Ernest DeWayne Jones v. Robert K. Wong

Filing 116

DECLARATION of Michael Laurence re Brief (non-motion non-appeal) 109 in Support of Claim 27 (Supplemental) filed by Petitioner Ernest DeWayne Jones. (Attachments: # 1 Appendix Data Used in Declaration of Michael Laurence)(Laurence, Michael)

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Michael Laurence (Bar No. 121854)
Cliona Plunkett (Bar No. 256648)
HABEAS CORPUS RESOURCE CENTER
303 Second Street, Suite 400 South
San Francisco, California 94107
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
E-mail:
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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Attorneys for Petitioner Ernest DeWayne Jones

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ERNEST DEWAYNE JONES,
Petitioner,

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DEATH PENALTY CASE

V.

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Case No. CV-09-2158-CJC

KEVIN CHAPPELL, Warden of
California State Prison at San
Quentin,
Respondent.

SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION
OF MICHAEL LAURENCE IN
SUPPORT OF CLAIM 27
Date:
July 16, 2014
Time:
9:00 a.m.
Courtroom: 9B

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Supplemental Declaration of Michael Laurence in Support of Claim 27

Case No. CV-09-2158-CJC

SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF MICHAEL
LAURENCE IN SUPPORT OF CLAIM 27
I, Michael Laurence, declare as follows:
1.

I am an attorney at law admitted to practice by the State of

California and before this Court. I am the Executive Director of the
Habeas Corpus Resource Center (HCRC). On April 14, 2009, this Court
appointed the HCRC to represent Mr. Jones in his federal habeas corpus
proceedings. I am assigned as lead counsel in these proceedings.
2.

On June 9, 2014, I executed a declaration that was filed in

support of Petitioner’s Opening Brief on Claim 27. This supplemental
declaration is submitted to clarify and correct some of the information
contained in that declaration.

In addition, the data supporting the

conclusions made in the June 9, 2014 declaration, as corrected herein, are
filed contemporaneously with this supplemental declaration.
3.

In paragraph 7 of the June 9, 2014 declaration, I stated:

“There currently are 70 condemned prisoners without counsel for the
automatic appeal in California.” Correction of that statement is necessary
because of a typographical error in the number of condemned prisoners
without counsel for their automatic appeal. My declaration should have
stated: “There currently are 71 condemned prisoners without counsel for
the automatic appeal in California.”
4.

In paragraph 8 of the June 9, 2014 declaration, I stated: “On

average, the 77 inmates whose direct appeals are concluded and who lack
habeas corpus counsel have waited 15.81 years after their sentencing; 160
inmates have been without a habeas corpus attorney for more than ten

Declaration of Michael Laurence
Page 2 of 4

years, and one lacks counsel despite being sentenced in 1992.”
Correction of that statement is necessary because of errors in the numbers
of inmates and the time they have waited for counsel. My declaration
should have stated: “On average, the 76 inmates whose direct appeals are
concluded and who lack habeas corpus counsel have waited 15.78 years
after their sentencing; 159 inmates have been without a habeas corpus
attorney for more than ten years, and one (Morris Solomon, Jr.) lacks
counsel despite being sentenced in 1992.”
5.

In paragraph 9 of the June 9, 2014 declaration, I stated:

“Between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2013, the state has averaged
22 death judgments per year, while over the same time period, there has
been an average of 10 annual appointments to represent death-row
inmates in their habeas corpus proceedings.”

Clarification of that

statement is necessary because the appointment data used was organized
by California’s fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. My
declaration should have stated: “Between January 1, 2009, and December
31, 2013, the state has averaged 22.8 death judgments per year, while
over the same time period, there has been an average of 9.4 annual
appointments to represent death-row inmates in their habeas corpus
proceedings.”
6.

In paragraph 13 of the June 9, 2014 declaration, I stated:

“The California Supreme Court currently has 176 pending capital habeas
cases. Thus number excludes initial petitions that the California Supreme
Court permits to be filed to toll the federal statute of limitation period
while the court locates counsel willing to accept an appointment, counsel
files an amended petition within the court’s timeliness policies, and the

Declaration of Michael Laurence
Page 3 of 4

court resolves the amended petition in accordance with In re Morgan, 50
Cal. 4th 932, 237 P.3d 993 (2010). The average pending time of these
176 cases is 4.07 years. Of the 176 cases, 107 have been fully briefed
awaiting decision for an average of 4.16 years (or 50 months) since the
reply to the informal response was filed. Table/Figure 2 attached to this
Declaration depicts the length of time that the fully briefed case have
been pending.” Correction of that statement is necessary because of
typographical and averaging errors. My declaration should have stated:
“The California Supreme Court currently has 176 pending capital habeas
cases. This number excludes initial petitions that the California Supreme
Court permits to be filed to toll the federal statute of limitation period
while the court locates counsel willing to accept an appointment, counsel
files an amended petition within the court’s timeliness policies, and the
court resolves the amended petition in accordance with In re Morgan, 50
Cal. 4th 932, 237 P.3d 993 (2010). The average pending time of these
176 cases is 4.07 years. Of the 176 cases, 107 have been fully briefed
awaiting decision for an average of 3.13 years (or 37.58 months) since
the reply to the informal response was filed. Table/Figure 2 attached to
this Declaration depicts the length of time that the fully briefed case have
been pending.”
7.

In paragraph 16 of the June 9, 2014 declaration, I stated:

“Since 1978, condemned inmates have filed 267 exhaustion petitions in
the California Supreme Court, and the average time that the inmate
remains in state court following the filing of the exhaustion is 3.19
years.” Correction of that statement is necessary because of an error in
the number of exhaustion petitions filed. My declaration should have
stated: “Since 1978, 268 condemned inmates have filed exhaustion

Declaration of Michael Laurence
Page 4 of 4

petitions in the California Supreme Court, and the average time that the
inmate remains in state court following the filing of exhaustion petitions
is 3.18 years overall.”
8.

In paragraph 18 of the June 9, 2014 declaration, I stated:

“Using figures publicly available from the California Department of
Justice and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
I calculated the average suicide rate on California’s death row between
1980 and 2010 to be 299.5 per 100,000.” Correction of that statement is
necessary because of an error citing the source of the data.

My

declaration should have stated: “Using figures publicly available from the
California Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, I calculated the average suicide rate on California’s death row
between 1980 and 2010 to be 299.5 per 100,000.” A corrected version of
Table/Figure 3 is attached to this Declaration.
The foregoing is true and correct and executed under penalty of
perjury under the laws of the United States and the State of California on
July 14, 2014.

/s/ Michael Laurence
Michael Laurence

TABLE/FIGURE 3

Average Suicide Rates 1980-2010
(per 100,000)
California Death Row Suicide Rate
California General Population Suicide Rate
California General Population Male Suicide Rate
United States General Population Suicide Rate
United States General Population Male Suicide Rate
0

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100

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200

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Justice, and
Habeas Corpus Resource Center

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