Habeas Corpus – Presumption of innocence

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U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Habeas Corpus – Presumption of innocence

Where a state court judge found a defendant guilty based on facts not in evidence, the conviction must be reversed.

“We are mindful that only clearly established violations of a defendant’s constitutional rights permit us to reverse a state court decision challenged in a federal habeas corpus proceeding. Nevada v. Jackson, 133 S. Ct. 1990 (2013). But there’s no question that the right to have one’s guilt or innocence adjudicated on the basis of evidence introduced at trial satisfies that exacting standard. That is clear from the Supreme Court decisions in Holbrook, Taylor, and Estelle, and our own Garcia and Moore decisions, from all of which we quoted earlier. It’s true that we know of no case identical to this one—unsurprisingly, given the combination of weak proof with a verdict based on groundless conjecture. But identity can’t be required. The Supreme Court has made clear in the cases we’ve cited and quoted from that a judge or a jury may not convict a person on the basis of a belief that has no evidentiary basis whatsoever. Just imagine that the judge in our case had said ‘I know there’s no evidence of guilt, but I also know that prosecutors in the City of Mark-ham never prosecute an innocent person.’ The defendant would be entitled to relief in a habeas corpus proceeding even though that precise statement had never been uttered by a judge before.”

Reversed and Remanded.

14-1419 Owens v. Duncan

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Durkin, J., Posner, J.

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