Willie Jasper Darden appeals the denial by the district court of his habeas corpus petition, challenging the constitutionality of his conviction and death sentence. As grounds for relief, petitioner claims that he was denied effective assistance of counsel, that the prosecutors' closing arguments to the jury denied him a fair trial, and that venirepersons were improperly excluded from the jury in violation of the rule of Witherspoon v. Illinois. This Court sitting en banc has twice considered issues raised by this appeal and has concluded on the basis of the Supreme Court's uniform and consistent application of the rule in Witherspoon that the district court's denial of habeas relief must be reversed.

Darden was charged with first degree murder, robbery and assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree based upon events occurring at Carl's Furniture Store in Lakeland, Florida, on September 8, 1973.1 The jury found Darden guilty on all three counts and recommended the penalty of death. The trial court concurred in the jury's recommendation and imposed the death sentence.

Darden's conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court in Darden v. State, 329 So.2d 287 (1976). The United States Supreme Court initially granted Darden's petition for writ of certiorari, 429 U.S. 917, 97 S.Ct. 308, 50 L.Ed.2d 282, but later dismissed the writ as improvidently granted, 430 U.S. 704, 97 S.Ct. 1671, 51 L.Ed.2d 751.

After the Governor of Florida signed a warrant for Darden's execution, Darden filed a petition for habeas relief in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, raising the issues presented in this appeal. The court entered a stay of execution and assigned the case to a magistrate who, after a hearing on the ineffective assistance of counsel claim, recommended that the district court grant the habeas petition on the basis of Darden's claims of prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument and improper juror excusal. The district court rejected the magistrate's recommendation and denied habeas relief. Darden timely noticed this appeal.

The Legal Standard. During the jury qualification and selection procedure, the trial court excused for cause several venirepersons who expressed opposition to the death penalty. Petitioner argues that two of these dismissals were errors of constitutional magnitude under the standard established by the Supreme Court in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968).

In Witherspoon, the Supreme Court held that a death sentence "cannot be carried out if the jury that imposed or recommended it was chosen by excluding veniremen for cause simply because they voiced general objections to the death penalty or expressed conscientious or religious scruples against its infliction." Id. at 522, 88 S.Ct. at 1777 (footnote omitted). Witherspoon recognized that a jury purged of all those who express religious or conscientious scruples against capital punishment is not the impartial jury promised by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments; it is instead "a jury uncommonly willing to condemn a man to die." Id. at 521, 88 S.Ct. at 1776. The Court at the same time recognized the necessity of excusing jurors whose intractable opposition to capital punishment would distort their judgment on the facts developed in the case before them and would frustrate the state's legitimate efforts to implement an otherwise constitutional death penalty scheme. The Court thus fashioned the rule that prospective jurors cannot be excused from jury service on the basis of their opposition to the death penalty unless they make it

unmistakably clear (1) that they would automatically vote against the imposition of capital punishment without regard to any evidence that might be developed at the trial of the case before them, or (2) that their attitude toward the death penalty would prevent them from making an impartial decision as to the defendant's guilt.

Id. at 522 n. 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1777 n. 21 (emphasis in original).

This Circuit strictly adheres to the mandate of Witherspoon, Granviel v. Estelle, 655 F.2d 673, 677 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1003, 102 S.Ct. 1636, 71 L.Ed.2d 870 (1982),2 which we understand to require that

[o]nly the most extreme and compelling prejudice against the death penalty, perhaps only or very nearly a resolve to vote against it blindly and in all circumstances, is cause to exclude a juror on Witherspoon grounds.

Burns v. Estelle, 592 F.2d 1297, 1300 (5th Cir.1979), adhered to en banc, 626 F.2d 396 (1980).

Witherspoon sets a strict legal standard and imposes as well a very high standard of proof. The venireperson must make it "unmistakably clear" that he or she will automatically vote against the death penalty. 391 U.S. at 522 n. 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1777 n. 21. "Unless a venireman states unambiguously that he would automatically vote against imposition of capital punishment no matter what the trial might reveal, it simply cannot be assumed that that is his position." Id. at 515-16 n. 9, 88 S.Ct. at 1773-74 n. 9. Thus, any ambiguity must be resolved by not excluding the venireperson from the jury.

The Standard of Appellate Review. Application of the Witherspoon rule and its standard of proof has generated a plethora of cases in which appellate courts have closely reviewed trial courts' voir dire examinations of prospective jurors to determine whether those excluded made unmistakably clear their rigid resolve to oppose the death penalty. In these many cases, no court has explicitly determined the standard that should govern appellate review of trial courts' Witherspoon decisions. Courts instead have proceeded without discussion to review independently the transcript of the voir dire questioning and to determine whether the constitutional standards articulated in Witherspoon were met. The question of the appropriate standard of review recently has come to the fore with some suggestion that Witherspoon review should accord considerable deference to the decision reached by the trial judge. See O'Bryan v. Estelle, 714 F.2d 365, 391-96 (5th Cir.1983) (Higginbotham, J., concurring); id. at 400-12 (Buchmeyer, J., dissenting); Alderman v. Austin, 695 F.2d 124, 128-34 (5th Cir. Unit B 1983) (en banc) (Fay & Roney, JJ., dissenting). The time thus seems appropriate to decide directly the standard that appellate courts should apply in reviewing Witherspoon exclusions.

Although no court previously has explicitly decided the proper standard of review in Witherspoon cases, the manner in which appellate courts, including the Supreme Court, have conducted the many reviews that they have made of Witherspoon decisions provides guidance for this Court's decision. The predominant if not exclusive method of review undertaken by the federal courts, whether on direct review or in habeas proceedings, has been an independent review, based upon a close study of the voir dire transcript to determine whether a venireperson was improperly excluded from the jury. See, e.g., Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 49-51, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 2528-29, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980); Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 595-97, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 2959-61, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978); Maxwell v. Bishop, 398 U.S. 262, 264-65, 90 S.Ct. 1578, 1580-81, 26 L.Ed.2d 221 (1970); Boulden v. Holman, 394 U.S. 478, 482-84, 89 S.Ct. 1138, 1140-42, 22 L.Ed.2d 433 (1969); Spencer v. Zant, 715 F.2d 1562, 1576-77, reh'g granted en banc, 729 F.2d 1293 (11th Cir.1983); King v. Strickland, 714 F.2d 1481, 1492-93 (11th Cir.1983); Witt v. Wainwright, 714 F.2d 1069, 1080-83 (11th Cir.1983); Hance v. Zant, 696 F.2d 940, 954-56 (11th Cir.1983); Bell v. Watkins, 692 F.2d 999, 1006-08 (5th Cir.1982); Williams v. Maggio, 679 F.2d 381, 383-86 (5th Cir.1982) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 3553, 77 L.Ed.2d 1399 (1983); Alderman v. Austin, 663 F.2d 558, 562-64 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982), aff'd in relevant part, 695 F.2d 124 (1983) (en banc); Granviel v. Estelle, 655 F.2d 673, 677-78 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1003, 102 S.Ct. 1636, 71 L.Ed.2d 870 (1982); Burns v. Estelle, 592 F.2d 1297, 1300-01 (5th Cir.1979), adhered to en banc, 626 F.2d 396, 397-98 (1980).

The approach taken by the courts is consistent with the demands of the law. Application of the Witherspoon rule involves a mixed question of law and fact, which makes it a determination subject to independent review by an appellate court. See Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 341-42, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 1714-15, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980); Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 723, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 1642-43, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961); Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443, 507, 73 S.Ct. 397, 446, 97 L.Ed. 469 (1953) (Frankfurter, J.); Hance v. Zant, 696 F.2d 940, 946-47 (11th Cir.1983); Young v. Zant, 677 F.2d 792, 798 (11th Cir.1982); see also Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 289-90 n. 19, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 1790-91 n. 19, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982) (citing Supreme Court authority for independent appellate court review of mixed questions of law and fact).

Mixed questions of law and fact involve " 'the application of legal principles to the historical facts of [the] case.' " Hance, supra, 696 F.2d at 947 (quoting Cuyler, supra, 446 U.S. at 342, 100 S.Ct. at 1715). " 'Where the ascertainment of the historical facts does not dispose of the claim but calls for interpretation of the legal significance of such facts ... the [Federal] Judge must exercise his own judgment on this blend of facts and their legal values. Thus, so-called mixed questions or the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found leave the duty of adjudication with the federal judge.' " Id. (quoting Brown v. Allen, 44 U.S. 443, 507, 73 S.Ct. 397, 446, 97 L.Ed. 469 (1953) (Frankfurter, J.)).

