No. 14-7082
CLIFTON L. COLLINS,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
HAROLD
W.
CLARKE,
Corrections,
Director,
Virginia
Department
of
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond.
John A. Gibney, Jr.,
District Judge. (3:13-cv-00763-JAG)
Argued:
December 9, 2015
Decided:
PER CURIAM:
Clifton L. Collins (Appellant) appeals the district
courts
order
dismissing
his
petition
for
writ
of
habeas
claims
Because
that
alleged
Appellant
ineffective
has
not
assistance
demonstrated
of
counsels
In
was
2006,
bail
Appellant
bondsman
posted
licensed
bond
for
in
a
North
criminal
Appellant
in
Virginia.
When
he
arrived
in
Mecklenburg
County,
arresting Sydnor.
In fact, Spruill
blocked
toward him.
Spruills
car
with
his
and
advanced
truck
v.
Commonwealth,
720
S.E.2d
530,
531
(Va.
2012).
toward
the
identification,
truck.
and
Spruill
Appellant
showed
asked
Appellant
immediately
drove
off,
and
Spruill
Spruill
his
for
drivers
At that point,
reported
the
abduction.
Appellant
guilty
of
attempted
abduction
pursuant
to
of
Virginia
appealed
and
the
his
convictions
Supreme
to
Court
of
the
Court
Virginia.
of
On
As to the first
But the
11
(bail
agents)
of
Chapter
(collectively,
bondsmen)
1,
bail
and
Title
Article
9.1
of
12
the
statutes), 2
bondsman
(bail
enforcement
Code
the
of
Virginia
Virginia
state
with
the
Supreme
Court
of
Virginia.
There,
he
raised
five
to
abduct
of
construction
the
of
the
victim;
(2) he
retroactive
Virginias
was
application
bail
bondsman
denied
of
due
process
the
courts
statute;
(3) his
(4) he
was
denied
due
process
because
he
lacked
the
Virginia
court
held
that
the
first
claim
was
See Collins v.
Next, the court
held that Appellants two due process claims were not preserved
at trial and were, therefore, barred from review.
2-3.
See id. at
ineffective
assistance
claims
satisfied
neither
prong
of
in
the
United
States
District
Court
for
the
Eastern
violated
due
the requisite
and
(5) Appellants counsel was ineffective in
failing to argue that Appellant lacked the
specific intent to commit abduction.
The district court granted the Governments motion to
dismiss, relying primarily on the reasons articulated in the
decisions by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
See Collins v.
requisite
intent
arguments
were
precluded
the
determinations
by
district
the
court
Supreme
concluded
Court
of
from
review
Virginia
the
legal
that
the
See id. at
*3, 6-7.
In July 2014, Appellant timely noticed his appeal.
We
See Lee v. Clarke, 781 F.3d 114, 122 (4th Cir. 2015).
Appellant filed his habeas petition pursuant to the
from
unreasonable
an
application
incorrect
of
application
of
federal
federal
law
is
law.
Thus, a federal
habeas court may not issue the writ simply because that court
concludes
in
its
state-court
decision
erroneously
or
independent
applied
judgment
clearly
incorrectly.
Id.
that
the
established
at
411.
relevant
federal
In
law
determining
prevail
on
an
ineffective
assistance
of
counsel
466
U.S.
conduct
at
fell
687-88
below
(stating
an
that
objective
one
must
standard
See
show
of
defendant
must
overcome
the
presumption
that,
under
the
to
undermine
confidence
in
the
outcome.
Id.
trial,
counsels
would
the
errors,
not
have
(alteration
in
defendant
there
been
is
must
a
reasonable
convicted.
original)
demonstrate
(internal
Lee,
that
but
probability
781
quotation
F.3d
marks
for
that
at
he
122-23
omitted).
Strickland, 466
U.S. at 697.
Lastly,
when
an
appellant
raises
claim
of
Lee,
Because both
marks omitted).
III.
Appellant asserts that the Supreme Court of Virginia
erroneously
applied
Strickland
v.
Washington,
466
U.S.
668
was
prejudice
not
when
deficient
or
retroactive
that
Appellant
application
of
did
the
not
bail
suffer
bondsman
first
argues
that
the
federal
common
law
the
second
prong
of
the
Strickland
11
analysis
--
that
is,
Appellant
cannot
demonstrate
that
but
for
counsels
alleged
As the
Supreme Court has made clear, federal habeas corpus relief does
not lie for errors of state law.
764, 780 (1990); see also Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67-68
(1991) ([I]t is not the province of a federal habeas court to
reexamine state-court determinations on state-law questions.).
Instead, we limit our review only to the due process
concerns set forth in the certificate of appealability.
