Perez-Gonzalez v. Duncan
Filing
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MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order Signed by the Honorable John Z. Lee on 1/30/18.Mailed notice(ca, )
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
RAUL PEREZ-GONZALEZ,
Petitioner,
v.
STEPHEN DUNCAN,
Respondent.
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15 C 4210
Judge John Z. Lee
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
In 2010, Petitioner Raul Perez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder
and was sentenced to thirty-five years’ imprisonment. In 2012, he was found in
direct criminal contempt of court and sentenced to an additional ten years’
imprisonment, to be served consecutively with his thirty-five-year sentence for
murder. Perez-Gonzalez has now filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his
conviction and sentence for direct criminal contempt of court. He argues that the
State breached his plea agreement and thereby violated his due process rights by
initiating contempt proceedings against him. For the reasons provided herein, the
petition is denied.
Background
On January 29, 2009, a woman was fatally shot in Elgin, Illinois. People v.
Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d 360, 362 (Ill. App. Ct. 2014).
The next day, Perez-
Gonzalez informed police that he had been driving the vehicle from which the shots
had been fired. Id. He also told police that two other men, Manith Vilayhong and
Tony Rosalez, had been inside the vehicle with him at the time of the shooting. Id.
Vilayhong had ordered the shooting, and Rosalez had fired the gun. Id. PerezGonzalez, Vilayhong, and Rosalez were each charged with first-degree murder. Id.
On August 27, 2010, the State sent Perez-Gonzalez’s counsel a letter
outlining the terms of a plea offer. Resp’t’s Ex. D at 9–10, ECF No. 9-4. Under the
terms of the offer, Perez-Gonzalez would initially plead guilty to a charge of firstdegree murder while in possession of a firearm. Id. at 9. As a result, he would be
sentenced to thirty-five years’ imprisonment—twenty years for first-degree murder,
plus a fifteen-year enhancement for possession of a firearm. Id. After pleading
guilty, Perez-Gonzalez then would cooperate with the State’s prosecution of
Vilayhong and Rosalez by testifying against them.
Id.
Once Perez-Gonzalez’s
cooperation was “successfully completed,” the State would amend his charge to omit
references to a firearm and vacate the fifteen-year enhancement, thus reducing his
sentence to a term of twenty years. Id. at 9–10. In the event that Perez-Gonzalez
did not fully cooperate, however, he “would then be required to serve the terms of
the initial agreement, which would be 35 years [in the Illinois Department of
Corrections], plus [mandatory supervised release] as well as fees.” Id. at 10; accord
Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 362; Pet. at 3, ECF No. 1.
The Circuit Court of Kane County, Illinois, held a plea hearing in PerezGonzalez’s criminal case on August 30, 2010. See Resp’t’s Ex. L at 1, ECF No. 9-12.
During the hearing, the parties informed the court of the plea agreement’s terms as
follows:
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[ASSISTANT STATE’S ATTORNEY]: [T]his agreement contemplates
Mr. Perez-Gonzalez’[s] cooperation with the State regarding two codefendants. Once he has completed that cooperation as determined by
the People of the State of Illinois and as outlined in the offer letter that
I gave to [defense counsel] dated August 27th, 2010 . . . it is
contemplated by all parties that we will bring Mr. Perez-Gonzalez back
into court. We will at that point in time vacate or delete that part of
the charge that has to do with a firearm and also then, Judge, vacate
the 15-year add on, [at] which point in time the Defendant would have
the 20-year sentence plus the mandatory supervised release. I think
that’s all the terms.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Judge, that is accurately a statement of our
discussion and the basis upon which our plea is being entered.
Id. at 3–4. The court accepted the terms of the plea agreement and accordingly
sentenced Perez-Gonzalez to thirty-five years’ imprisonment. Id. at 11.
On October 28, 2011, the State appeared in court for a pretrial hearing in the
criminal case against Rosalez. Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 362. Rosalez’s trial
was scheduled to begin the following week and, according to the State, PerezGonzalez was planning to refuse to testify.
Id.
Later that day, at the State’s
request, Perez-Gonzalez was brought before the court, placed under oath, and
questioned by the State’s attorney about the allegations against Rosalez. Id. PerezGonzalez did not answer the State’s questions, and he testified that he would refuse
to answer any further questions. Id. The court ordered Perez-Gonzalez to answer,
but he still refused to do so. Id. at 363. The court therefore found Perez-Gonzalez
in direct contempt. Id. 1
During the pretrial hearing on October 28, 2011, the court did not specify whether it
found Perez-Gonzalez to be in civil or criminal contempt. See id.