The trial judge during voir dire questioning must apply the Witherspoon legal standard to the venireperson's responses. He or she must interpret the legal significance of the answers given. The answers alone do not dispose of the issue; the judge must decide whether the responses make unmistakably clear the prospective juror's unbending opposition to capital punishment. Because the trial court undertakes this application of law to fact, the court on appeal must independently review the colloquy preserved in the voir dire transcript to determine whether the trial court correctly applied the constitutional standard to the statements made.3

While the appellate court clearly bears the responsibility to review independently the mixed question of fact and law involved in a Witherspoon determination and ultimately to decide whether Witherspoon 's requirements were met, that responsibility does not preclude the court on appeal from according deference to the decision of the trial judge who had an opportunity to hear the venirepersons' responses and observe their demeanor. See McCorquodale v. Balkcom, 721 F.2d 1493, 1498 (11th Cir.1983) (en banc); see also O'Bryan v. Estelle, 714 F.2d 365, 393-96 (5th Cir.1983) (Higginbotham, J., concurring) (independent appellate review to determine whether trial court abused its discretion). Review of the Witherspoon questions posed to the veniremembers, because it involves only a determination whether the trial court employed the proper legal standard, remains always a matter exclusively for the court on appeal. Appellate review of the venirepersons' responses to those questions, however, because it involves a determination of the intended meaning of the responses given, as well as application of the appropriate legal standard, may benefit by consideration of the trial judge's interpretation. The court on appeal, thus, should grant deference to the trial judge's assessment of the venirepersons' responses, including the venirepersons' demeanor and the clarity of the venirepersons' responses, to questions posed. However, the prescribed independent appellate review of mixed questions of fact and law and Witherspoon 's strict rule that venirepersons make unmistakably clear their automatic opposition to capital punishment ultimately require an appellate court to reach its own judgment on the question whether a venireperson was improperly excluded from a jury. See McCorquodale, supra, 721 F.2d at 1498.

Application of the Standard. Darden challenges the excusal for cause of venirepersons Varney and Murphy. He maintains that their responses to voir dire questions failed to make unmistakably clear their unbending opposition to capital punishment.

Improper exclusion of even one venireperson is a sufficient basis for granting the habeas petition in this case. See Davis v. Georgia, 429 U.S. 122, 123, 97 S.Ct. 399, 400, 50 L.Ed.2d 339 (1976); Witt v. Wainwright, 714 F.2d 1069, 1081 & n. 8 (11th Cir.1983). Careful review of the voir dire transcript in this case reveals that venireperson Murphy was excused in violation of the Witherspoon principles. We therefore find it unnecessary to consider whether venireperson Varney also was improperly excused.

Only one question purporting to relate to the Witherspoon principles was asked of venireperson Murphy.

THE COURT: Do you have any moral or religious, conscientious moral or religious principles in opposition to the death penalty so strong that you would be unable without violating your own principles to vote to recommend a death penalty regardless of the facts?

MR. MURPHY: Yes, I have.

THE COURT: All right, sir, you will be excused then.

Record at 165 (emphasis added).

The court in this instance applied the wrong legal standard.4 The question in a Witherspoon inquiry is not whether prospective jurors could vote for the death penalty without violating their principles, but whether, if they have principles against capital punishment, they could put them aside and vote for the death penalty when the law and the facts of the case require it. Witherspoon and its progeny explicitly recognize that some jurors, notwithstanding their opposition to capital punishment, would be willing to return a verdict of death, making their scruples subservient to their duty as jurors. Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 44-45, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 2526, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980); Boulden v. Holman, 394 U.S. 478, 483-84, 89 S.Ct. 1138, 1141-42, 22 L.Ed.2d 433 (1969); Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 515-16 n. 9, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 1773-74 n. 9, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968).

The government argues that the question asked of Mr. Murphy and Mr. Murphy's response must be read in light of the trial court's earlier correct statement of the Witherspoon issue. If the question directed to the venireman was imperfect, the government maintains that the prior correct statement of the issue cures any Witherspoon error.

In determining whether a prospective juror was properly excluded, the court considers the entire voir dire to place in proper context the venireperson's responses. Witt v. Wainwright, 714 F.2d 1069, 1083 (11th Cir.1983); King v. Strickland, 714 F.2d 1481, 1492-93 (11th Cir.1983). Just as the Court "does not require that the venireperson utter a pat phrase, the incantation of which magically frees the power of excusal from its yoke of unconstitutionality," Witt, supra, 714 F.2d at 1083, so the Court will review the "totality of the circumstances of the voir dire," id., to determine whether the trial court correctly posed the Witherspoon questions to the venireperson who was excused.

In the trial of this case, the judge at the start of the voir dire called twelve venirepersons into the jury box.5 Addressing the people seated in the jury box, the judge then stated:

THE COURT: Now I am going to ask each of you individually the same question so listen to me carefully, I want to know if any of you have such strong religious, moral or conscientious principles in opposition to the death penalty that you would be unwilling to vote to return an advisory sentence recommending the death sentence even though the facts presented to you should be such as under the law would require that recommendation? Do you understand my question?

Record at 43.

At the time that this statement was made, Mr. Murphy was not among those seated in the jury box. The statement thus was not even addressed to him. Later in the voir dire--one hundred and twenty-two pages later in the voir dire transcript--Murphy was seated in the jury box, and the improper question was posed to him. In view of this Court's strict adherence to the requirements of Witherspoon, Granviel v. Estelle, 655 F.2d 673, 677 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1003, 102 S.Ct. 1636, 71 L.Ed.2d 870 (1982), and the strict requirements of Witherspoon itself, we cannot assume that Mr. Murphy heard the correct articulation of the Witherspoon standard or that, if he heard it, he remembered it and knew it to be the correct statement of the question when he was later questioned incorrectly.6

Witherspoon makes clear that death sentences cannot stand in cases in which venirepersons were excluded on any broader basis than that established by the Witherspoon opinion. 391 U.S. at 521-22 n. 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1776-77 n. 21. This firm rule requires that we grant the habeas petition in this case.

The decision to recommend a sentence of death places upon a jury a most awesome responsibility. The trial judge bears the ultimate responsibility to provide each defendant a fair trial and an impartial jury, and the selection of the men and women who serve on the jury in a capital case requires great diligence. Inquiry, on voir dire, as to the prospective jurors' views on the death penalty is a critical inquiry. Improper Witherspoon questioning can lead to the unconstitutional exclusion of jurors whose reservations about the death penalty do not disqualify them from service. Should any be so excluded, the death penalty cannot, constitutionally, be imposed, no matter what the evidence may show, for their exclusion denies the defendant an impartial jury and produces instead a jury that is "uncommonly willing to condemn a man to die." Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 521, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 1776, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968).

The Witherspoon rule, though articulated over 15 years ago and applied many times by many courts over the course of its life, all too frequently forms the basis for a reversal of a death sentence. State trial courts and federal district courts must exercise greater care to ensure that the Supreme Court's requirements are met. Only a procedure that employs precise questions--questions that clearly pose the two-fold Witherspoon inquiry set out in footnote 21 of the Supreme Court's opinion--and that elicits unmistakably clear answers from each venireperson can satisfy the Court's strict standard.

II. THE PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT AND INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL ISSUES

Petitioner also appeals the district court's denial of his request for habeas corpus relief based on his claim of prosecutorial misconduct in the state's closing argument to the jury and his assertion of ineffective assistance of counsel. The en banc court concludes that the panel's evaluation of these issues was correct and reinstates the relevant portion of the panel's opinion, 699 F.2d at 1033-37.

The district court's denial of the writ of habeas corpus on the basis of its determination under Witherspoon is reversed. The State shall be prohibited from carrying out the sentence in this case unless the petitioner is afforded a new sentencing hearing within a reasonable time to be fixed by the district court. The district court's denial of habeas relief on the basis of its review of petitioner's claims of prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel is affirmed. The case is remanded for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

REVERSED in part; AFFIRMED in part; REMANDED.

The court today violates the Supreme Court's "total exhaustion" rule of Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982), by entertaining the merits of a habeas corpus petition that presents both exhausted and unexhausted claims. I therefore dissent.

(b) An application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court shall not be granted unless it appears that the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State, or that there is either an absence of available State corrective process or the existence of circumstances rendering such process ineffective to protect the rights of the prisoner.

(c) An applicant shall not be deemed to have exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State, within the meaning of this section, if he has the right under the law of the State to raise, by any available procedure, the question presented. (emphasis added).