See
United States v. Linder, 561 F.3d 339, 344 n.6 (4th Cir. 2009);
see also Order at 1, Collins v. Clarke, No. 14-7082 (4th Cir.
Feb.
10,
2015),
ineffective
ECF
assistance
No.
of
13.
Yet,
counsel
because
argument
Appellants
relates
to
the
preserved
the
claim
that
the
Virginia
Supreme
Courts
Bouie,
378
U.S.
at
354
(internal
quotation
marks
omitted).
Here,
revocation of the federal common law was made clear for the
first time by the Virginia court rulings in his case.
This
the
bail
bondsman
statutes
were
enacted
in
The
13
determination
is
not
unreasonable.
The
bail
of
contemplated
ordinary
conduct
intelligence
is
forbidden
fair
by
the
consistently
recognized
due
process
notice
that
statute.
his
United
courts
from
United States v.
354.
As noted, the bail bondsman statutes were enacted in
2004 by the Virginia General Assembly, nearly three years prior
to
Appellants
2007
conduct.
See
Va.
Code
Ann.
9.1185
in
bail
bonding
for
profit
or
other
consideration
Services]
9.1-185.18.
establishes
The
safe
Commonwealth,
for
this
Criminal
licensing
responsible,
applicant
in
and
bail
Va.
Justice
Board
qualifications
effective
including
a
Commonwealth.
Services
to
bail
enforcement
requirement
enforcement
issues
the
that
license
ensure
must
Code
Ann.
(Board)
respectable,
within
the
nonresident
meet
the
same
licenses,
in
conjunction
with
the
regulations
186.5, 186.6(A).
Considering that bail bondsmen, who are licensed in
Virginia
pursuant
to
section
9.1185,
and
licensed
bail
bonding
activities
in
Virginia,
we
cannot
embrace
Appellants argument that he did not have fair notice that his
actions were illegal under Virginia law.
2.
Additionally,
trends
in
other
jurisdictions
are
indefensible.
jurisdictions
have
Rogers,
532
U.S.
at
464.
addressed
the
interaction
Numerous
between
state
Sheriffs Dept, 230 F.3d 196, 198 (6th Cir. 2000); Ouzts v.
Maryland Natl Ins. Co., 505 F.2d 547, 55153 (9th Cir. 1974)
(en banc); Moncrief v. State Commr of Ins., 415 So.2d 785, 788
(Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1982); Walker v. Commonwealth, 127 S.W.3d
596, 606 (Ky. 2004); Commonwealth v. Wilkinson, 613 N.E.2d 914,
917 (Mass. 1993); State v. Epps, 585 P.2d 425, 429 (Or. Ct. App.
1978); Green v. State, 829 S.W.2d 222, 223 (Tex. Crim. App.
1992).
is to be expected.
drafted
statute
not
the
unforeseeable . . . judicial
Rogers,
conduct
of
Appellants
counsel
was
courts
application
of
deficient,
such
Therefore, we conclude
Strickland
with
regard
to
this
Appellant
contends
that
the
Supreme
Court
of
only
for
failing
to
to
support
argue
that
conviction
Appellant
for
acting
possessed
as
bail
withhold
or
conceal
him
from
any
person,
authority
or
18.2-47.
When an offense consist[s] of an act combined with a
particular intent, proof of such intent is as necessary as proof
of the act itself and must be established as a matter of fact.
Ridley v. Commonwealth, 252 S.E.2d 313, 314 (Va. 1979).
Intent
in fact is the purpose formed in a persons mind and may be, and
frequently
is,
shown
by
circumstances[,] . . .
which
may
be
Hargrave v.
v.
Commonwealth,
(citations omitted).
generally
question
452
S.E.2d
669,
674
(Va.
1995)
the
trier
of
18
fact.
Nobles
v.
Here,
it
is
clear
that
Appellant
engaged
in
an
Appellants misguided
advancing
his
incidental
conduct
argument,
In Brown,
712.
There,
constituted
the
multiple
defendant
punishments
raised
for
whether
the
these
same
offense
in
charges
to
abduct
when
defendants
double
jeopardy
claim,
nor
restraint
was
only
for
an
that
the
attempted
Virginia,
Bail recovery means an act whereby a
person arrests a bailee with the object of
surrendering the bailee to the appropriate
court, jail, or police department, for the
purpose of discharging the bailees surety
from liability on his bond. Bail recovery
shall include investigating, surveilling or
locating a bailee in preparation for an
imminent arrest, with such object and for
such purpose.
Va. Code Ann. 9.1-186.
This is
still
in
violation
of
the
licensing
requirements
for
20
some
other
individual
or
his
intent
to
violate
the
Appellant
even
has
assuming
not
arguendo
demonstrated
that
counsel
that,
but
was
for
the
foregoing
reasons,
the
judgment
of
the
district court is
AFFIRMED.
21