United States v. Pate, 62 C 980.

• Decision Date: 28 October 1963
• Docket Number: No. 62 C 980.,62 C 980.
• Citation: 222 F. Supp. 998
• Parties: UNITED STATES ex rel. Henry H. STAPLES, Petitioner, v. Frank J. PATE, Warden, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

222 F. Supp. 998

UNITED STATES ex rel. Henry H. STAPLES, Petitioner, v. Frank J. PATE, Warden, Respondent.

No. 62 C 980.

United States District Court N. D. Illinois, E. D.

October 28, 1963.

Thomas P. Sullivan, Chicago, Ill., for petitioner.

William G. Clark, Atty. Gen. of State of Illinois, Daniel N. Kadjan, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lester Shapiro, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Chicago, Ill., for respondent.

WILL, District Judge.

The Court has considered petitioner Henry Staples' petition in forma pauperis for a writ of habeas corpus and the first supplement thereto; the memorandum on his behalf filed May 10, 1963; the brief filed July 2, 1963; a supplemental letter filed July 9, 1963; respondent's answer to the petition and supplement, motion to dismiss, and memorandum filed June 28, 1963; the transcript of proceedings in the post-conviction hearing held in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County on February 10, 1956, in the matter of Staples v. Illinois; and the Illinois Supreme Court's unreported affirmance thereof dated May 23, 1958 (No. 1978), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 851, 79 S.Ct. 78, 3 L.Ed. 2d 84 (1958). In addition, the Court has heard and considered testimony presented at a hearing in this matter held on June 21, 1963, and has examined the exhibits there tendered. On the basis of this consideration and examination, the Court hereby makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

Findings of Fact

1. During the evening of October 11, 1942, at East St. Louis, Illinois, petitioner's wife was struck repeatedly with an ax; she died soon thereafter.

2. Petitioner was arrested early the following morning but denied any participation in the homicide.

3. While in custody in a police squad car, petitioner verbally agreed to a search of his home by police officers and accompanied the officers to his home where, with an officer standing on each side of him, he unlocked the door and they entered. The search resulted in the discovery of an ax, a shirt and a pair of pants, all bloodstained, and all of which were seized by the police.

4. Initially, petitioner maintained that the blood was that of a hog he had recently butchered. However, after further questioning, unaccompanied by physical coercion or threats, he admitted having killed his wife, and he signed a written confession thereof.

5. Petitioner was not taken before a magistrate until sometime on the following day, October 13, 1942.

6. On December 18, 1942, petitioner was indicted for murder by the Grand Jury for St. Clair County, Illinois. A few days later, he was arraigned in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County where he pleaded not guilty.

7. On January 13, 1943, while represented by privately employed counsel, Mr. Noah W. Parden, petitioner withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty to murder.

8. The presiding judge, Morris B. Joyce, admonished petitioner as to the consequences of this plea, but he persisted therein. Judge Joyce received the plea, held a short hearing on the facts — at which petitioner, among others, testified — and sentenced him to 99 years imprisonment which term he is presently serving at the Illinois State Penitentiary, Joliet.

9. Petitioner has made repeated efforts to obtain a copy of the transcript of the above-described proceedings before Judge Joyce, the first attempt being by a letter dated November 4, 1947. He has never been successful and no such transcript presently exists.

10. On February 10, 1956, petitioner's case was the subject of a post-conviction hearing held in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County before Judge Quinten Spivey.

11. Petitioner was represented therein by court-appointed counsel, Mr. William R. Hotto, and petitioner alone testified in his own behalf.

12. In his testimony there, petitioner contended that (1) he had been physically coerced into signing the confession (five police officers allegedly having beaten him with blackjacks on each of three successive nights after his arrest until he signed); (2) he had pleaded not guilty, but the court entered his plea as guilty; (3) he had demanded a jury trial, but Judge Joyce denied him the right to have one; (4) he had requested a trial delay until one Henry Anderson, allegedly an eye-witness to the homicide, could be located and brought in to testify, but the request was denied; and (5) he had sought leave to substitute in place of Mr. Parden an attorney who would assist him, but this was also denied.

