Brown v. Crawford, 541.

Citation98 F. Supp. 866
Decision Date19 July 1951
Docket NumberNo. 541.,541.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 4th Circuit. Eastern District of North Carolina
PartiesBROWN v. CRAWFORD, Warden.

Herman L. Taylor, Raleigh, N. C., Hosea V. Price, Winston-Salem, N. C., for petitioner.

Ralph Moody, Asst. Atty. Gen. of North Carolina, R. Brookes Peters, Jr., Gen. Counsel, State Highway & Public Works Commission, Raleigh, N. C., for respondent.

GILLIAM, District Judge.

The petitioner was convicted of the capital offense of rape in the Superior Court of North Carolina, sitting in Forsyth County, and thereupon sentenced to death as provided by the North Carolina statute. Before pleading to the indictment the petitioner moved to quash upon the ground that there had been systematic and arbitrary exclusion of Negroes solely on account of race. The Court heard evidence from the petitioner and afforded him and his counsel full and fair opportunity to substantiate the contention. Upon such evidence the trial Court ruled against petitioner and denied the motion. The evidence and conclusion of the trial Court are in the record.

During the trial alleged statements of petitioner were offered by the State and objected to by petitioner on the ground that such statements were involuntary and, therefore, incompetent.

Following the North Carolina law and practice in its Courts, the jury was excused, petitioner's counsel was permitted to cross-examine the witnesses to whom the statements were made, petitioner gave his version of the conditions under which the statements were made, and petitioner was also allowed full opportunity to present such evidence as he wished in this respect. The Court ruled that the statements were voluntarily made, overruled the objection, and the statements were admitted for the jury's consideration. The evidence and the conclusion of the trial Judge are in the record.

Upon appeal to the Supreme Court of North Carolina, the petitioner assigned as errors both the ruling of the trial Court in overruling the motion to quash the indictment and the admission of the confessions as evidence. The Supreme Court of North Carolina upheld the conviction and affirmed the judgment, saying in its opinion: "A person accused of crime is entitled to have the charges against him performed by a jury in the selection of which there has been neither inclusion nor exclusion because of race. * * * This, the defendant has had in respect of both the grand and petit juries which performed in the case, or, at least, the contrary in respect of neither has been made to appear on the record. Hence, his claim of jury defect or irregularity is unavailing"; and "The only basis of challenge to the competency of defendant's confession is that he was under arrest, being held without warrant, and was in custody at the time it was given. These circumstances, taken singly or all together, unless they amounted to coercion, were not sufficient in and of themselves to render a confession, otherwise voluntary, involuntary as a matter of law and incompetent as evidence. * * *' After preliminary investigation, pursuant to the procedure outlined in State v. Whitener, 191 N.C. 659, 132 S.E. 603, the trial court ruled the confession to be voluntary and permitted the solicitor to offer it in evidence against the prisoner. * * * The ruling is fully supported by the evidence * * *. The contentions of error in its admission are without force or substance."

A petition for writ of certiorari was then filed in the Supreme Court, assigning as ground the two alleged errors presented to the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and on May 28, 1951 this petition was denied by order containing this notation: "Mr. Justice Black and Mr. Justice Douglas are of the opinion that certiorari should be granted."

It is not asserted or even suggested by the petitioner that adequate remedies are not provided by North Carolina law to correct the wrongs about which he now complains; in fact, it must be admitted that such remedies existed and that he and his counsel took full advantage of them. It cannot be maintained, in fact, it is not even alleged, that petitioner was in any way or to any extent limited or restricted in his resort to such remedies. No one, upon the record, would conclude that the action of the State Courts in deciding the questions now raised was indifferently or lightly considered. The decision in each instance was reached after painstaking and careful procedure in accordance with law and practice and only after petitioner had had his full say. The petitioner has had his day in Court and his present positions have been rejected by a Court which had and did not lose jurisdiction and on a record which seems to demonstrate that petitioner was given a fair and impartial trial, in which he was accorded all rights guaranteed to him by the federal Constitution and dictated by the principles of justice. In addition, the Supreme Court of the United States has refused to review such action of the State Court. The record does not present any unusual situation which would justify the issue of the writ and, therefore, the petition for such writ has been denied.

It would serve no good purpose to review the cases. Two cases decided by our Circuit Court of Appeals clearly support, it seems, the conclusion reached. These are: Stonebreaker v. Smyth, 4 Cir., 163 F.2d 498, 499, and Adkins v. Smyth, 4 Cir., 188 F.2d 452. In the latter, quoting with approval from the former, the Court said: "We are confronted at the outset with the fact that the case presented by petitioner is precisely the same as that in which relief was denied by the Virginia courts and in which certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States. The rights of petitioner were fully presented in that case and the Virginia courts had full power to grant the relief asked, had they thought petitioner entitled to it. The facts were fully before the Supreme Court of the United States on certiorari; and proper respect for that court compels the conclusion that if it had thought that the record showed a denial of petitioner's constitutional rights, certiorari would have been granted and petitioner would have been afforded relief. While action of the Virginia courts and the denial of certiorari by the Supreme Court were not binding on the principle of res judicata, they were matters entitled to respectful consideration by the court below; and in the absence of some most unusual situation, they were sufficient reason for that court to deny a further writ of habeas corpus. It would be intolerable that a federal district court should release a prisoner on habeas corpus after the state courts have refused him relief in precisely the same case on a similar writ and the United States Supreme Court has refused to review their action on certiorari. This would be, in effect, to permit a federal district court to review the Supreme Court of the United States as well as the highest court of the state."

There appears no semblance of reason for a departure from the general rule laid down in these two cases.

An order will be entered denying the petition for writ of habeas corpus and vacating the stay of execution of judgment in the State Court which was heretofore entered.

Findings of Fact

Upon the petition, the answer thereto, and the exhibits filed by the respondent, the Court finds these facts:

1. On the 2nd day of July, 1951, the petitioner filed in this Court a petition for a writ of habeas corpus alleging that he is being unjustly and unlawfully held in custody by the respondent by virtue of a judgment and sentence of death imposed upon him by the Superior Court of North Carolina sitting in Forsyth County, and praying that he be relieved of such unlawful detention, imprisonment and sentence of death; upon filing of the petition an order was entered requiring respondent to show cause on July 5, 1951, why such writ should not issue, and on the return date respondent appeared through counsel and filed answer denying that the detention of petitioner was unlawful and praying that the writ be denied on the face of the record itself. In support of his prayer that the writ be denied and the petition dismissed, the respondent, without objection,...

To continue reading

Request your trial
1 cases
  • Brown v. Allen Speller v. Allen Daniels v. Allen
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 9 February 1953
    ...portions of the transcript of proceedings in the sentencing court. The District Court then dismissed the petition. Sub nom. Brown v. Crawford, D.C., 98 F.Supp. 866. In No. 22, Speller v. Allen, the petition for habeas corpus in the District Court raised again the same federal question which......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT