Wiggins v. Cain et al

Filing 36

RULING AND ORDER granting 34 MOTION to Enforce This Court's Previous Order to the Clerk of Court for the 19th Judicial District Court. Within 14 days, the Clerk of Court for the Nineteenth Judicial District Court shall supplement the previous ly filed state court record by filing with this court copies of the two recorded statements played during the evidentiary hearing held on 11/12/2010. If the Clerk of Court is unable to produce either of the recorded statements, he shall advise this court in writing why he is unable to produce the recording.The 35 MOTION to Order Transcription of Recorded Tape Statements is DENIED. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger on 1/13/2015. (LLH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

LORENZO C. WIGGINS (#339039)
VERSUS

CIVIL ACTION

N. BURL CAIN, ET AL

NUMBER 13-198-BAJ-SCR

RULING ON MOTION TO ENFORCE ORDER
and
ORDER TO SUPPLEMENT STATE COURT RECORD
and
RULING ON MOTION FOR TRANSCRIPT
Before the court is the petitioner’s

Motion to Enforce This

Court’s Previous Order to the Clerk for the 19th Judicial District
Court. Record document number 34.

Also before the court is the

petitioner’s Subsequent Motion to Order Transcription of Recorded
Tape Statement. Record document number 35. No opposition or other
response was filed to either motion.
Motion to Enforce This Court’s Previous Order to the Clerk for
the 19th Judicial District Court
Lorenzo C. Wiggins petitioned this Court for a writ of habeas
corpus.

In order for the court to determine the action to be taken

on the petition, the Clerk of Court for the Nineteenth Judicial
District Court was ordered to file the entire State Court record,
No. 08-03-0580,

“including transcripts of all proceedings held in

the State Court.”1

The order did not specifically require the

Clerk of Court to also produce physical evidence introduced at any
1

Record document number 20 (underline in original).

Clerk of Court 19th JDC - certified

hearing.
Tape recorded statements of two witnesses were played in open
court

on

November

12,

2010

during

a

hearing

held

on

the

petitioner’s Post Conviction Relief Application, and they were
admitted into evidence.

The Commissioner referred specifically to

the recorded statements that were played at the hearing in his
Commissioner’s Recommendation.

Although the state court records

indicate that the petitioner’s state court attorney was given a
copy of the recorded statements, the state court record provided by
the Clerk of Court for the Nineteenth Judicial District Court did
not include these recorded statements.
Accordingly, the petitioner’s Motion to Enforce This Court’s
Previous Order to the Clerk for the Nineteenth Judicial District
Court is granted.
Therefore;
IT IS ORDERED that, within 14 days, the Clerk of Court for the
Nineteenth Judicial District Court shall supplement the previouslyfiled state court record by filing with this court copies of the
two recorded statements played during the evidentiary hearing held
on November 12, 2010.

If the Clerk of Court is unable to produce

either of the recorded statements, he shall advise this court in
writing why he is unable to produce the recording.
Subsequent Motion to Order Transcription of
Recorded Tape Statement
In the petitioner’s second motion, he sought transcripts of
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the two recorded statements. Plaintiff has the burden to show that
the state court made an “unreasonable determination of the facts in
light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.” 28
U.S.C. 2254(d)(2).

The information before the state court was the

recorded statements, not transcripts of the recorded statements.
A transcript would present the interpretation of the person who
transcribed the recordings, as though that interpretation is the
correct one.

But what matters is the reasonableness of the

Commissioner’s interpretation of what was said on the recorded
statements, not what someone else transcribing the statement thinks
was said.
Accordingly, the petitioner’s Subsequent Motion to Order
Transcription of Recorded Tape Statement is denied.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 13, 2015.

STEPHEN C. RIEDLINGER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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