In Galtieri v. Wainwright this court held, en banc, that "a federal district court must dismiss without prejudice a 'mixed' petition for a writ of habeas corpus [i.e., one containing both exhausted and unexhausted claims] filed by a state prisoner"1 and that state habeas corpus "petitioners must present all their claims to the state court system before turning to the federal courts."2 The Supreme Court subsequently held in Rose v. Lundy that federal district courts must dismiss mixed petitions summarily,3 and that federal courts of appeals may not review any claims that have been presented in a mixed petition to the district court.

The district court in this case was bound by the statute and our holding in Galtieri.4 Nevertheless, the district court entertained, on the merits, a twenty-six count petition containing a plethora of unexhausted claims.5 See infra at 1534-1536. The panel that initially considered this appeal was precluded by Rose and the statute from considering the merits of any of petitioner's claims. Like the district court, the panel ignored its clear duty to dismiss the petition for want of exhaustion. Today the court, sitting en banc, repeats this error.

The record shows that, after his trial, petitioner unsuccessfully brought eight claims of error on direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court,6 and three claims on collateral attack.7 The Florida Supreme Court's opinions disposing of these appeals do not indicate whether petitioner presented these claims of error under the federal Constitution or state law.8 In any event, the Florida Supreme Court rejected these claims.

On May 21, 1979, petitioner commenced these habeas corpus proceedings in the district court. His petition contained two federal constitutional claims: (1) prosecutorial misconduct and (2) improper pretrial identification. The State answered his petition on May 22, and conceded that these two claims had been exhausted. On July 5 the State moved the court for leave to propound interrogatories to petitioner, indicating that in order to avoid abuse of the writ problems "now is the proper time to fully litigate and resolve all justiciable issues ... petitioner would be well advised to present all claims at this time...."9 Petitioner answered the interrogatories and amended his petition to add an ineffective assistance of counsel claim under the sixth and fourteenth amendments. On September 7 petitioner supplemented his answer to the State's interrogatories, listing twenty-three additional federal constitutional claims, for a total of twenty-six.10 The parties then stipulated on September 14 that the twenty-three additional claims should be included in petitioner's habeas petition. On the same day the magistrate to whom the district court had referred the case entered an order noting that "[t]he Petitioner has added additional claims for habeas corpus relief without objections of the [State], and [the State] has waived any claim that Petitioner has failed to exhaust state court remedies as to any claims presented." The State then answered these claims on the merits. The magistrate, and subsequently the district court, addressed each of petitioner's claims on the merits.

Assuming that the eleven claims petitioner presented to the Florida Supreme Court on direct appeal and on collateral attack were claims of federal constitutional error,11 petitioner raised three types of claims in the district court: claims presented on the merits to the state courts and exhausted;12 claims not presented to the state courts but--because of some sort of procedural abandonment--no adequate state remedy remained;13 and claims not presented to the state courts for which state court adjudication on the merits remained available.14 The district court could properly entertain the first and second categories of petitioner's claims if they were all the petition contained. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(b) (1976). The petition, however, contained claims from the third category. These claims, at least nine in number, were unexhausted and would have presented a justiciable controversy in the state courts. The petition was thus a "mixed" one. Anything but a summary dismissal of a mixed petition disregards Rose v. Lundy, the statute, and the compelling policy arguments behind the statute. This Court has placed itself in the same posture as the Sixth Circuit, which was reversed in Rose v. Lundy.

The plain words of sections 2254(b) and (c) and Rose v. Lundy forbid the entertainment of petitioner's appeal on the merits. See discussion infra text at 1542-1544. Moreover, the express language of the statute and Rose leave no room for a state attorney general's waiver of exhaustion. But see Thompson v. Wainwright, 714 F.2d 1495, 1497 (11th Cir.1983). See discussion infra text at 1539-1543. It is true that the drafters of the statute and the authors of Rose, and Galtieri, did not expressly consider whether a state attorney general could waive the exhaustion requirement found in sections 2254(b) and (c); the policy reasons behind the exhaustion rule preclude such a waiver, however, and require us to dismiss the petition.

Exhaustion in state prisoner habeas proceedings was developed a century ago as a consideration of comity, an equitable notion that federal courts hearing state prisoner claims should exercise discretion

in the light of the relations existing, under our system of government, between the judicial tribunals of the Union and of the states, and in recognition of the fact that the public good requires that those relations be not disturbed by unnecessary conflict between courts equally bound to guard and protect rights secured by the constitution.

Ex parte Royall, 117 U.S. 241, 251, 6 S.Ct. 734, 740, 29 L.Ed. 868 (1886). The courts later refined this concept into the rule that state remedies must be exhausted except in certain limited circumstances. See Rose, 455 U.S. at 515, 102 S.Ct. at 1202 (citing cases). In 1948, Congress codified this rule in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254. The exhaustion rule found in sections 2254(b) and (c), based on notions of comity, places limitations on the federal courts' exercise of habeas corpus jurisdiction. It states:

(b) An application for a writ ... shall not be granted unless it appears that the applicant has exhausted ....

(c) An applicant shall not be deemed to have exhausted ... if he has the right under the law of the State to raise, by any available procedure, the question presented. (emphasis added).

These limitations are cast in mandatory, obligatory language. Following a total exhaustion rule does more than further notions of comity, it complies with the dictates of Congress.

Congress codified the exhaustion rule because of the advantages it presents in managing our dual court systems. Exhaustion of state remedies furthers federalism by maintaining the delineation between federal and state court systems and ensuring federal respect for state courts. Comity has been defined as giving proper deference to states,15 but comity in a federal system cuts both ways; the states may not impose on the federal courts the primary task of reviewing its criminal convictions. The exhaustion rule furthers the efficient working of both federal and state courts.

The strict exhaustion rule defined by Rose v. Lundy furthers a number of interests of the state court systems. First, it pays great respect to state courts, recognizing the integrity of the state court system and its need to assure a complete disposal of each case presentable to it. State judges, just like federal judges, are sworn to uphold the Constitution. The exhaustion rule recognizes this fact by permitting the state system to be the first to adjudicate on the merits each claim a petitioner may later seek to bring into federal court.

Second, exhaustion ensures that state courts may entertain and decide constitutional claims without interference by federal district courts.16 See Duckworth v. Serrano, 454 U.S. 1, 2, 102 S.Ct. 18, 19, 70 L.Ed.2d 1 (1981) (per curiam) (exhaustion requirement "serves to minimize friction between our federal and state systems of justice by allowing the State an initial opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of prisoners' federal rights"). As the Supreme Court stated in Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 128, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 1571, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982), "[t]he States possess primary authority for defining and enforcing the criminal law. In criminal trials they also hold the initial responsibility for vindicating constitutional rights. Federal intrusions into state criminal trials frustrate both the States' sovereign power to punish offenders and their good faith efforts to honor constitutional rights." Cf. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971) (federal court must normally abstain from deciding issues implicated in ongoing criminal proceedings in state court).

Third, exhaustion enables state courts to address the prisoner's claims in light of state evidentiary, procedural, and substantive law. This permits the courts to ensure a uniform and accurate application of state law, which in many instances may remove the federal constitutional claims altogether. Even where state law is not dispositive of the case, it is still preferable for the state courts to act first. This enables them to become increasingly familiar with and hospitable toward federal constitutional issues.17 The need for state court familiarity with federal constitutional principles has grown especially acute given the marked development of criminal procedural rules in recent times.18

Finally, the total exhaustion required by Rose v. Lundy enhances the possibility that the state court will satisfactorily resolve the petitioner's constitutional claims and bring his criminal case to a close. Such finality not only preserves the dignity of state courts, but aids deterrence, and assists rehabilitation. See Friendly, Is Innocence Irrelevant? Collateral Attack on Criminal Judgments, 38 U.Chi.L.Rev. 142, 146 (1970); Bator, Finality in Criminal Law and Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners, 76 Harv.L.Rev. 441, 444-62 (1963). It also reduces some of the "significant costs" of the Great Writ.19

Federalism is a two-way street. The concepts of comity and federalism behind the exhaustion rule benefit federal courts as well as state courts.20 The rule requires a petitioner first to flush out all of his claims in state court, either on direct appeal or collateral attack. Collateral attacks usually occur relatively close in time to the trial;21 memories are sharper, and witnesses and evidence are more likely to be available. Thus by the time a petitioner's constitutional claims reach federal court, the historical facts that underpin his claims should have been ascertained. Accord, Rose, 455 U.S. at 519, 102 S.Ct. at 1203-04. The state court's findings of fact are so important to the federal courts that they will be presumed correct, and may well avoid the need for an evidentiary hearing in the district court. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(d) (1976). This is precisely the opposite of what happened in the case before us. The state courts had no chance to develop the facts that gave rise to many of petitioner's claims because these claims did not materialize until petitioner arrived in federal court.

