumstances
there was no substantial question that required the judge's sua
sponte action." Id.
It is clearly established by Supreme Court precedent that
"the criminal trial of an incompetent defendant violates due
process." Cooper v. Oklahoma, 517 U.S. 348, 354 (1996). Due
process also requires a court to give "proper weight to the
information suggesting incompetence which [comes] to light during
trial," and hold a competency hearing sua sponte in the event that
such evidence is brought to its attention. See Drope, 420 U.S. at
179 (holding that further inquiry on competency was required where
petitioner's suicide attempt, during the course of trial, raised
sufficient doubt as to competence). In this case, however,
petitioner was determined to be competent a week prior to trial and
no evidence was brought to the attention of the court indicating
that its earlier competence determination needed to be revisited.
We cannot say on these facts that the SJC's decision rejecting
petitioner's claim was anything less than a reasonable application
of federal law.
Therefore, this claim, and all of petitioner's claims for
relief, must fail.
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III. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the denial of this
petition for habeas corpus.
Affirmed.
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