Chodakowski v. Annucci
- Laura Swain
- 1:19-cv-00248
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 10
In Chodakowski v. Annucci, Judge Swain granted Chodakowski’s unopposed request to pause his federal habeas case while he exhausts state remedies.
Szymon Chodakowski’s federal habeas petition remains paused while he pursues state-court remedies, and he must file periodic status reports.
What happened
Chodakowski v. Annucci concerns Szymon Chodakowski’s federal challenge to his New York convictions, based on an allegation that a juror made ethnically biased remarks during deliberations. A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the petition without prejudice because Chodakowski had not exhausted available state remedies.
Chodakowski asked the court to keep the federal case open while he pursued a state-court motion concerning the alleged juror bias. He argued that dismissal could prevent later federal review because the federal filing did not automatically stop the one-year filing deadline.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted the unopposed request to hold the case in abeyance. She required Chodakowski to file a status report in December 2020 and every June 1 and December 1 afterward.
The detailed version
- Chodakowski v. Annucci · No. 1:19-cv-00248
- Laura Swain
- May 14, 2020
Background
Szymon Chodakowski filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the federal law allowing a state prisoner to challenge a conviction or sentence in federal court. His petition concerned convictions for first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse and alleged that a juror’s ethnic bias affected the jury’s decision. According to the filing, the jury foreperson reported that another juror referred to the complainant as a “nice Jewish girl” and called Chodakowski “just a big dumb Polack.”
Chodakowski’s counsel sought an adjournment of sentencing to investigate the allegations and develop a motion for relief in the New York courts. The state trial court rejected the request based on the rule generally barring jurors from being questioned about deliberations. The Appellate Division affirmed the convictions, concluding that the relevant claims were not preserved, and the New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal.
Exhaustion issue
A federal habeas petitioner generally must first give the state courts an opportunity to address the federal claim. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker recommended dismissing Chodakowski’s petition without prejudice for failure to exhaust. The recommendation stated that he should use New York Criminal Procedure Law § 330.30(2) or § 440.10 to present the Sixth Amendment claim in state court.
Chodakowski did not object to the recommendation. Instead, he moved under Rhines v. Weber to hold the federal petition in abeyance, meaning to pause the federal case while he pursued state remedies. He argued that dismissal could leave him unable to obtain federal review because the federal petition did not automatically pause the one-year limitations period for filing a habeas claim. He also argued that he had good reason for not exhausting the claim earlier, that the claim could have merit, and that he had not intentionally delayed the case.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted the unopposed request to hold the petition in abeyance rather than dismissing it. The order required Chodakowski to file a status report as of December 2020 and as of each June 1 and December 1 thereafter. The order did not decide whether the alleged juror bias violated the Constitution or whether Chodakowski was entitled to a new trial.
Read the full 10-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.