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On November 11, 2011, the State filed a petition for adjudication of direct
criminal contempt of court based on Perez-Gonzalez’s refusal to answer questions at
the pretrial hearing in Rosalez’s case. Id. On February 22, 2012, Perez-Gonzalez
waived his right to a jury trial in the contempt proceeding, and the parties filed a
written stipulation of evidence. Id. The stipulation described the terms of PerezGonzalez’s underlying plea agreement as follows:
Perez-Gonzalez . . . entered into plea negotiations with the People and
ultimately did agree to plead guilty to a first degree murder charge.
That agreement required Perez-Gonzalez to testify truthfully in any
case against any co-defendant.
Resp’t’s Ex. I at 23, ECF No. 9-9; accord Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 363–64. After
holding a hearing on the State’s contempt petition, the court found that PerezGonzalez was in direct criminal contempt of court for refusing to testify in Rosalez’s
case. Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 363.
On June 28, 2012, the court held a sentencing hearing. Id. at 364. That
same day, the parties again submitted a written stipulation of evidence, this time
describing Perez-Gonzalez’s underlying plea agreement as follows:
Before going to trial, [Perez-Gonzalez] entered into an agreement with
the People of the State of Illinois to testify against Vilayhong and
Rosalez. That agreement required [Perez-Gonzalez] to give truthful
testimony. He would be sentenced to a minimum sentence of 20 years
in prison plus the 15-year add-on. When he completed his end of the
agreement, his sentence would be reduced to 20 years.
Resp’t’s Ex. I at 52; accord Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 364. The court sentenced
Perez-Gonzalez to ten years’ imprisonment for direct criminal contempt, to be
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served consecutively with his thirty-five-year sentence for murder. Perez-Gonzalez,
13 N.E.3d at 364.
Perez-Gonzalez appealed his conviction and sentence for direct criminal
contempt of court.
On appeal, he argued that the State breached the plea
agreement underlying his murder conviction and thus violated his due process
rights when it filed the petition for adjudication of contempt. Resp’t’s Ex. B, Br. &
Argument, at 8–13, ECF No. 9-2. The Illinois Appellate Court rejected his due
process argument and affirmed his conviction and sentence. Perez-Gonzalez, 13
N.E.3d at 365, 372. Perez-Gonzalez then filed a petition for leave to appeal (PLA) in
the Illinois Supreme Court, raising the same issue. Resp’t’s Ex. F, PLA, People v.
Perez-Gonzalez, No. 118158.
The Illinois Supreme Court denied the PLA on
November 26, 2014. Resp’t’s Ex. G.
On May 13, 2015, Perez-Gonzalez filed a habeas corpus petition in this Court
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The sole issue raised in his petition is whether the
State breached the terms of his plea agreement and thereby violated his due process
rights by filing the petition for adjudication of contempt.
Legal Standard
Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), a
writ of habeas corpus may issue only if the petitioner demonstrates that he is in
custody in violation of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. 28
U.S.C. § 2254(a).
A federal habeas court may grant habeas relief only if it
determines that (1) the state court’s decision on the merits “was contrary to, or
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involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as
determined by the Supreme Court of the United States,” or (2) the state court’s
decision was “based on an unreasonable determination of the facts.” Id. § 2254(d).
For purposes of the AEDPA, a state court’s decision is “contrary to” clearly
established Supreme Court precedent if the state court either “arrives at a
conclusion opposite to that reached by [the Supreme] Court on a question of law” or
“confronts facts that are materially indistinguishable from a relevant Supreme
Court precedent and arrives at a result opposite to [it].” Williams v. Taylor, 529
U.S. 362, 405 (2000); accord Morgan v. Hardy, 662 F.3d 790, 797 (7th Cir. 2011). In
turn, a state court’s decision is an “unreasonable application of” clearly established
Supreme Court precedent if the state court “identifies the correct governing legal
rule from [the Supreme] Court’s cases but unreasonably applies it to the facts,” or if
the court “unreasonably extends a legal principle from [Supreme Court] precedent
to a new context where it should not apply or unreasonably refuses to extend that
principle to a new context where it should apply.” Williams, 529 U.S. at 407. A
state court’s decision is an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent
only if it is “objectively unreasonable, not merely wrong; even clear error will not
suffice.” White v. Woodall, 134 S. Ct. 1697, 1702 (2014) (internal quotation marks
omitted).
These standards are highly deferential and “intentionally difficult to
meet.” Woods v. Donald, 135 S. Ct. 1372, 1376 (2015) (internal quotation marks
omitted).