The federal courts also benefit from state court treatment of federal constitutional claims in their established factual setting. Such treatment obviously reduces the potential for erroneous decision making at the federal level, and thus improves the quality of justice.22

The total exhaustion of a petitioner's claims should lessen the number of his claims that reach the district court. State courts will ferret out and identify the patently meritless claims. Some federal constitutional claims will be decided on the merits for petitioner and thereby precluded from habeas corpus review. Still others will be decided for the petitioner upon adequate state law grounds. In this last instance, the result of strict exhaustion is akin to Pullman abstention,23 which enables a federal court to avoid the constitutional adjudication of the validity of state law if the law can be read by the state courts to eliminate the constitutional question from the case.

The total exhaustion rule of Rose aids the district courts because it is far easier and more efficient to administer than a rule, such as the one promulgated by Thompson v. Wainwright, 714 F.2d 1495 (11th Cir.1983), and Westbrook v. Zant, 704 F.2d 1487 (11th Cir.1983), which authorizes a district court to entertain a mixed petition whenever the State waives the exhaustion requirement and the court is inclined to hear the merits of the petitioner's claims. See infra text at 1540-1543. First, the total exhaustion rule is easy for habeas petitioners to follow. As the Court stated in Rose: "Sec. 2254(b), (c) [provides] a simple and clear instruction to potential litigants: before you bring any claims to federal court, be sure that you first have taken each one to state court." 455 U.S. at 520, 102 S.Ct. at 1204 (emphasis added). The rule also provides a clear instruction to magistrates and district court judges: mixed habeas petitions must be dismissed summarily. See id. at 520, 102 S.Ct. at 1204 (requiring "strict enforcement of the exhaustion requirement"); id. at 527, 102 S.Ct. at 1207 (Blackmun, J., concurring in judgment) (interpreting majority to hold that district court must dismiss entire petition); see also Galtieri, 582 F.2d at 355-56. As Justice Brennan stated in his partial concurrence in Rose, "the exhaustion requirement of 28 U.S.C. Secs. 2254(b), (c) obliges a federal district court to dismiss, without consideration on the merits, a habeas corpus petition from a state prisoner when that petition contains claims that have not been exhausted in the state courts...."24

This simple, clear, and unyielding rule, when combined with habeas rule 9,25 means that in the great majority of cases a petitioner must swiftly bring all his claims to the district court in one petition, and all the claims must be exhausted. Galtieri, 582 F.2d at 356-358. These claims, presented first in state court, are likely to be well focused and developed, and the district court can swiftly and accurately adjudicate all constitutional issues. As the Rose Court said, "[r]ather than increasing the burden on federal courts, strict enforcement of the exhaustion requirement will encourage habeas petitioners to exhaust all of their claims in state court and to present the federal court with a single habeas petition."26 A rigorously enforced exhaustion requirement, when combined with habeas rule 9, will reduce piecemeal litigation, and "both the courts and the prisoners should benefit, for as a result the district court will be more likely to review all of the prisoner's claims in a single proceeding, thus providing for a more focused and thorough review."27 As the en banc court said in Galtieri, "[c]onsiderations of comity,28 avoidance of piecemeal litigation, economy of judicial energy, and the fullest consideration of a petitioner's claims are best served if all of a petitioner's claims are presented to the state court system at one time." 582 F.2d at 356.

Two recent decisions of this court have placed the eleventh circuit among the minority of federal judicial circuits that permit the district court or the court of appeals to entertain on the merits a mixed petition whenever the State's counsel (usually the attorney general) explicitly waives the petitioner's failure to exhaust all of his claims. Thompson v. Wainwright, 714 F.2d 1495 (11th Cir.1983); Westbrook v. Zant, 704 F.2d 1487 (11th Cir.1983).29 With due respect to the panels in those cases, their holdings were plainly foreclosed by Rose v. Lundy. Today's case presents this court with an opportunity to set aside those holdings and bring this circuit into compliance with the law.

Thompson held that a district court could, in its discretion, accept or reject the State's waiver of exhaustion. Thompson relied in part on Westbrook; it also cited a number of our cases, including prior fifth circuit opinions, in which we considered mixed petitions on the strength of the State's explicit or implicit waiver of exhaustion. 714 F.2d at 1501. The Thompson court, in particular, proceeded on the assumption that Rose had not decided the waiver question and reasoned that because comity, the basis for exhaustion, was founded on the relation between federal courts and the states (not merely state courts), comity would not be injured by permitting the attorney general to waive exhaustion on behalf of the State. The court perceived no injury because the Florida Attorney General, as " 'the chief state legal officer' of the executive department," had the authority to speak for the state and for its court system, as well.

To me, the Thompson rationale is contrary to the clear import of Rose, Galtieri, and the statute. Moreover, it will lead district courts to disregard the policies behind the exhaustion rule, and it will create mischief of its own accord.

First, I see no room in Rose, or Galtieri, for Thompson. Nowhere in any of the Rose opinions, even the dissent, is there even a hint that waiver is permissible. The Rose majority described its rule as a "rigorously enforced total exhaustion rule." 455 U.S. at 518, 102 S.Ct. at 1203. Thompson, however, holds that a district judge may enforce the rule only when he sees fit, 714 F.2d at 1509; thus, the rule will become neither rigorously enforced nor total. Justice O'Connor, for the Rose majority, and Justice Brennan, partially concurring, read the total exhaustion rule as requiring an immediate sua sponte dismissal of a mixed petition30 and none of the other opinion writers in Rose differed with that view of the rule. Under Thompson, though, a district court is not required to dismiss a mixed petition sua sponte; rather, it may await the attorney general's decision whether to insist on prior state court consideration of the unexhausted claims. If the attorney general decides to waive exhaustion, the district court must then address the question of whether it will keep the case or dismiss it.

The Thompson rule is also contrary to the statute, which limits the availability of relief to exhausted petitions and orders that no petition may be "deemed" exhausted unless there are no state remedies or other processes available to protect the petitioner's rights. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(b) & (c) (1976). As the third circuit held in United States ex rel. Trantino v. Hatrack, 563 F.2d 86, 96 (3d Cir.1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 928, 98 S.Ct. 1499, 55 L.Ed.2d 524 (1978), "neither concession nor waiver relieves the federal court of its responsibility to decide only those habeas claims Congress has authorized it to hear under Sec. 2254(b).... 'Waiver,' like 'concession,' is not a talisman, the incantation of which will cause the exhaustion requirement to disappear. That requirement remains."31

The waiver of exhaustion idea endorsed by Thompson is flatly refuted by Bergman v. Burton, 456 U.S. 953, 102 S.Ct. 2026, 2027, 72 L.Ed.2d 478 (1982), a post-Rose decision. In that case the district court dismissed without prejudice an unexhausted claim from a two-claim mixed petition. The State did not contest, either in the district court or the court of appeals, the district court's authority to adjudicate the merits of the exhausted claim. See Burton v. Bergman, 649 F.2d 428, 429 (6th Cir.1981). Nonetheless, the Supreme Court, sua sponte, vacated the court of appeals' judgment on the merits and remanded for dismissal in light of Rose. See discussion infra text at 1544. The Thompson and Westbrook panels did not consider this case.32

It is clear that Rose bars all mixed petitions. Even if Rose left the question open, there are manifold policy reasons why we should enforce this rule. First, Rose defined the exhaustion doctrine as one designed to aid state courts, not states generally. This much the Thompson panel conceded. 714 F.2d at 1507 n. 11. A state attorney general's decision to waive the exhaustion requirement may not always be compatible with the interests of his own courts; this is no doubt why Rose provides no accommodation for an attorney general's waiver. In a capital case, for example, where a death warrant has been issued and the petitioner's execution is scheduled to take place in a matter of days, perhaps even hours, the attorney general, in the hope of avoiding a postponement of the execution, may "waive" the petitioner's failure to exhaust all of his claims so that the petitioner's case may be concluded and he can be executed.33 This is what happened in this case; the attorney general "waived" the formal exhaustion of at least nine claims.

