Shayesteh v. South Salt Lake City, 217 F.3d 1281, 10th Cir. (2000)

F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit
PUBLISH
JUL 6 2000
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

TENTH CIRCUIT
AHMAD R. SHAYESTEH,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
CITY OF SOUTH SALT LAKE,
Respondent-Appellee.
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PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
No. 99-4020
Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of Utah, Central Division
(D.C. No. 2:97-CV-00504B)
Submitted on the briefs:
Robert Breeze, Salt Lake City, Utah, for Petitioner-Appellant.
H. Craig Hall, City Attorney for South Salt Lake City, Utah, and Matthew B. Janzen and
Paul H. Proctor, of the Office of the City Attorney for South Salt Lake City, Utah, for
Respondent-Appellee.
Before KELLY and PORFILIO, Circuit Judges, and ALLEY, Senior District Judge.*
ALLEY, Senior District Judge.*
*
The Honorable Wayne E. Alley, Senior United States District Judge for the
Western District of Oklahoma, sitting by designation.
Appellant Ahmad R. Shayesteh appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas
corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 22541 from the District Court for the District of Utah,
Central Division. We grant Appellants request for a certificate of appealability to reach
the merits of his claim as he has demonstrated the substantial denial of a constitutional
right. 28 U.S.C. 2253; 28 U.S.C. 1291.2
On April 12, 1995, the Justice Court of the City of South Salt Lake, Salt Lake
County, State of Utah convicted Appellant of misdemeanor assault. Appellant requested
appointment of counsel and asserted his indigence. The trial court denied counsel
because Appellant did not face a substantial probability of imprisonment. Utah Code
Ann. 77-32-2 (1995). The trial court sentenced Appellant to a $400 fine, one year
probation, restitution and a 30-day suspended sentence conditioned upon the payment of
$200 by May 11, 1995. Appellant failed to pay $200 of the fine. The trial court ordered
Appellant to show cause why he had not paid the fine. On June 8, 1995, the trial court
revoked the suspended sentence and imposed a 30-day jail sentence to be served upon
Although Appellant is currently serving time for an unrelated federal

offense, he may challenge his future state sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254. See
Peyton v. Rowe, 391 U.S. 54, 67 (1968); Rule 1(a)(2) of the Rules Governing 2254
Cases.
1
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this
appeal. See Fed.R.App.P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir.R.34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered
submitted without oral argument.
2
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completion of a pending, unrelated federal prison sentence. At no time did the trial court
appoint counsel.
Appellant did not directly appeal the misdemeanor assault conviction. Rather,
Appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the state courts. The state courts
found Appellant had waived review of the conviction by failing to directly appeal.
Thereafter, Appellant sought federal habeas corpus relief, alleging he was denied
assistance of counsel, denied prosecution by information or indictment, and was not
informed of his right to a direct appeal. Addressing these claims on federal habeas
review, the magistrate judge found Appellant had not established cause for his procedural
default of these claims at the state level because he was not entitled to counsel on the
charges, and did not show he could not obtain counsel for himself.3 The United States
District Court of Utah adopted the magistrate judges report and recommendation, finding
Appellants claims procedurally barred. Appellant alleged before the district court, and
alleges here, that he failed to raise these claims on direct appeal because he was denied
counsel during the trial of the charges, was not advised of his right to appeal, and was not
appointed counsel when a term of imprisonment was imposed.
The district court stated Appellant had not raised lack of counsel as cause
for his procedural default before the magistrate judge. A review of Appellants affidavit
reveals he raised this argument before the magistrate judge and further swore, contrary to
the district courts assertion, that he requested counsel before the trial court and informed
the court he was indigent.
3
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This Court may not review habeas claims that have been procedurally defaulted in
state court unless Appellant can demonstrate cause and prejudice for the default or a
fundamental miscarriage of justice would occur if the Court did not review the claims.
See Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 749-50 (1991). Cause sufficient to
overcome procedural default is some objective factor external to the defense [that]
impeded [his] efforts to comply with the States procedural rule. Murray v. Carrier, 477
U.S. 478, 488 (1986). Ineffective assistance of counsel may constitute cause sufficient to
overcome a procedural bar. Ross v. Ward, 165 F.3d 793, 798 (10th Cir.), cert. denied,
120 S.Ct. 208 (1999); United States v. Cook, 45 F.3d 388, 392 (10th Cir. 1995).
The constitutional question is whether the trial court properly denied Appellant
counsel.4 If Appellant was improperly denied counsel, such denial constitutes cause
sufficient to overcome procedural default. The United States Supreme Court has found
that any time a term of imprisonment is actually imposed, rather than threatened, a
defendant has the right to counsel. Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. 738, 743 (1994);
Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. 367, 373-74 (1979). Moreover, a court cannot impose an
uncounseled misdemeanor prison sentence by suspending it. United States v. Reilley, 948
F.2d 648, 654 (10th Cir. 1991)(addressing uncounseled misdemeanor suspended
sentences in the federal criminal context, but recognizing its rationale is equally
Appellee does not assert that Appellant voluntarily and intelligently waived
his right to counsel under Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938).
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applicable to state convictions).5 Whether a defendant was indigent at the time the trial
court denied him counsel is irrelevant for constitutional relief. See United States v.
Wyatt, 81 F.3d 173 (table, text in Westlaw) 1996 WL 156737, *2 (10th Cir. April 4,
1996)(citing United States v. Reilley, supra)(unpublished disposition cited as persuasive
authority pursuant to 10th Cir.R. 36.3).
However, a defendant has no right to counsel for a misdemeanor conviction based
on the imposition of a fine, or restitution. Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. at 743.
Regarding this portion of Appellants sentence, the denial of counsel at trial and on
appeal does not constitute cause sufficient to overcome procedural default. Alternatively,
Appellant argues a fundamental miscarriage of justice would occur if the Court did not
review his claims because he is actually innocent of the crime. Appellant supports this
argument by citing to the denial of counsel at trial and on appeal, and his conviction
despite the lack of information/indictment. These claims address his legal rather than
factual innocence. As such, Appellant has not established a fundamental miscarriage of
justice sufficient to overcome procedural default, and habeas relief is denied regarding his
claims that he was denied counsel on direct appeal and was improperly convicted due to
the lack of indictment/information. See Klein v. Neal, 45 F.3d 1395, 1400 (10th Cir.
1995).
Curiously, neither party cites this controlling precedent.