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A federal habeas court may also grant relief if the state court’s decision 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)(2). A state court’s
decision is based on an “unreasonable determination of the facts” if it “rests upon
factfinding that ignores the clear and convincing weight of the evidence.” Newman
v. Harrington, 726 F.3d 921, 928 (7th Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks omitted).
A federal habeas court presumes the factual findings of the state appellate court to
be correct, unless the petitioner offers clear and convincing evidence to show
otherwise. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1); Newman, 726 F.3d at 928; Badelle v. Correll, 452
F.3d 648, 659 (7th Cir. 2006).
Analysis
In his habeas petition, Perez-Gonzalez requests relief from his conviction and
ten-year sentence for direct criminal contempt of court. In the alternative, he asks
the Court to issue a certificate of appealability with respect to the due process claim
raised in his petition. Respondent argues that Perez-Gonzalez’s petition should be
denied on the merits and that no certificate of appealability should be issued. 2 For
the reasons that follow, Perez-Gonzalez’s petition is denied, but the Court grants his
request for a certificate of appealability.
Respondent has not raised any other arguments in his response brief. Resp. at 6–10,
ECF No. 8. He concedes that Perez-Gonzalez has exhausted his state court remedies and
that his habeas petition is timely. Id. at 6.
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I.
Merits Review of Due Process Claim
Perez-Gonzalez contends that his conviction and sentence for direct criminal
contempt of court violate his due process rights because the State’s initiation of
contempt proceedings breached the agreement pursuant to which he pleaded guilty
to first-degree murder.
According to Perez-Gonzalez, the consequences of his
refusal to testify in Rosalez’s criminal case “were already figured into the plea
agreement.”
Pet. at 4.
Those consequences, he argues, were limited to the
imposition of his original thirty-five-year sentence, and the plea agreement thus
barred the State from filing a petition for adjudication of contempt based upon his
refusal to testify. Id.
The Illinois Appellate Court rejected this argument on direct appeal.
In
reaching its decision, the court first noted that “a defendant may have a due process
right to enforce [a plea] agreement” if the agreement induced his guilty plea. PerezGonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 365 (citing People v. Whitfield, 840 N.E.2d 658, 666 (Ill.
2005)).
The court found, however, that the State had not promised in Perez-
Gonzalez’s plea agreement that it would refrain from filing a petition for
adjudication of contempt if he refused to testify in Rosalez’s case. Id. at 365–66.
This finding was based on the court’s consideration of the plea agreement’s terms as
described in the offer letter, the transcript of Perez-Gonzalez’s plea hearing, and the
parties’ written stipulations. Id. Because the plea agreement did not bar the State
from initiating contempt proceedings, the court held that the petition for
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adjudication of contempt did not violate the agreement and thus did not violate
Perez-Gonzalez’s due process rights. Id. at 365.
The Illinois Appellate Court’s decision was neither contrary to nor an
unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court precedent. First,
the court correctly identified the legal rule governing Perez-Gonzalez’s due process
claim—namely, the rule that “if a plea of guilty is entered in reliance on a plea
agreement, a defendant may have a due process right to enforce the agreement.”
Id. (citing Whitfield, 840 N.E.2d at 666). The Supreme Court announced this legal
rule in Santobello v. New York, holding that “when a plea rests in any significant
degree on a promise or agreement of the prosecutor, so that it can be said to be part
of the inducement or consideration, such promise must be fulfilled.” 404 U.S. 257,
262 (1971); accord Campbell v. Smith, 770 F.3d 540, 546 (7th Cir. 2014) (discussing
Santobello); Villanueva v. Anglin, 719 F.3d 769, 777 (7th Cir. 2013) (same).
The state court then reasonably applied Santobello to the facts of PerezGonzalez’s case. As explained above, the court concluded that the State had not
promised to refrain from initiating contempt proceedings in the event that PerezGonzalez refused to testify in Rosalez’s case. Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 365.
Because the State had not made such a promise, the court reasoned, it did not
breach the plea agreement or violate Perez-Gonzalez’s due process rights upon filing
the petition for adjudication of contempt. Id.
Perez-Gonzalez argues that the Illinois Appellate Court’s decision was
contrary to or an unreasonable application of Santobello for two reasons. First, he
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takes issue with the fact that the court failed to cite Santobello in its decision.
Reply at 4, ECF No. 10. This argument can be disposed of quickly. It is well
established that a state court need not cite applicable Supreme Court precedents in
order to issue a decision that is neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application
of those precedents. Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 98 (2011) (citing Early v.