While such a tactic may suit the attorney general's and the State executive department's needs of the moment, it is likely to have a pronounced adverse effect on the needs of the state courts. See Galtieri, 582 F.2d at 358. By countenancing such a tactic, the district court may be interpreted as harboring a lack of respect toward the state judicial system and the view that state judges are not as capable of rendering correct constitutional decisions as are federal judges. As Professor Bator has noted, "nothing is more subversive of a [state] judge's sense of responsibility, of the inner subjective conscientiousness which is so essential a part of the difficult and subtle art of judging well, than an indiscriminate acceptance of the notion that all the shots will always be called by [the federal court]." Bator, Finality in Criminal Law and Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners, 76 Harv.L.Rev. 441, 451 (1963). The district court also removes the state court as the primary locus for factfinding in post-conviction relief.34

A second policy reason for requiring total exhaustion is that it will allow state courts to become more familiar and hospitable to constitutional claims of prisoners. In this circuit, for example, we have recently articulated new standards for judging sixth and fourteenth amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claims.35 Were we now to commence entertaining such claims without exhaustion, we would deprive the state courts of the opportunity of becoming familiar with them and, moreover, of disposing of them on state substantive or procedural grounds.

Third, waiver damages the concept of finality in the state court system, with concurrent injury to the rehabilitation and general deterrence purposes of sentencing.36 See supra text at 1537. The Supreme Court has admonished the federal habeas courts not to "detract from the perception of the trial of a criminal case in state court as a decisive and portentous event." Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), cited in Galtieri, 582 F.2d at 359.

Fourth, permitting the district courts to litigate mixed petitions may impair the quality of constitutional decision making. A petitioner's mere inclusion of unexhausted claims, especially a proffer of evidence in support thereof, might influence the district court's resolution of the exhausted claims. Accord, id. Such a scenario cannot occur if the district courts dismiss mixed petitions sua sponte, as mandated by Rose.

A fifth reason for requiring total exhaustion is to avoid the type of selective waiver by attorneys general permitted by Thompson and Westbrook. If the petition is assigned to a district judge with whom the attorney general is comfortable, a waiver will be likely;37 if not, the attorney general may decide to move for dismissal for lack of exhaustion. Such subtle "judge shopping" would be unseemly at best. Any rule that would countenance it, however tacitly, deserves exacting scrutiny.

I foresee other shortcomings with the Thompson-Westbrook approach. One is that the entertainment of mixed petitions will, in time, promote substantial side issues, under habeas rule 9, concerning delayed and successive petitions. Assume that the petitioner brought a total of five claims, with only three exhausted. If previously the attorney general had consistently waived exhaustion but declined to do so in this case, the petitioner, if he desired to go forward with his exhausted claims, would have to amend his petition to dismiss the two unexhausted claims. Later, when he returned to the district court after exhausting the two claims, petitioner might well have a valid defense to the State's assertion under habeas rule 9 that his claims were successive or unduly delayed. He would contend that his new petition should not be deemed successive because it was caused by a reasonable reliance on the attorney general's waiver policy. He would contend that he should not be barred by delay because "the state, having [earlier] had notice of the claims, cannot establish prejudicial delay." Galtieri, 582 F.2d at 358.

These rule 9 issues often involve difficult questions of fact, see Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963); the ones I have posed above could be quite time consuming. A policy that invites a petitioner to prosecute successive petitions, each asserting newly exhausted claims, not only impedes the orderly and complete consideration of his case in state court, it greatly impairs the efficiency of the federal habeas court to dispose of his claims. The Thompson-Westbrook rule also enables a district judge to hear both exhausted and unexhausted claims, even when the petitioner's unexhausted claims ought to be handled by the state court first.38 A rigorously enforced total exhaustion rule would remove the judge's temptation to hear the case.

Galtieri held that the policy considerations counselling total exhaustion at the district court level were outweighed when this court was presented on appeal with exhausted claims from a mixed petition. We therefore declined to endorse a rule requiring dismissal on appeal of claims from a mixed petition, 582 F.2d at 361, adopting instead a flexible approach that would allow us to pass on the merits of the petitioner's exhausted claims. This holding of Galtieri is no longer correct.

Rose v. Lundy commands "strict enforcement of the exhaustion requirement," 455 U.S. at 520, 102 S.Ct. at 1204, at all levels of habeas litigation and permits no flexibility. In his concurrence in the Rose judgment, Justice Blackmun noted that the appellate portion of Galtieri was inconsistent with the mandate of Rose. He stated, id. at 529 n. 7, 102 S.Ct. at 1209 n. 7;

Even the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, which require dismissal of mixed habeas petitions in the typical case, do not follow the extreme position the Court takes today.... The Fifth Circuit will review the merits of exhausted claims contained in a mixed petition if the District Court has considered those claims.

See Galtieri v. Wainwright, 582 F.2d 348, 361-362 (5th Cir.1978) (en banc). Justice Blackmun's reading of Rose and Galtieri is correct. After Rose we may no longer review exhausted claims from a mixed petition.

The strong medicine Rose prescribes is quite understandable and, when one carefully considers the policies it seeks to vindicate, quite reasonable. This medicine was prescribed to bring an abrupt halt to the practice of the litigation of mixed petitions. In Galtieri, we instructed the district courts not to hear them. At the same time, we said that if they did hear and decide them, we would entertain them on appeal. As it turned out, we thus provided an atmosphere for the ad hoc litigation of mixed petitions and the sub rosa disregard of the very policies that we, in Galtieri, and the Supreme Court, in Rose, sought to further.

To "strictly enforce" Rose's total exhaustion requirement and properly supervise the processing of habeas petitions by district courts in this circuit, we are bound to notice the lack of exhaustion sua sponte on appeal and to order the dismissal of mixed petitions. Any lesser course of action will not provide the rigor demanded by Rose, and will result in the continuing disregard of exhaustion policies that Galtieri seems to have spawned. The Supreme Court in Isaac, 456 U.S. at 123 n. 25, 102 S.Ct. at 1569 n. 25, strongly intimated that an appellate court that encounters an unexhausted claim is bound by Rose to dismiss the entire habeas petition.39 Accord, Bowen v. Tennessee, 698 F.2d 241 (6th Cir.1983) (en banc); see also United States ex rel. Lockett v. Illinois Parole and Pardon Board, 600 F.2d 116, 118 (7th Cir.1979) ("We conclude that there is no bar to our raising the issue of exhaustion on our own, although it has not been raised by the State either in the district court or in the briefs on appeal.") See discussion of Bergman v. Burton, infra text at 1544; see also Mattes v. Gagnon, 700 F.2d 1096, 1098 n. 1 (7th Cir.1983) (exhaustion raised sua sponte ).

In Bowen v. Tennessee, supra, the en banc sixth circuit was presented with a case similar to this one, involving an appeal of exhausted claims from a mixed petition in which lack of exhaustion was waived. The panel had entertained the claims on the merits. The en banc court, following Rose 's command, reversed:

Wherefore, in light on [sic] the emphasis in Rose upon comity as protecting "the state courts' role in the enforcement of federal law and prevent[ing] disruption of state judicial proceedings" [adding emphasis to Rose quote], this court concludes that the total exhaustion rule promulgated in Rose may not be waived or conceded in the district court by a state attorney general and may be noticed by this court sua sponte on appeal.

698 F.2d at 243.

The sixth circuit's holding was based on Duckworth v. Cowell, 455 U.S. 996, 102 S.Ct. 1626, 71 L.Ed.2d 858 (1982) and Rodriquez v. Harris, 455 U.S. 997, 102 S.Ct. 1627, 71 L.Ed.2d 858 (1982). In both of these cases the Supreme Court encountered exhausted claims from mixed petitions which the courts of appeals decided on the merits. The Court in each case granted certiorari, cited Rose, vacated the judgments, and remanded to the court of appeals "with directions that it instruct the [district court] to dismiss the petition for a writ of habeas corpus." 455 U.S. at 996, 102 S.Ct. at 1626; 455 U.S. at 997, 102 S.Ct. at 1627.

In Bergman, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals entertained on the merits an exhausted claim from a mixed petition; the district court dismissed the unexhausted claim without considering it on the merits. Burton v. Bergman, 649 F.2d 428, 429 (6th Cir.1981). The State did not, apparently, object to either court proceeding to the merits of the exhausted claim. The court of appeals directed that the writ issue on the exhausted claim. The State petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari, presenting in its certiorari petition only the merits of the exhausted claim. The Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded "for further consideration" in light of Rose. As Justice Stevens, dissenting, stated,

The petition makes no reference to the unexhausted claim. Ignoring the four questions presented by the [State], the Court grants [its] petition, vacates the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remands for reconsideration in the light of Rose v. Lundy.

