Frazier v. Lilley

Background

Davaj Frazier, representing himself, petitioned under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for federal habeas relief from his New York conviction for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. A jury convicted him on February 27, 2015, and he received a 10-year sentence with five years of post-release supervision. The state appellate court affirmed the conviction, and the New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal.

Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy issued a report and recommendation recommending that the petition be denied in its entirety. Frazier objected. The district court reviewed the petition and objections and adopted the report’s legal analysis and conclusions.

Claims and analysis

Frazier asserted that he innocently possessed the firearm, challenged the legal sufficiency of the evidence, and alleged ineffective assistance of counsel. The state appellate court had determined that the innocent-possession and evidence-sufficiency claims were unpreserved for appellate review. The district court treated those determinations as resting on independent and adequate state-law grounds, including New York’s rule requiring a defendant to object at trial to preserve an alleged error. Because of that procedural ruling, the federal court did not review those claims on their substance.

Frazier’s ineffective-assistance claims concerned trial counsel’s failure to object to a 911 recording and failure to adequately challenge or question the foundation for the admission of Miranda warnings that Frazier later waived. The state appellate court had rejected those claims as meritless. Applying the constitutional standard for ineffective assistance of counsel, which requires showing both deficient lawyering and resulting prejudice, the district court concluded that Frazier had not made either the required showing. He also had not shown that the state court’s decision was contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law.

Ruling

Judge Nelson S. Roman adopted the report and recommendation in its entirety and denied the habeas petition. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the case. Because Frazier had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, the court declined to issue a certificate of appealability. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.

Classification basis

The order is mixed: it disposed of the innocent-possession and evidence-sufficiency claims on a state procedural ground, while reaching and rejecting the ineffective-assistance claim under the federal constitutional standard.