United States v. LaVallee
| Citation | 318 F.2d 499 |
| Decision Date | 17 June 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 392,Docket 27538.,392 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America ex rel. Melvin VAUGHN, Relator-Appellant, v. J. Edwin LaVALLEE, as Warden of Clinton State Prison, Dannemora, New York, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit) |
Leon B. Polsky, New York City (Anthony F. Marra, New York City, on the brief), for relator-appellant.
Sheldon Raab, Deputy Asst. Atty. Gen., New York City , for respondent-appellee.
Before LUMBARD, Chief Judge, and KAUFMAN and MARSHALL, Circuit Judges.
The appellant, Melvin Vaughn, takes this appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York entered on December 26, 1961, denying without a hearing his application for a writ of habeas corpus. Since we find the allegations in his petition to the district court wholly insufficient as a matter of law to warrant issuance of the writ, we affirm the order below.
The appellant was convicted in 1957 in the former County Court of Kings County of narcotics violations, New York Penal Law, McK.Consol.Laws, c. 40, § 1751, and sentenced to be imprisoned for a maximum term of ten years. The conviction was based on a plea of guilty to the indictment. The present petition alleges that at his arraignment the appellant was "coerced * * * to plead guilty, because of his record and parole." It is alleged also that state officials unlawfully entered the appellant's room and seized his property, namely a bag containing narcotics.
The allegation of coercion is entirely conclusory; the petition presents no supporting facts or explanation except the ambiguous phrase "because of his record and parole," which on its face does not suggest acts which are coercive. Beyond that, even this minimal allegation is made only with reference to the plea of guilty at the time of the appellant's arraignment. There is no mention of any coercion attending the subsequent formal plea of guilty on which the conviction was based. A plea of guilty which is prompted by fear that unconstitutionally obtained evidence will be used at trial will not sustain a conviction. Pennsylvania ex rel. Herman v. Claudy, 350 U.S. 116, 76 S.Ct. 223, 100 L.Ed. 126 (1956). But the petition offers no support for assigned counsel's suggestion that fear that the allegedly coerced plea at arraignment would be used against the appellant at trial may have prompted his formal plea of guilty.
Similar reasons require rejection of the appellant's second contention. That state officials may have seized his property unlawfully does not in and of itself vitiate his conviction on a plea of guilty, which "is itself a conviction," rendering unnecessary the introduction of any evidence. Kercheval v. United States, 274 U.S. 220, 223, 47 S.Ct. 582, 71 L.Ed. 1009 (1927). Again, there is nothing in the petition to support counsel's suggestion that the appellant pleaded guilty because he was afraid that the seized...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Spencer
...invalid if 'induced by incriminating statements obtained by * * * interrogation (violative of Escobedo)'); United States ex rel. Vaughn v. LaVallee (2d Cir. 1963) 318 F.2d 499 (dictum); United States ex rel. Cuevas v. Rundle (E.D.Pa. 1966) 258 F.Supp. 647, 656--659.)Even in People v. Jacobs......
-
United States v. Fay
...of New York, 323 F. 2d 449 (2 Cir. 1963), cert. denied, 376 U.S. 919, 84 S.Ct. 677, 11 L.Ed.2d 615 (1964); United States ex rel. Vaughn v. LaVallee, 318 F.2d 499 (2 Cir. 1963); see United States ex rel. McGrath v. LaVallee, 319 F.2d 308, 311-312, 315 (2 Cir. 1963). The only specific stateme......
-
Wright v. Dickson
...v. Claudy, 350 U.S. 116, 122, 76 S.Ct. 223 (1956). See also Thomaston v. Gladden, 326 F.2d 305, 307 (9th Cir. 1964); United States v. La Vallee, 318 F.2d 499 (2d Cir. 1963). 8 See also White v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 59, 83 S.Ct. 1050, 10 L.Ed.2d 193 (1963); Walton v. Arkansas, 371 U.S. 28, 83 ......
-
State v. Richter
...149 Conn. 577, 183 A.2d 256 (1962); Fahy v. State of Connecticut, 375 U.S. 85, 84 S.Ct. 229, 11 L.Ed.2d 171; United States ex rel. Vaughn v. LaVallee (2 Cir.) 318 F.2d 499.5 United States ex rel. Linkletter v. Walker (5 Cir.) 323 F.2d 11 (1963), certiorari granted, 377 U.S. 930, 84 S.Ct. 13......