Under Rose v. Lundy--if I read the Court's opinion correctly--after the case gets back to the District Court, that Court must dismiss the habeas corpus petition that is now a part of the record.

102 S.Ct. at 2027-28 (Stevens, J., joined by Marshall and Blackmun, JJ., dissenting) (footnote omitted).

Bergman instructs us, plainly, that if we fail to notice a lack of exhaustion sua sponte, the Supreme Court may. By taking the step it did, the Court showed that a mixed petition with exhaustion implicitly waived requires remedial dismissal by any federal court which notices it. The en banc court should take such action today.

I realize that this seems to equate the exhaustion rule to a rule of subject matter jurisdiction. Exhaustion is not purely jurisdictional, because federal courts are granted subject matter jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus claims from state prisoners by 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2241(c)(3) (1976). 28 U.S.C. Secs. 2254(b) and (c) (1976), however, limit the relief a district court may grant to those "applications" that present only exhausted claims. See supra text at 1533. Sections 2254(b) and (c) also narrowly define which claims may be deemed exhausted. The Supreme Court has given this statute a literal interpretation, to give full effect to the policies Congress sought to enforce. Because no two litigants may stipulate to a district court's entertaining a habeas petition when the petition does not satisfy section 2254 and Rose, the exhaustion doctrine must be viewed as quasi-jurisdictional. Accordingly, we must notice the lack of exhaustion in this case and remand it to the district court with the instruction to dismiss the petition.

Realizing that to do so may detract from my argument that Rose mandates the dismissal of this case, I address the merits of petitioner's Witherspoon claim. The record shows that petitioner's trial counsel did not properly preserve for state appellate court review the specific issue the court decides today: whether the state trial judge was correct in concluding that venire members Varney and Murphy were sufficiently biased against the death penalty to be disqualified to serve as jurors. Because this issue was not preserved for appeal and thus, I submit, not decided on the merits by the Florida Supreme Court, petitioner must show cause and prejudice under Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977).

Petitioner did make a "Witherspoon" objection at trial, and that objection was preserved for appellate review. It was a patently unmeritorious objection, however, and as such was rejected out of hand by the Florida Supreme Court. The Witherspoon objection the court recognizes and rules upon today was not made, was therefore not preserved for appeal, and was not dealt with by the Florida Supreme Court. The petitioner has admitted as much; in presenting his Witherspoon claim to the district court he stated that it had not been exhausted.40 This is why Sykes cause and prejudice must be shown. Since petitioner has not made this showing, I would deny the writ.

The following chain of events makes my thesis clear. Before voir dire of the venire members began, the lawyers for the parties met with the trial judge in chambers to consider a defense motion in limine.41 The following colloquy took place:

THE COURT: All right. We are here to hear a motion. The State and the defendant represented by counsel, the defendant is present in person. We are to hear a motion by the defendant to limit the State Attorney of his voir dire examination, arguing the Willie Spoon [sic] case.

All right, sir, I am not inclined to grant it. I will be glad to listen to you on it.

MR. MALONEY [defense counsel]: Your Honor, I do not wish to argue very longly [sic]. The Court held in the Willie Sppon [sic] case the prosecutor could not ask these type of questions. In Florida we now have biforcated [sic] trial. The first part of the trial is used only to determine the question of facts, whether or not this individual committed a capital crime.

THE COURT: Yes, sir.

MR. MALONEY: I think that a question regarding how the jury would be disposed to punishment in the event they found a verdict of guilty would be irrelevant and immaterial to that trial and to their determination of the question of fact, whether or not he did it [i.e., commit murder]. And all we are asking is that such questions first not be asked by either parties, and if, in fact, the Court is going to allow the questions to be asked, that a response in the negative they would not impose the death penalty not constitute a challenge for cause.

THE COURT: No, sir, if, at the conclusion of the trial, the jury should return a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, which is a capital offense, the same jury would serve as the jury in the second half of the biforcated [sic] trial and there will not be a re-selection of a jury. At this time on voir dire it is necessary to ask questions of this jury including their attitude on such things and it's got to be now.

Under the Florida capital punishment law there are certain conditions set up under which the proper penalty is the death penalty. In a prospective jury--It is my ruling if a prospective juror states on his voir dire examination that because of his moral, religious or conscientious principles and belief he would be unwilling to recommend a death penalty, even though the facts and circumstances meet the requirements of law, then he in effect has said he would be unwilling to follow the law the court shall charge upon it and disregard and be unwilling to follow it or if he did follow it, it would be going against his principles, and, therefore, I would rule that would be disqualification. If that exists, I intend to disqualify for cause.

You made your motion and your objection and the motion will be denied. You will, of course, be allowed at the time of the voir dire examination to raise your namely [sic] objection, but would indicate the ruling at this time. I am not cutting you off from objecting when we get to that specific question. Generally, that will be my ruling. I won't cut them off from inquiring in the general area; the specific questions they ask may be objectionable, I don't know.

MR. MALONEY: If I raise the objection, which I would, will the Court make it a continuing objection?

THE COURT: Yes, sir.

MR. McDANIEL [State's attorney]: Is the Court saying it is going to be a continuing objection from here on out?

THE COURT: Continuing objection to that particular line of questions.

MR. McDANIEL: I take it your objection right now is continuing from here on out?

THE COURT: Yes, sir, to the whole general line of questions. Still I am not telling you I will deny your objection on some specific question for some other reason you feel it has gone too far.

MR. MALONEY: Yes, sir.

Trial Record, vol. 3, at 16-19 (emphasis added). It is clear to me that petitioner's lawyer, at the outset, mistakenly thought42 that Witherspoon, applied in the context of Florida's recently enacted bifurcated trial procedure in capital cases, foreclosed any mention of the death penalty during the jury selection process.43

Petitioner's motion in limine asserted two alternative grounds: first, that Witherspoon prohibited, as "irrelevant and immaterial," any venire voir dire on the issue of punishment prior to the jury's determination of guilt; second, that the court could not excuse for cause any venire member who could not vote for the death penalty. The motion was timely but unmeritorious on both grounds. As to the first ground, the motion was timely because it informed the trial judge before voir dire began that any inquiry of a venire member, in advance of the guilt phase of the trial, concerning his or her feelings about the death penalty would be "irrelevant and immaterial" and would constitute federal constitutional error. The motion was unmeritorious because such voir dire inquiry was not only proper, but required.

As to the second ground, the motion was timely because it informed the trial judge that it would be improper and would constitute federal constitutional error for him to excuse for cause any venire member who indicated that he or she "would not impose the death penalty." In other words, regardless of the extent of the venire member's bias against the death penalty, an excusal for cause would be error. Had the judge agreed with petitioner's view of the law, he would have granted petitioner's motion instanter, since a contemporaneous objection at the time of the venire member's challenge for cause would have added nothing to petitioner's motion in limine and thus would have been unnecessary. The judge did not agree, however, and properly so, because petitioner's view of the Witherspoon rule was in error. Witherspoon does not entitle a capital defendant to jurors who "would not vote to impose the death penalty." Witherspoon only insulates from a challenge for cause a prospective juror who could vote for the death penalty under some circumstances.44

A Witherspoon objection must be made contemporaneously, after the prospective juror has been examined about his views on the death penalty. The objection is addressed to the juror's state of mind. In ruling on the objection, the trial judge must of course consider the questions put to the prospective juror and his responses. The judge is not restricted to these naked statements, however. The judge may also consider any evidence that bears on the venire member's bias: his demeanor, tone of voice, nonverbal communications, and comprehension of the questions asked of him and other venire members. Unless a defendant's objection is properly stated and contemporaneous, the judge may be deprived of the opportunity to make further inquiry of the venire member and to state on the record what, if anything beyond the naked words that have been spoken, he may have considered in determining that the venire member is disqualified to serve on the jury.

After denying petitioner's motion in limine, the trial judge, recognizing the contemporaneous nature of a Witherspoon objection, invited counsel to make timely and specific Witherspoon objections during voir dire to any questions put to any individual venire member concerning his or her feelings about the death penalty. The judge also invited counsel to object to the excusal for cause of anyone demonstrating a bias against the death penalty sufficient to disqualify him or her for jury service. As the record of the ensuing voir dire indicates, counsel never made such objections. Instead, counsel merely requested the court to treat his unmeritorious pretrial motion in limine as a "continuing objection." The court granted his request.