13. At the same hearing, several witnesses testified for the State. The substance of their testimony was that petitioner had signed the confession voluntarily shortly after having been confronted with the bloodstained articles found in his home, that at no time had he been coerced or threatened, and that at the January, 1943, hearing, petitioner had voluntarily entered a plea of guilty and had at no time requested a jury trial.

14. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Spivey ruled from the bench that petitioner had been represented by competent counsel at the 1943 hearing and had received regular and orderly courtroom treatment, and that his plea had been guilty to the crime charged.

15. This decision was affirmed on May 23, 1958, in an unreported order of the Supreme Court of Illinois (No. 1978), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 851, 79 S.Ct. 78, 3 L.Ed.2d 84 (1958).

16. Staples' petition was filed in this Court in May, 1962, and thereafter the Court appointed Mr. Thomas P. Sullivan of the Illinois Bar to represent petitioner in the proceedings here.

17. In his petition to this Court (and first supplement thereto), petitioner alleged the following grounds for the granting of his petition: (1) he was denied due process of law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment because he was unable to obtain a stenographic transcript of his plea and sentencing for use in perfecting an appeal; (2) he was denied the right to a jury trial and to a fair trial; (3) he was denied the right to call witnesses in his own behalf and to obtain a trial delay until they could be present; (4) he had never made a voluntary and intentional plea of guilty; (5) he was denied leave to replace his attorney with counsel who would be of assistance; and (6) his confession was obtained during a period of unlawful detention and by means of psychological and physical coercion, promises and threats.

18. In a memorandum filed in May, 1963, and later in a brief filed in July, petitioner urged, in addition, that the confession was induced upon confrontation with evidence uncovered by the police as the result of an unlawful search and seizure. He does not allege that this ground has ever been presented to any state court authorized to grant the relief here requested. Nor does he allege that state corrective process is currently unavailable to him. The memorandum and brief also suggest that the arresting officers delayed unreasonably in bringing him before a magistrate, in violation of Illinois law (Ill.Rev.Stat. 1941, ch. 38, § 660), a contention which was raised by petitioner before the Illinois Supreme Court in 1958 and decided adversely to him.

19. Petitioner was present at the hearing held on June 21, 1963, in this Court, but he did not testify. He offered no evidence in support of his contention that he had not pleaded guilty, that he had demanded and been denied a jury trial, that he had sought to have witnesses called in his own behalf, or that his attorney had not assisted him.

20. At the hearing here, two persons were called by petitioner to testify as adverse witnesses. In substance, their testimony was as follows: Mr. Robert Gustin, in 1942 and 1943 the chief assistant State's Attorney for St. Clair County and the principal prosecutor of petitioner, stated that he heard Judge Joyce admonish Staples and then heard him plead guilty; and Mr. Edgar Sherrod, in 1942 and 1943 a member of the East St. Louis Police Department described the events which occurred while petitioner was in police custody from the time of his apprehension until after his confession. These events included his initial denial of participation in the homicide, his consent to a search of his home, the finding and seizing of incriminating evidence, further questioning of petitioner, his continued denial of participation, his admission of the murder and signing of a confession without the imposition of any physical coercion, and, finally, his being taken before a magistrate.

Conclusions of Law

1. This Court has jurisdiction to adjudicate this petition for a writ of habeas corpus. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241 and 2243.

2. Due process of law has not been denied to an individual who pleads guilty while represented by counsel of his own choosing and after having been duly admonished.

3. Due process of law has not been denied to such an individual who, commencing more than four years after his plea, repeatedly attempts to secure a copy of the transcript of that plea but who is unsuccessful in each attempt because no copy can be found.

4. A writ of habeas corpus may not be granted to one who, while represented by counsel of his own choosing and after having been duly admonished, pleads guilty even though prior thereto he was the victim of (1) an unconstitutional search and seizure and (2) an unreasonable delay in being taken before a magistrate, and even though at least in part as a result thereof, he was induced to confess to the crime.

5. Petitioner has not demonstrated that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States.

Opinion

In May, 1962, petitioner, Henry H. Staples, filed in this Court his petition in forma pauperis for a writ of habeas corpus. Thereafter, the Court appointed Mr. Thomas Sullivan of the Illinois Bar to represent petitioner here. Mr. Sullivan has done so with skill and diligence for which the Court expresses its appreciation.

Many of the events forming the background of this litigation occurred more than 20 years ago. Several persons...