Engle v. Sims, 80-472

• Decision Date: 23 February 1981
• Docket Number: No. 80-472,80-472
• Citation: 67 L.Ed.2d 372,101 S.Ct. 1403,450 U.S. 936
• Parties: Ted ENGLE, Superintendent, Chillicothe Correctional Institute, v. James Samuel SIMS
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

450 U.S. 936

101 S.Ct. 1403

67 L.Ed.2d 372

Ted ENGLE, Superintendent, Chillicothe Correctional Institute,

v James Samuel SIMS

No. 80-472

Supreme Court of the United States

February 23, 1981

On petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The motion of respondent for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted.

The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.

Justice REHNQUIST, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE and Justice BLACKMUN join, dissenting.

This Court has been asked to review a determination by a Federal Court of Appeals that a state-court murder conviction was obtained in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Because I think the conclusion of the Court of Appeals is wrong and has erroneously expanded the role that court was to play in providing habeas corpus review of state-court criminal convictions, I dissent from denial of the petition for certiorari.

On Respondent was taken into custody and brought before the Juvenile Court on March 27, 1962, for a hearing; no transcript or record of that hearing was made. In accordance with then Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2151.26 (1954),^* the Juvenile Court decided to bind respondent over to the Criminal Division of the Court of Common Pleas for trial as an adult. This determination was entered on the court's docket as a journal entry which is the only record of what transpired at that hearing. The journal entry reads:

"TO COURT: This twenty-seventh day of March, 1962, James Samuel Sims, a minor of about the age of seventeen years, came before the Honorable Albert A. Woldman upon the petition of Charles R. Reynolds alleging that James Samuel Sims is a delinquent child in this:

that on or about February 16, 1962, at 4502 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, he did unlawfully, and by putting in fear while armed with a dangerous weapon, to wit, a pistol, rob from the person of one, Dorothy Kulas, cash in the approximate amount of $1069.00 contrary to the statute in such case made and provided for and against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio. That on or about February 18, 1962, at 3005 Woodhill Road, Cleveland, Ohio, he did unlawfully, purposely and while in the perpetration of a robbery, kill one, William C. Beasley, contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided for and against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio. That on or about February 23, 1962, at 6938 Kinsman Road, Cleveland, Ohio he did unlawfully, and by putting in fear while armed with a dangerous weapon, to wit, a pistol, rob from the person of one, David Warren, cash in the approximate amount of $104.50, contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided for and against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio. It appearing to the Court that said child has committed acts which, if committed by an adult, would be felonies, a mental and physical examination having been made by duly qualified persons as provided by statute, it is hereby ordered that pursuant to Section 2151.26 Ohio Revised Code the said James Samuel Sims be bound over to the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County for further proceedings according to law. It is ordered that said James Samuel Sims be, and he hereby is, committed to the jail of Cuyahoga County." 619 F.2d 598, 599 (1980). (Emphasis added.)

Following this journal entry, respondent was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder. Respondent pleaded not guilty, but later withdrew his plea and entered a plea of guilty to homicide generally and waived trial by jury. Pursuant to then-current Ohio law, respondent was tried before a three-judge court solely on the issue of the degree of culpability. He was found guilty of first-degree murder on both counts of the indictment and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment.

On May 17, 1976, respondent filed a pro se motion for leave to appeal with the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals seeking to challenge his conviction on the ground that he had been placed twice in jeopardy by being tried and convicted as an adult in criminal court. The Court of Appeals granted his motion, appointed counsel, but later found no error and affirmed the convictions and sentences. With regard to the double jeopardy claim, the court acknowledged that this Court held in Breed v. Jones, 421 U.S. 519, 95 S.Ct. 1779, 44 L.Ed.2d 346 (1975), that a juvenile who has been subject to a "jurisdictional or adjudicatory hearing" in a juvenile court before being bound over to be tried as an adult is placed twice in jeopardy by the later criminal trial. However, this Court also stated that it was not foreclosing States from requiring a finding of probable cause as a prerequisite for transfer. Id., at 538, n. 18, 95 S.Ct. at 1790, n. 18. Applying the principles set forth in Breed, the Ohio Court of Appeals found that there was no indication that an adjudicatory hearing or a jurisdictional hearing was conducted in this case. The court explained:

"There is no finding of delinquency, and there is no recitation of any evidence upon which such an adjudication could be premised. All that appears to have occurred is that the Juvenile Court arrived at a determination that there was an appearance of possible criminal action which properly and appropriately should be considered by the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County." State v. Sims, 55 Ohio App.2d 285, 290, 380 N.E.2d 1350, 1353 (1977).

After the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed respondent's appeal for failure to state a substantial constitutional question respondent petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio again alleging a double jeopardy claim. The District Court denied the petition. The court held that the journal entry lent little support to respondent's position because it contained neither a specific finding that respondent committed any of the criminal acts alleged nor a recitation of evidence. The court also rejected the respondent's contention that because the journal entry purported to be issued pursuant to Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2151.26 (1954), compliance with that statute required that a juvenile be formally adjudged delinquent before being bound over to be tried as an adult. In rejecting this contention, the District Court explained that the proper operation and construction of § 2151.26 was largely unsettled prior to the clarification provided by the Ohio Supreme Court in In re Jackson, 21 Ohio St.2d 215, 257 N.E.2d 74 (1970). Prior to that 1970 decision, many Juvenile Courts bound over only on a determination of probable cause. Given the uncertainty of the law surrounding § 2151.26 prior to the Jackson decision, the District Court was unwilling to assume that an adjudication of delinquency was made at respondent's 1962 hearing. The pre-Jackson practice of binding over on a probable-cause determination, coupled with the absence of any specific factual findings indicative of adjudication, strongly suggests that respondent's juvenile hearing was of a nonadjudicatory nature.

The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed. 619 F.2d 598 (1980). According to the Court of Appeals, the District Court's reasoning overlooks the essential fact that the Juvenile Judge was empowered to impose sanctions at the 1962 hearing, that evidence was taken, and that the liberty and reputation of the respondent were put in risk at that time. The rendering of a final judgment is immaterial to the applicability of the Double Jeopardy Clause and therefore the much disputed meaning of the Juvenile Court's jour- nal entry is irrelevant and unnecessary to the disposition of the case. The court stated:

"What actually occurred at the March 27, 1962 hearing is also insignificant. Once the Juvenile Court, possessing the jurisdiction and power to enter final orders levying a wide range of possible sanctions, began a hearing, not limited in scope by statute to a...