After the court and counsel returned to the courtroom to begin the venire voir dire, petitioner's counsel, in a final effort to insulate the venire from any examination about the death penalty, renewed the motion in limine he had just argued in chambers. He said:

Your Honor, pursuant to the motion I filed beforehand I object to this question[ing]. I believe that it is irrelevant to the matter at hand and I think that the discussion of this at this time prejudices the defendant's right to a fair and impartial trial.

Trial Record, vol. 3, at 43-44. The court denied counsel's motion, and the venire voir dire commenced.

Throughout the voir dire the trial judge's attention was obviously focused on petitioner's motion in limine as petitioner had stated it in his formal pretrial pleading, supra note 41, and in chambers. As the colloquy on voir dire shows, petitioner's counsel said nothing to indicate that he intended his "continuing objection" to mean anything more than what he had presented to the court prior to trial.45 His "continuing objection" did not grow into its present form until his final amendment to his habeas petition in the district court.

The second venire member to be examined, and the first to be excused for Witherspoon cause, was Mr. Varney. Venire member Varney was excused for cause after the court's Witherspoon inquiry. Id., at 45. When the court announced that it would excuse Varney for cause, petitioner's counsel stated "I renew the objection. I do not think he should be challenged for cause." By this the lawyer meant that he renewed his motion in limine. The court replied, correctly, "Yes, sir, the objection will be noted and overruled." Moments later the court excused venire member Mays for cause, stating "Mr. Maloney, I assume you wish the same objection to apply to him." Maloney replied, "Yes, your honor," id., at 46, again referring to his motion in limine. The third excusal for cause under Witherspoon took place following the examination of venire member Carn. After a long colloquy with her, the court excused her. Id., at 107. Counsel objected, stating "Your honor, once again I object, I don't think that is relevant " (emphasis added), an obvious reference to the first ground of his motion in limine. The court stated, "Objection will be noted." Counsel's objection, here, shows that he continued to challenge the relevancy of the line of questioning rather than the sufficiency of the bias shown by excused venire members. The court next excused for cause venire member Maher. Id., at 110. After her negative answer to the proper Witherspoon questions, the court said, "Very well, over the objections of the defendant she will be excused." Counsel said nothing, apparently satisfied that his continuing objection was being honored.

The last venire member excused for cause under Witherspoon was Murphy. After Murphy was excused, id. at 165, counsel said nothing, and the clerk called the next venire member. The court then spoke to the court reporter, "Mrs. Horne, you will note the defendant object [sic] to him [Murphy] being excused for cause." This was nothing more than the court's acknowledgement that it had considered petitioner's motion in limine as having been renewed and denied. At no time did the defense counsel object to Murphy's excusal on the ground that Murphy had not made it unmistakably clear that he would automatically vote against the death penalty (the issue brought to the district court, and decided by us today) or that his feelings against the death penalty would impair his ability to find guilt.

By failing to state a proper contemporaneous objection, counsel denied the trial judge the opportunity to question Murphy further or to state the reasons why he concluded that Murphy was disqualified. Those reasons might have gone beyond Murphy's naked responses to the questions put to him. As I have indicated, supra text at 1547, the judge may have relied on Murphy's demeanor, nonverbal communications, tone of voice, his comprehension of the Witherspoon inquiry directed to him and other venire members, and any other evidence that may have indicated the extent of Murphy's bias.

Florida law is settled that if a capital defendant wishes to object to the exclusion of a venire member for cause he must make a timely and proper objection. Brown v. State, 381 So.2d 690, 693-94 (Fla.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1118, 101 S.Ct. 931, 66 L.Ed.2d 847 (1980); Paramore v. State, 229 So.2d 855 (Fla.1969), vacated on other grounds, 408 U.S. 935, 92 S.Ct. 2857, 33 L.Ed.2d 751 (1972). Failure to make a timely and proper objection waives the issue. Id.; see also 33 Fla.Jur.2d, Juries Sec. 109 (1982); Fla.Stat.Ann. Sec. 913.03 (1983). Because petitioner failed to object to Murphy's excusal for cause on the ground that Murphy did not unequivocally indicate that he would automatically vote against the death penalty, petitioner waived that issue. Consequently, the Florida courts would not, and apparently did not,46 consider the issue decided here: whether Murphy was excluded for showing the type of bias justifying a Witherspoon excusal for cause.

In summary, petitioner has brought us an objection he did not raise in state court. Failure to follow Florida's clear, and unambiguous, contemporaneous objection rule constituted a "procedural default" under Wainwright v. Sykes, supra. Accordingly, petitioner must show cause for failing to object, and actual prejudice resulting from the forfeiture.47 See Douglas v. Wainwright, 714 F.2d 1532, 1547 (11th Cir.1983).

"Cause and prejudice" is a conjunctive standard, both prongs of which must be satisfied by the petitioner before a court is free to ignore the procedural default and hear the merits of the petitioner's claim. Isaac, 456 U.S. at 134 n. 43, 102 S.Ct. at 1575 n. 43. A petitioner may not raise a procedurally defaulted claim without meeting the standard. See United States v. Frady, 456 U.S. 152, 102 S.Ct. 1584, 71 L.Ed.2d 816 (1982) (28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255); Douglas, 714 F.2d at 1547. This petitioner has not shown cause and prejudice; Wainwright v. Sykes requires us to deny the writ. Sykes, 433 U.S. at 85, 97 S.Ct. at 2505; Sullivan v. Wainwright, 695 F.2d 1306 (11th Cir.1983) (procedural default on Witherspoon; burden to show cause and prejudice on petitioner); see also Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 (1976) (prisoner forced to wear prison garb at trial must preserve objection). See generally C. Wright, Federal Courts 339-43 (4th ed. 1983).

The Sykes opinion identified important interests advanced by requiring compliance with a state's contemporaneous objection rule as a precondition to obtaining federal habeas relief. Such a requirement "enables the record to be made with respect to the constitutional claim when the recollections of witnesses are freshest" and "enables the judge [such as the one in petitioner's case] who observed the demeanor of those witnesses to make the factual determination necessary for properly deciding the federal constitutional question." 433 U.S. at 88, 97 S.Ct. at 2507. See discussion supra text at 1547, 1548. Failure to enforce the contemporaneous objection rule, the Court stated, "may encourage 'sandbagging' on the part of defense lawyers, who may take their chances on a verdict of not guilty in a state trial court with the intent to raise their constitutional claims in a federal habeas court if their initial gamble does not pay off." Id. at 89, 97 S.Ct. at 2508. Further, insisting on a contemporaneous objection is desirable because it "encourages the result that [state trial] proceedings be as free of error as possible." Id. at 90, 97 S.Ct. at 2508. The policy considerations expressed in Sykes apply fully to petitioner's case.

We should consider the Sykes issue even though the state did not raise it in the district court or on appeal. Isaac is the latest full Supreme Court exposition on state procedural default and federal habeas relief. That case presented to the Supreme Court three consolidated habeas proceedings in which the petitioners had failed to object to improper jury instructions. The constitutional issue concerning their claims was fairly novel. Even though the State never raised the procedural default issue against one of the petitioners, the Supreme Court stated that both the district court and the court of appeals had properly considered the issue. Id. 456 U.S. at 124 n. 26, 102 S.Ct. at 1570 n. 26. The Isaac Court distinguished two prior cases, neither of which bar our consideration of the issue sua sponte.48 Moreover, policy considerations stated by Sykes favor our raising the issue. Petitioner sandbagged his claims and dumped them in the district court. Had he made a proper Witherspoon objection at trial, the putative error could have been resolved, or at least clarified. Petitioner is not entitled to the writ.

JAMES C. HILL, Circuit Judge, concurring specially:

I concur in the result announced for the court by Judge Johnson.

I concur only because, on this record, Mr. Murphy was disqualified from serving as a juror but it had not been clearly shown that he would automatically vote against the imposition of capital punishment regardless of the evidence. Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 522, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 1777, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1967). I agree with all that Judge Fay says touching upon the peculiar position occupied by a trial judge, enabling him or her best to evaluate the venireperson's responses to Witherspoon questions. I do not find it remarkably different from what is said by Judge Johnson. Perhaps I should be inclined to show more deference to the finding of the trial judge than either. A conscientious trial judge must be bent upon determining if a prospective juror has such a mind set that he or she would refuse to vote for the death penalty regardless of the evidence in the case. That is fact-finding. "The state of a man's mind is as much a fact as the state of his digestion." Eddington v. Fitzmaurice, 29 Ch. 459, 483 (1885) (Bowen, L.J.).

