Jackson v. Dickson, 18970.
Decision Date | 30 December 1963 |
Docket Number | No. 18970.,18970. |
Citation | 325 F.2d 573 |
Parties | Lawrence Akin JACKSON, Appellant, v. Fred R. DICKSON, Warden, San Quentin Prison, Appellee. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Allan Brotsky, San Francisco, Cal., and Henry M. Elson, Berkeley, Cal., for appellant.
Stanley Mosk, Atty. Gen., for the State of Cal.; Albert W. Harris, Jr., and Robert R. Granucci, Deputy Attys. Gen., San Francisco, Cal., for appellee.
Before BARNES, HAMLEY and DUNIWAY, Circuit Judges.
Jackson appeals from the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He is under sentence of death imposed by the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Riverside, for the commission of a rape-murder. His conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court of California in People v. Jackson, 59 Cal.2d 375, 379 P.2d 937, 29 Cal.Rptr. 505. The essential allegation of his petition is as follows:
The trial court denied the petition without holding a factual hearing, and therefore we assume that the foregoing allegations, so far as they state facts, are true. The state, however, does not admit their truth.
In his briefs and oral argument before this court, Jackson makes two contentions: (1) that the carrying out of the sentence of death would deprive him of due process of law and (2) that it would amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He seeks a permanent stay of the death penalty, not release from prison.
It is conceded that, at the time of the commission of the offense, Jackson was legally sane, within the meaning of the so-called M'Naghten Rule, which is in effect in the State of California. Indeed, following the verdict of the jury which found him guilty, Jackson withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. In essence, his contention is that a criminal is deprived of due process of law when he is sentenced to death if his criminal act was the result of uncontrollable impulse, even though he knew the nature and character of his act and knew that it was wrong for him to do what he did. Such a contention flies squarely in the face of the decision in Leland v. Oregon, 1951, 343 U.S. 790, 72 S.Ct. 1002, 96 L.Ed. 1302. There the Supreme Court said:
(Id. 343 U.S. at 800-801, 72 S.Ct. at 1008, 96 L.Ed. 1302)
If this decision is to be overruled, it is for the Supreme Court, not this court, to overrule it. It follows from the foregoing that the State of California has not deprived Jackson of due process by holding him legally responsible for the murder that he admittedly committed.
Jackson says that, while due process may permit the state to retain the M'Naghten Rule as a test of criminal responsibility, it forbids the imposition of the death penalty when conviction is based upon that test. We are unable to follow this reasoning. In Leland, the Supreme Court had before it a death penalty case, and that fact was not held to affect the result, which turned upon due process. We think that,...
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...which may be imposed and must be considered separately under the Eighth Amendment. See Leland v. Oregon, supra; Jackson v. Dickson, 325 F.2d 573 (9th Cir. 1963), cert. den. 377 U.S. 957, 84 S.Ct. 1637, 12 L.Ed.2d 501 (1964). We find no MOTION UNDER RULE 11 Within a month of Steelman's retur......
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...L.Ed.2d 630 (1958). This Circuit has followed these decisions in upholding the constitutionality of the death penalty. Jackson v. Dickson, 325 F.2d 573, 575 (9 Cir. 1963), cert. denied, 377 U.S. 957, 84 S.Ct. 1637, 12 L.Ed.2d 501 The Supreme Court has recently refused to alter its position ......
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