Packer, 537 U.S. 3, 8 (2002)). Thus, the Illinois Appellate Court’s failure to cite
Santobello does not automatically entitle Perez-Gonzalez to federal habeas relief.
Second, Perez-Gonzalez contends that the facts of his case are so similar to
those of Santobello that Santobello required the Illinois Appellate Court to rule in
his favor. In Santobello, the defendant had agreed to plead guilty in exchange for
the prosecutor’s promise to make no recommendation at his sentencing hearing.
404 U.S. at 258. Nevertheless, at sentencing, the prosecutor recommended that the
court impose the maximum sentence available. Id. at 259. Because the prosecutor
broke a promise that had induced the defendant to plead guilty, the Supreme Court
held that the defendant was entitled to relief from his sentence. Id. at 262–63.
According to Perez-Gonzalez, his case is indistinguishable from Santobello
because “the State reneged on its promise to leave [his] sentence at 35 years by
seeking a contempt finding and an additional ten-year sentence.” Reply at 3–4. If
the State had, in fact, promised to refrain from seeking a contempt finding and an
additional sentence for criminal contempt, then this argument might have merit.
But the state court determined that the State had not made any such promise.
Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 365. The fact that the State never promised to refrain
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from initiating contempt proceedings renders this case materially distinguishable
from Santobello. Thus, the state court did not contradict or unreasonably apply
Santobello in holding that the State neither breached the plea agreement nor
violated Perez-Gonzalez’s due process rights.
Next, Perez-Gonzalez contends that the state court’s decision was contrary to
or an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent because it “ignored . . .
any constitutional concern for fundamental fairness.” Reply at 4 (citing People v.
Harvey, 791 F.2d 294, 300 (4th Cir. 1969)). This argument, too, is unpersuasive. It
is true that many federal courts of appeals have referenced general principles of
fundamental fairness in addressing criminal defendants’ due process rights in
connection with plea agreements. See, e.g., United States v. Schilling, 142 F.3d 388,
394 (7th Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks omitted) (“[P]lea agreements are
unique contracts and the ordinary contract principles are supplemented with a
concern that the bargaining process not violate the defendant’s right to
fundamental fairness under the Due Process Clause.”).
But such references to
general principles of fairness appear to stem from dicta in Santobello, rather than
from other Supreme Court precedents governing Perez-Gonzalez’s due process
claim.
See Santobello, 404 U.S. at 261 (noting the importance of “fairness in
securing agreement between an accused and a prosecutor”). Furthermore, PerezGonzalez cites no Supreme Court precedent other than Santobello in support of his
fairness argument. See Reply at 4. The Court therefore rejects this argument for
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the same reason that it rejects Perez-Gonzalez’s contention that the state court’s
decision was contrary to Santobello.
Finally, Perez-Gonzalez argues that the state court’s interpretation of his
plea agreement involved an unreasonable determination of fact with regard to the
issue of whether the State had promised to refrain from initiating contempt
proceedings. He maintains that the plea agreement implicitly provided that the
exclusive consequence of his refusal to testify would be the imposition of his original
thirty-five-year sentence.
By initiating contempt proceedings and seeking an
additional ten-year sentence, he contends, the State imposed sanctions beyond
those contemplated under the agreement. Pet. at 5; Reply at 5–6.
For its part, Respondent argues that the plea agreement did not expressly
limit the State’s ability to initiate contempt proceedings and that the State was
therefore free to initiate such proceedings in the event that Perez-Gonzalez refused
to testify. Resp. at 8.
As a threshold matter, the Court notes that the state court’s decision
characterized the interpretation of Perez-Gonzalez’s plea agreement as a conclusion
of law, not a conclusion of fact. See Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 365 (citing Avery
v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co., 835 N.E.2d 801, 821 (Ill. 2005)) (“The
construction or interpretation of a contract and its legal effect presents a question of
law, which we review de novo.”).
If the state court’s interpretation of the plea
agreement was a determination of state law, then its interpretation is unreviewable
by a federal habeas court. See, e.g., King v. Pfister, 834 F.3d 808, 814 (7th Cir.
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2016) (“It is well-established that on habeas review, a federal court cannot disagree
with a state court’s resolution of an issue of state law.”); accord Estelle v. McGuire,
502 U.S. 62, 67–68 (1991).
Both parties, however, treat the state court’s
interpretation of the plea agreement as a finding of fact. See Resp. at 7–9; Reply at
5–8. Moreover, the parties’ consensus on this point is consistent with federal and
state case law holding that the interpretation of ambiguous terms in a plea
agreement is an issue of fact. See Gillis v. Grams, 351 F. App’x 111, 113 (7th Cir.