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Regarding his claim of denial of counsel at trial concerning the imposition of the
30-day sentence and the one-year probation (which was apparently revoked by the
imposition of the 30-day jail sentence), Appellant has established cause sufficient to
overcome procedural default. United States v. Reilley, 948 F.2d at 654. He must,
however, additionally establish prejudice. Klein v. Neal, 45 F.3d at 1400. Where there
has been a complete denial of the constitutional right to counsel, as here, prejudice is
presumed. United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 658-59 (1984). Appellants claim of
denial of counsel regarding the 30-day sentence and one-year probation is not
procedurally barred, and we review the merits of this claim.
An indigent defendant is entitled to appointment of counsel in misdemeanor cases
any time a term of imprisonment is actually imposed. Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. at 37374. In this Circuit, the Supreme Courts requirement a defendant be sentenced to
imprisonment before a constitutional right to counsel attaches is satisfied by the
imposition of a suspended sentence or probation. [T]he constitutional right to counsel
limits not the trial itself, but rather the sentence that may be imposed. By denying the
defendant counsel, the court effectively waives its right to sentence him to prison.
United States v. Reilley, 948 F.2d at 654. If a defendant cannot be ordered to serve a
sentence of imprisonment, it seems obvious that a conditional sentence of imprisonment
is equally invalid. Since the courts conditional threat to imprison [defendant] could
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never be carried out, the threat itself is hollow and should be considered a nullity. Id.
Only that portion of the sentence concerning imprisonment is invalid. Id.
Reilley was decided prior to Nichols v. United States, supra. However, nothing in
the Supreme Courts decision weakens Reilleys rationale, and Appellee makes no
attempt to do so. Moreover, Appellant has been sentenced to a 30-day jail term because
the trial court revoked its suspension. As such, a term of imprisonment has been
imposed.
Two problems with Appellants sentence are presented: (1) the validity of his
suspended sentence based upon the non-payment of the fine; and (2) the validity of
probation with the possibility of imprisonment if Appellant fails to satisfy the terms of
probation. Because the trial court imposed a fine, suspended sentence and probation
simultaneously during the same sentencing, it is impossible to reconstitute the mind of the
trial judge, making it impossible to disaggregate the sentence. The uncounseled 30-day
sentence is invalid. Likewise, Appellant could not be imprisoned for a violation of the
one-year probation, and thus, the imposition of probation is invalid. See United States v.
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Reilley, 948 F.2d at 654 n.11.6 The remainder of Appellants sentence, i.e. the $400 fine
and restitution, is valid.
Accordingly, Appellants conviction is AFFIRMED, his prison sentence and
probationary period are VACATED, the remainder of his sentence is AFFIRMED, and
the case is REMANDED to the district court, which may consider remanding the matter
to the state trial court for proceedings, consistent with this opinion, for supervision of the
execution of the remainder of Appellants sentence.
We note in United States v. Luppi, 188 F.3d 520 (table, text in Westlaw)
1999 WL 535295 (10th Cir. July 26, 1999) (unpublished disposition) another panel in this
Circuit found that defendant had no constitutional right to counsel because the district
court sentenced her to probation and a fine, citing Nichols and Scott. However, this
unpublished opinion has no precedential value and did not address Reilley or its analysis
that its conclusion clearly follows from [Scotts] holding. Reilley, supra at 654.
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F I L E D

United States Court of Appeals

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

Appeal from the United States District Court

Although Appellant is currently serving time for an unrelated federal

Curiously, neither party cites this controlling precedent.

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