Filed: Sep. 16, 2008
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: Opinions of the United 2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 9-16-2008 Thomas Spindle v. US Exec Branch Govt Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential Docket No. 08-2497 Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008 Recommended Citation "Thomas Spindle v. US Exec Branch Govt" (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 534. http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008/534 This decision is brought to you for free and
Summary: Opinions of the United 2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 9-16-2008 Thomas Spindle v. US Exec Branch Govt Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential Docket No. 08-2497 Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008 Recommended Citation "Thomas Spindle v. US Exec Branch Govt" (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 534. http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008/534 This decision is brought to you for free and o..
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Opinions of the United
2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
9-16-2008
Thomas Spindle v. US Exec Branch Govt
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 08-2497
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008
Recommended Citation
"Thomas Spindle v. US Exec Branch Govt" (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 534.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008/534
This decision is brought to you for free and open access by the Opinions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at Villanova
University School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in 2008 Decisions by an authorized administrator of Villanova
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CLD-278 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
No. 08-2497
THOMAS W. SPINDLE,
Appellant
v.
THE UNITED STATES EXECUTIVE BRANCH;
THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civil No. 07-cv-04491)
District Judge: Honorable Robert S. Kugler
____________________________________
Submitted for Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)
or Summary Action Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
August 21, 2008
Before: AMBRO, FUENTES AND JORDAN, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: September 16, 2008)
OPINION
PER CURIAM
Appellant Thomas W. Spindle, a military prisoner serving his sentence at the
Federal Correctional Institution at Fairton , New Jersey, was convicted in June 1982 by a
general court martial at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, of felony murder, attempted sodomy, assault
with intent to commit sodomy, and indecent acts with a child under sixteen years of age.
The evidence included primarily the testimony of an eyewitness, Private Joseph Courtney,
and Spindle’s admission that he was present at the scene of the murder. Spindle was
sentenced to life imprisonment. Clifford B. Hubbard was convicted of the same crimes in
the same court martial. Spindle appealed to the Army Court of Military Review. That
court dismissed his assault conviction but affirmed the remaining convictions and
sentence. Spindle then unsuccessfully sought review of his convictions in the United
States Court of Military Appeals. See generally Spindle v. Tillery, 124 F.3d 217, *1 (10th
Cir. 1997) (table) (unpublished disposition).
On January 26, 1990, Spindle filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in United States District Court for the District of Kansas, asserting
nine claims of error. The District Court in that case determined that he was not entitled to
relief and dismissed the petition. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth
Circuit affirmed. On March 16, 1995, Spindle filed a second petition for writ of habeas
corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the Kansas District Court. In his second petition,
Spindle raised the following claims of error: (1) the government withheld exculpatory
evidence of fingerprint evidence removed from the victim’s body; (2) he was denied the
right to confrontation when the prior testimony of Private Courtney was admitted at trial;
(3) military investigators failed to give proper warnings before eliciting inculpatory
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statements from him; (4) he received ineffective assistance of counsel; and (5) he was
improperly convicted by a two-thirds vote and the jury was not properly instructed on the
vote necessary to impose life imprisonment. The District Court again determined that
relief was not warranted, and again the Tenth Circuit affirmed, on September 3, 1997. In
particular, the Tenth Circuit held that the exculpatory evidence claim concerning the
latent fingerprint was unexhausted because Spindle did not present it to the military
courts. The Tenth Circuit conducted a cause and prejudice analysis and determined that
Spindle could not show actual prejudice. The court reasoned that, because as many as
four people were involved in the events leading up to the murder, even if the fingerprints
were shown to belong to someone else, this would not establish a probability that Spindle
would be acquitted. See id. at *2. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.
On February 14, 2001, Spindle filed another section 2241 habeas corpus petition,
this time in United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.1 He
raised three claims, including that the Tenth Circuit erred in denying him habeas corpus
relief on a procedural ground, the Secretary of the Army failed to conduct a proper review
of his complaint that he was wrongfully convicted by improper Criminal Investigation
Command conduct, and the United States Parole Commission violated his constitutional
rights by setting a fifteen-year reconsideration date based on the nature of his offense
conduct. Spindle claimed that he was factually innocent because evidence of a latent
1
Spindle was at that time incarcerated at FCI-Allenwood.
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fingerprint lifted from the victim would have shown the existence of an as yet
unidentified culpable individual. The District Court in that case held that it lacked
jurisdiction to review Spindle’s challenge to the Tenth Circuit’s decisions, and it also
rejected Spindle’s attempt to relitigate claims rejected in the prior section 2241
proceedings on the ground that this amounted to an abuse of the writ under 28 U.S.C. §
2244(a). The District Court also denied the parole claim.
Spindle appealed to this Court, and we affirmed in Spindle v. Sec’y of the Army,
No. 02-2257 (3d Cir. January 3, 2003), holding that disagreement with the basis for a
decision on a prior section 2241 petition does not confer license to relitigate claims in a
successive section 2241 proceeding, see 28 U.S.C. § 2244(a). Because Spindle sought
another round of review on the same assertion of actual innocence, the District Court
correctly refused to revisit the issue. In addition, we noted that Spindle offered no
evidence different from that which he presented in the prior section 2241 proceedings.
We considered the fingerprint evidence assertion in light of the evidence at trial and
concluded that he had not shown that no juror acting reasonably would have found him
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, see Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 329 (1995). Spindle
also failed to show any basis to warrant discovery on his claims, and thus the District
Court did not abuse its discretion insofar as it refused to grant discovery. We affirmed
the denial of the parole claim. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.
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At issue in the instant appeal is Spindle’s filing on September 19, 2007, of another
section 2241 habeas corpus petition, this time in United States District Court for the
District of New Jersey. In it, he claimed that we erred in affirming the decision in his
prior case, Spindle v. Sec’y of the Army, No. 02-2257, and that his claim of withheld
exculpatory evidence concerning the latent fingerprint has never been given full
consideration. He further contended that the abuse of the writ doctrine does not apply to
military prisoners bringing habeas corpus actions. In an order entered on May 2, 2008,
the District Court dismissed the petition, holding that it had no authority to review the
decision of a federal circuit court, and the petition in any event was successive and an
abuse of the writ. The District Court subsequently denied a timely filed motion for
reconsideration.
Spindle appeals. Our Clerk granted him leave to appeal in forma pauperis and
advised him that his appeal was subject to summary dismissal under 28 U.S.C. §
1915(e)(2)(B) or summary affirmance under Third Cir. LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6. We
have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Our review is plenary. See Cristin v.
Brennan, 281 F.3d 404, 409 (3d Cir. 2002).
We will summarily affirm the orders of the District Court dismissing the habeas
corpus petition and denying reconsideration, because it clearly appears that no substantial
question is presented by this appeal. See Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6. We
have carefully reviewed his submissions, but it is evident that Spindle again has offered
5
no evidence different from that which he presented in his prior section 2241 proceedings.
We see no basis for allowing this successive section 2241 petition to proceed on the
merits and consequently conclude that the District Court did not err in dismissing it.
Furthermore, as before, Spindle has not shown that no juror acting reasonably would have
found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, see Schlup, 513 U.S. at 329.
For the foregoing reasons, we will summarily affirm the District Court’s Orders
dismissing the habeas corpus petition and motion for reconsideration. See Third Cir.
LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6. Appellant’s motion for summary reversal or remand is denied
as moot.
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