2009) (citing United States v. Williams, 198 F.3d 988, 992 (7th Cir. 1999)) (noting in
a § 2254 proceeding that “[t]he terms of a plea agreement are questions of fact”);
Installco Inc. v. Whiting Corp., 784 N.E.2d 312, 319 (Ill. App. Ct. 2002) (“If contract
language is ambiguous . . . interpretation of the language is a question of fact.”).
The Court will therefore assume for purposes of this case that the state court’s
interpretation of the plea agreement’s terms was a finding of fact.
Even with the benefit of this assumption, however, Perez-Gonzalez is not
entitled to habeas relief, because the state court’s interpretation did not “rest upon
factfinding that ignore[d] the clear and convincing weight of the evidence.”
Newman, 726 F.3d at 928. After considering the terms of the plea agreement as
described in the offer letter, at the plea hearing, and in the parties’ written
stipulations, the state court found no indication that the State agreed that “the only
consequence for [Perez-Gonzalez’s] failure to testify would be the State’s not moving
to vacate the 15-year add-on.” Perez-Gonzalez, 13 N.E.3d at 365 (emphasis added).
Nothing in the language of the materials that the state court considered requires
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the original thirty-five-year sentence to be the exclusive consequence of PerezGonzalez’s noncooperation. The original offer letter stated merely that, in the event
Perez-Gonzalez refused to testify, he “would then be required to serve the terms of
the initial agreement, which would be 35 years [in the Illinois Department of
Corrections], plus [mandatory supervised release] as well as fees.” Resp’t’s Ex. D at
10. The letter is silent on the issue of whether the State could also seek a finding of
contempt. See id. In addition, the descriptions of the plea agreement provided at
the plea hearing and in the parties’ written stipulations contained no discussion of
the potential consequences of Perez-Gonzalez’s noncooperation. Resp’t’s Ex. I at 23,
52; Resp’t’s Ex. L at 3–4.
That said, the interpretation of the plea agreement urged by Perez-Gonzalez
is not unreasonable, and some may consider the 10-year sentence for contempt
excessive, given that he also will serve 35 years for the underlying offenses. Indeed,
in hindsight, it would have been far better for Perez-Gonzalez to have refused to
testify in the Rosalez trial in the first instance and take the 35 years offered by the
State. But the deferential standard of the AEDPA constrains the review of this
Court, and the Court cannot say that the state court’s interpretation of the plea
agreement’s terms was unreasonable.
In sum, Perez-Gonzalez has not shown that the Illinois Appellate Court’s
decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of Supreme Court
precedent.
Nor has he shown that the decision was based on an unreasonable
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determination of the facts. As such, his due process claim does not entitle him to
habeas relief under AEDPA.
II.
Certificate of Appealability
A state prisoner seeking relief under AEDPA may not appeal a final order in
a habeas corpus proceeding “[u]nless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of
appealability.”
28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1).
A court may issue a certificate of
appealability “only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of
a constitutional right.” Id. § 2253(c)(2).
As the Supreme Court recently emphasized, the question of whether a habeas
petitioner has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right “is
not coextensive with a merits analysis.” Buck v. Davis, 137 S. Ct. 759, 773 (2017).
Rather, in deciding whether to issue a certificate of appealability, “the only question
is whether the applicant has shown that ‘jurists of reason could disagree with the
district court’s resolution of his constitutional claims or that jurists could conclude
the issues presented are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.’”
Id. (quoting Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 327 (2003)).
“This threshold
question should be decided without ‘full consideration of the factual or legal bases
adduced in support of the claims.’” Id. (quoting Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 336).
Here, although the Court concludes in its merits analysis that PerezGonzalez’s claims do not warrant habeas relief, Perez-Gonzalez has met the
threshold standard for issuance of a certificate of appealability. The Supreme Court
has provided only general guidance regarding the scope of criminal defendants’ due
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process rights where, as here, a plea agreement’s silence on a subject arguably
creates ambiguity in the agreement’s terms. Given the limited guidance on this
issue under relevant Supreme Court precedent, the Court believes that jurists of
reason could debate whether the State deprived Perez-Gonzalez of his due process
rights by filing the petition for adjudication of contempt and grants a certificate of
appealability in this case.
Conclusion
For the reasons stated herein, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus [1] is
denied. The Court issues a certificate of appealability with respect to the issue of
whether the State breached Perez-Gonzalez’s plea agreement and thus violated his
due process rights by initiating contempt proceedings against him. This case is
hereby terminated.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
ENTERED
1/30/18
__________________________________
John Z. Lee
United States District Judge
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