Hooper v. Ryan, et al

Filing 76

MOTION by Petitioner Murray Hooper for judgment (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit State Notice Declining Evidentiary Hearing, # 2 Exhibit Indictment, # 3 Exhibit Judgment and Order, # 4 Exhibit Order of Sentence and Commitment, # 5 Exhibit 9 23 1981 Hearing Tr., # 6 Exhibit Order of Sentence and Commitment, # 7 Exhibit Postconviction Opinion and Order)(Love, Nathaniel)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
MURRAY HOOPER,
Petitioner,
v.
CHARLES L. RYAN, Director, Arizona
Department of Corrections, and LISA
MADIGAN, Illinois Attorney General,
Respondents.

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Case No. 10 C 1809
Hon. Joan B. Gottschall

MOTION FOR ENTRY OF FINAL JUDGMENT
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2243, and 2254, the September 9, 2013 mandate of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Dkt. No. 66), and the December 11,
2013 notice provided by respondent (see Dkt. No. 74; Ex. 1), petitioner Murray Hooper requests
that this Court enter judgment in his favor, granting Hooper’s petition for writ of habeas corpus,
vacating Hooper’s Illinois convictions for murder, armed robbery, and aggravated kidnapping
and the sentences accompanying those convictions, and ordering the State to release Hooper
from all custody and detainer relating to the proceedings in the Circuit Court of Cook County in
People v. Hooper, No. 81 C 1204.
Hooper was indicted by a Cook County grand jury in February 1981 on charges of
murder, aggravated robbery, and aggravated kidnapping. See Ex. 2 (Indictment No. 81-1204).
Hooper was tried in the Circuit Court of Cook County in August 1981, and a jury returned a
verdict of guilty on all of those charges. See Ex. 3 (Sept. 27, 1981 Judgment and Execution
Order in People v. Hooper, No. 81 C 1204, Circuit Court of Cook County, Criminal Division) at
1. Hooper was sentenced to death due to the murder convictions, see Ex. 4 (Sept. 23, 1981 Order

of Sentence and Commitment), sentenced to three sixty-year sentences for armed robbery, and
sentenced to three fifteen-year sentences for aggravated kidnapping, see Ex. 5 (Tr. of Sept. 23,
1981 Hearing) at 1247–48. Hooper’s death sentence was reaffirmed on resentencing, see Ex. 6
(July 17, 1993 Order of Sentence and Commitment), but later commuted to life imprisonment,
see Ex. 7 (Dec. 11, 2006 Postconviction Mem. Op. and Order) at 1.
Hooper’s first claim for relief in his petition for a writ of habeas corpus in this Court is
that the Illinois Supreme Court unreasonably applied Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), in
its determination that Hooper failed to make a prima facie showing of discrimination as to the
State’s use of peremptory challenges against black jurors at Hooper’s August 1981 trial. (See
Dkt. No. 23, Am. Pet. at 12–44). The Seventh Circuit concluded “that the Supreme Court of
Illinois applied Batson unreasonably” which “remove[s] the state court’s ground of decision and
entitle[s] Hooper to an evidentiary hearing in federal court.” Hooper v. Ryan, 729 F.3d 782, 787
(7th Cir. 2013). The Seventh Circuit held that at any such evidentiary hearing, the State would
bear the burden of “articulat[ing] a non-discriminatory reason for all five of the contested
peremptory challenges,” which would then be evaluated by the Court for credibility. Id.
The State has declined its opportunity to attempt to offer non-discriminatory reasons at an
evidentiary hearing. Ex. 1. That means Hooper has established that his rights under the Equal
Protection Clause, as interpreted in Batson, were violated at the jury selection in his 1981 trial,
and the convictions were therefore obtained in violation of the Constitution of the United States.
Batson, 476 U.S. at 97–98. As even a “single discriminatory peremptory challenge vitiates the
judgment,” Hooper, 729 F.3d at 787, and none of the State’s five challenges have been
explained, Hooper’s convictions and their accompanying sentences must be vacated.

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Accordingly, Hooper respectfully requests that this Court enter judgment in his favor. A
proposed order is submitted herewith.

Dated: December 12, 2013

Respectfully submitted,
By: s/ Nathaniel C. Love
Nathaniel C. Love
[e-mail]
Robert N. Hochman
SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP
1 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Illinois 60603
[phone]
John M. Sands
Federal Public Defender
Dale A. Baich
Assistant Federal Public Defender
850 W. Adams Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Counsel for Petitioner Murray Hooper

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
MURRAY HOOPER,
Petitioner,
v.
CHARLES L. RYAN, Director, Arizona
Department of Corrections, and LISA
MADIGAN, Illinois Attorney General,
Respondents.

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Case No. 10 C 1809
Hon. Joan B. Gottschall

[PROPOSED] FINAL JUDGMENT
Judgment is entered in favor of petitioner Murray Hooper, granting Hooper’s petition for
writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2243, and 2254; vacating Hooper’s
September 1981 Illinois convictions for murder, armed robbery, and aggravated kidnapping in
People v. Hooper, No. 81 C 1204 (Circuit Court of Cook County, Criminal Division), and the
sentences accompanying those convictions; and immediately releasing Hooper from all custody
and detainer relating to the proceedings in the Circuit Court of Cook County in People v.
Hooper, No. 81 C 1204.

DATED: ___________________
_______________________________
JOAN B. GOTTSCHALL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the 12th day of December, 2013, I electronically filed the
foregoing document with the Clerk of the Court, using the CM/ECF system, which will
automatically send email notification of such filing to all counsel who have entered an
appearance in this action.
/s/ Nathaniel C. Love
Nathaniel C. Love