Quintarius Harris v. Williamson County

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee dismisses Quintarius Harris’s 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. The court holds that Harris’s double-jeopardy claim was procedurally defaulted because it was not presented during state post-conviction proceedings and that he failed to establish cause and prejudice or a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Alternatively, the court concludes that the claim fails on the merits because the two thefts involved distinct offenses, grants the motion to dismiss, dismisses the action with prejudice, and denies a certificate of appealability.

Holdings

1. Harris's double-jeopardy claim was procedurally defaulted because he did not raise it during his state post-conviction proceedings and no further state remedy was available.
2. Harris failed to establish cause and actual prejudice to excuse the procedural default, and he did not assert a fundamental miscarriage of justice based on actual innocence.
3. The double-jeopardy claim failed on the merits because the two thefts described by Harris were distinct offenses involving different property and occurring on different dates, rather than successive prosecutions or multiple punishments for the same offense.
4. A certificate of appealability was denied because reasonable jurists would not disagree with the dismissal of the procedurally defaulted claim or the alternative merits determination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Harris's double-jeopardy claim was procedurally defaulted because he failed to present it during state post-conviction proceedings.
2. Whether Harris established cause and actual prejudice, or a fundamental miscarriage of justice, sufficient to excuse the procedural default.
3. Whether the alleged second theft prosecution or capias warrant violated the Double Jeopardy Clause even if the procedural default were excused.
4. Whether a certificate of appealability should issue.

Disposition

dismissed