Yet the record must contain sufficient evidence to justify a finding of fact that a venireperson was of such a mind set that he or she was, under the law, disqualified, or the finding cannot be said to be supported. In Mr. Murphy's case, there was not sufficient evidence. He was clearly shown to be a person who could not vote in favor of capital punishment without violating his principles. He was not asked (so he never said) whether or not, if the evidence were sufficiently strong and the circumstances sufficiently aggravating, he could nevertheless vote to recommend the death penalty.

Judge Fay recounts for us the painstaking and conscientious efforts of Judge Dewell to adhere to the teachings of Witherspoon in the voir dire proceedings.1 It seems clear that Mr. Murphy heard and, no doubt, understood what had been asked of those who had been examined before him. One must assume that he fully expected to be asked, after he had acknowledged his principled opposition to the death penalty, whether or not he could nevertheless vote in favor of it if the evidence in the case indicated it to be appropriate under the law. For aught appearing, he may have felt compelled under his oath to say that he could. Until it appeared that he could not, he was not disqualified. Applying the teachings of Davis v. Georgia, 429 U.S. 122, 97 S.Ct. 399, 50 L.Ed.2d 339 (1976), the writ must issue, conditioned upon resentencing.

I find nothing in this record to indicate that the jury which convicted and recommended sentence for Darden was one "uncommonly willing to condemn a man to die." Judge Fay gives us a glimpse of Darden's crimes. We do not fix sentence; we merely pass upon contentions that the proceedings leading to the sentence were constitutionally flawed. Witherspoon and Davis require me to conclude that the disqualification of Mr. Murphy was such a flaw.

For this reason, I concur in the judgment.

FAY, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part, with whom RONEY and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges, and MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge, join.

Over ten years ago, on September 8, 1973, Willie Darden shot Carl Turman between the eyes and killed him while robbing his wife, Helen Turman. Interrupted by a sixteen year old boy who tried to aid Carl Turman, Darden tried to kill him by shooting him in the mouth, neck and side. In addition, Darden attempted to force Helen Turman to commit an unnatural sex act upon him at gun point. Convicted and sentenced to death, Darden has exhausted his legal remedies in both the state and federal courts. By a divided and confused court, the majority now holds that the trial jury selected in January, 1974 was not asked the proper questions under Witherspoon.1 I concur in that portion of the majority opinion discussing the law controlling the Witherspoon issue but dissent from that portion dealing with the application of this legal standard.

Witherspoon has been interpreted and applied in a plethora of cases. It is well settled that a state has the power to execute a defendant sentenced to death by a jury from which the only veniremen who were in fact excluded for cause were those who made unmistakably clear (1) that they would automatically vote against the imposition of capital punishment without regard to any evidence that might be developed at the trial of the case before them, or (2) that their attitude toward the death penalty would prevent them from making an impartial decision as to the defendant's guilt.

Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 44, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 2526, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980), quoting Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. at 522-23, n. 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1777 (emphasis in original).

Neither Witherspoon nor Adams provides trial courts with a formula or requisite colloquy for the proper excusal of prospective jurors on Witherspoon grounds. Instead, the trial judge must decide whether each particular venireperson has made it 'unmistakably clear' that he or she is within one of the two prongs of Witherspoon. The trial judge is in the best position to evaluate the prospective juror's demeanor and answers to the questions. For this reason, trial judges are generally accorded broad discretion in evaluating juror impartiality. See, Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961); United States v. Robbins, 500 F.2d 650, 653 (5th Cir.1974). This tenet has even greater efficacy in a situation such as the present one--a federal appellate court reviewing the decision of a federal district court on a Sec. 2254 habeas corpus petition alleging constitutional error in a state trial.

699 F.2d at 1037-8.

As pointed out by the majority, application of the Witherspoon rule involves a mixed question of law and fact. Mixed questions of law and fact involve the application of legal principles to the historical facts. The development of the facts is in the trial court. It is the trial judge who conducts and participates in the voir dire examination. It is the trial judge who must evaluate, analyze and interpret the responses of the venirepersons. "In assessing the adequacy of a venireperson's response to Witherspoon questions, a reviewing court must grant some deference to the trial court's assessment of the juror's demeanor and clarity of his answer." McCorquodale v. Balkcom, 721 F.2d 1493 at 1498 (11th Cir.1983). (emphasis added) "Witherspoon requires a reviewing court to independently review the record to ensure that the exclusions were proper, but that review must take into account that the trial judge was in a much better position to evaluate the clarity of a juror's response." Id. at 1498, citing O'Bryan v. Estelle, 714 F.2d at 395 (5th Cir.1983) (Higginbotham, J. concurring). The discussion by Judge Higginbotham in O'Bryan, cited above, is an excellent analysis of the many factors involved in the standard of review for appellate courts dealing with this issue. I adopt it in full and set forth here some pertinent extractions.

The selection of a jury in a capital case includes many judgment calls by trial judges--calls that involve the judge's intuition about the demeanor of the venireman, the appropriateness of his response, his manner, dress, and his inflection. It is a decision with the usual stuff of trial court decisionmaking, calls more dependent upon intuition, shrewdness, or courtroom savvy than abstract analogical processes. Correspondingly, one need not pause for long to summon up myriad examples of expression whose meaning can only be determined by the inflection and manner of its expression. For example, the simple expressions 'I reckon so' and 'I could hardly do so' may or may not express doubt.

In sum, ruling upon a request to exclude a venireman inevitably involves an interpretation of what was asked and answered. The dynamic trial scene is not easily conformed to a mold judicially shaped to facilitate review or to achieve a targeted level of accuracy, perhaps because few but lawyers and judges talk and think in such a fashion, peculiarly so with the interrogation of veniremen in death cases. Indeed, there is almost a pattern in the clarity and certainty of response--progressing from hesitation and vagueness at the outset toward greater comprehension and clarity at the end. And this mental groping ought not be a surprise. Few citizens chosen at random have so thought through the profound moral and ethical questions implicated by a Witherspoon qualification as to do otherwise.

A trial court's decision to sustain a challenge for cause because the venireman would automatically vote against the death penalty sometimes presents questions of fact in the sense that the trial court must choose from permissible inferences. That choice is often aided by the opportunity to observe and sometimes cannot be made without that opportunity.

Id. at 393.

Appellate review of mixed questions of law and fact and questions of ultimate fact was discussed by the Supreme Court in Swint. The Court intimated that the two categories may involve essentially the same type of determination, of whether the legally determinative consideration is 'satisfied by subsidiary facts admitted or found by the trier of fact.' 102 S.Ct. at 1788-89 n. 16. Cases similar to Witherspoon, involving exclusions of veniremen for bias resulting from pre-trial publicity, traditionally have been characterized as involving a mixed question of law and fact. Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 723, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 1642, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961); Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 156, 25 L.Ed. 244 (1878). For that reason in these cases there is on appeal an independent evaluation of the voir dire testimony. Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. at 723, 81 S.Ct. at 1642; United States v. Williams, 523 F.2d 1203, 1208 (5th Cir.1975); Wansley v. Slayton, 487 F.2d 90, 98 (4th Cir.1973), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 994, 94 S.Ct. 2408, 40 L.Ed.2d 773 (1974). Yet, citing Irvin v. Dowd, we held in United States v. Robbins, 500 F.2d 650 (5th Cir.1974), that 'rulings on suggestions of impartiality of the jury is within the discretion of the trial judge, and an abuse of that discretion must be clear.' Id. at 653. See also Dennis v. United States, 339 U.S. 162, 168, 70 S.Ct. 519, 521, 94 L.Ed. 734 (1950). This combination of independent review and deference to the trial judge was evident in United States v. Taylor, 554 F.2d 200 (5th Cir.1977). We noted there that the trial judge had discretion to decide whether to excuse a juror but nonetheless reversed his decision not to do so. Though we did not expressly characterize our review as 'independent', we reexamined the colloquy between the judge and juror, noted that '[i]t was apparent to the judge that [the juror] was extremely reluctant to sit on this jury,' and concluded that '[t]he right to an impartial jury trial, free of fear, dominated all other considerations.' These cases establish that reviewing courts can engage in an independent review and simultaneously give weight to trial court decisions.

Id. at 394.

In summation, Judge Higginbotham concludes:

An extreme standard of proof coupled with a standard of decision calling for an extreme level of stated partiality requires reviewing courts to freshly make the Witherspoon decision. At the same time, both the standard of proof and nature of the venire decision itself counsel against a total ban of deference to such trial court decisions. All considered, I am persuaded that independent appellate review by a standard of abuse of discretion responds to the concerns of Witherspoon while expressing the values of comity and of respect for trial court integrity with its