Liza Brown v. Susan E. Poole

Opinion by Judge BETTY B. FLETCHER; Dissenting opinion by Judge SILVERMAN.

Liza Ann Brown petitions for a writ of habeas corpus. Brown was charged with first-degree murder for shooting her husband in what she claimed was self-defense. She and her husband were in the process of divorce when he came into her living area and, she claims, violently demanded a share of the proceeds from the sale of a car to which she was entitled by their separation agreement. Brown now asks that the court order specific enforcement of the terms of her 1986 plea agreement on the reduced charge of second-degree murder: ie., order her release from prison. She argues that the terms of the plea agreement clearly stated that if she did not incur disciplinary infractions during her time in prison, she would be released in half of the fifteen(or seventeen-) year minimum term stipulated in the agreement. She has now served more than seventeen years in prison, without disciplinary infractions and without being paroled. We grant the writ.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

After Brown’s trial was underway, but prior to commencement of her defense, the prosecutor reached a “negotiated settlement” with her lawyer to reduce…

dissenting:

Conspicuously missing from the majority’s analysis is any meaningful discussion of the rationale employed by the California Court of Appeal in denying Brown’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We cannot grant federal habeas relief just because we would have come to a different decision. State court decisions are subject to federal “habeas relief only if they are not merely erroneous, but ‘an unreasonable application’ of clearly established federal law, or based on an ‘unreasonable determination of the facts.’” Early v. Packer, 537 U.S. 3 , 123 S.Ct. 362, 366 , 154 L.Ed.2d 263 (2002), quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d) (emphasis added by the Court).

The California Court of Appeal reviewed the entire record, not just the portion of the change-of-plea transcript quoted by the majority, and found that Brown knew that she had not been guaranteed release after serving half the minimum time with *1163 good behavior, but only that she would be parole-eligible at that time.

In re Broum, No. B128995, slip op. at 7-8, 12 (Cal.Ct.App. May 28, 1999) (emphasis added).

In other words, although represented by two different lawyers, Brown did not see fit to claim entitlement to…

337 F.3d 1155 Liza BROWN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Susan E. POOLE, Respondent-Appellee. No. 01-56660. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted May 9, 2003. Filed August 4, 2003. Ronnie Beth Lasky, Proskauer Rose LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for the petitioner-appellant. David F. Glassman, Deputy Attorney General, State of California, Los Angeles, CA, for the respondent-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Dickran M. Tevrizian, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-00-10482-DT. Before: BROWNING, B. FLETCHER, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge BETTY B. FLETCHER; Dissenting opinion by Judge SILVERMAN. BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge: 1 Liza Ann Brown petitions for a writ of habeas corpus. Brown was charged with first-degree murder for shooting her husband in what she claimed was self-defense. She and her husband were in the process of divorce when he came into her living area and, she claims, violently demanded a share of the proceeds from the sale of a car to which she was entitled by their separation agreement. Brown now asks that the court order specific enforcement of the terms of her…