Cavallaro v. Wyrick, 82-1970
| Decision Date | 22 March 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-1970,82-1970 |
| Parties | Vince CAVALLARO, Appellant, v. Donald WYRICK, Warden, Missouri State Penitentiary, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Bruce C. Houdek, James, Millert, Houdek, Tyrl & Sommers, Kansas City, Mo., for appellant.
John Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Rosalynn Van Heest, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Mo., for appellee.
Before ROSS, JOHN R. GIBSON and FAGG, Circuit Judges.
Cavallaro, a state prisoner presently serving a life sentence at the Missouri State Penitentiary, appeals from the district court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2241. He challenges a custody request by the state of Texas under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers seeking his transfer to that state for trial on a murder charge.
In January 1981, Cavallaro escaped from the Ozark Correctional Center in Missouri. He was arrested in Texas in March 1981 and held in that state for several weeks pending the investigation of a murder. Missouri authorities filed a detainer with Texas authorities concerning the pending Missouri charges of escape and stealing. Cavallaro waived extradition proceedings and was returned to Missouri in March 1981 to face the pending charges and to continue serving the life sentence interrupted by his escape.
After Cavallaro was returned to the Missouri State Penitentiary, an indictment was returned in Texas charging him with murder. Texas authorities then lodged a detainer against him with the Warden of the Missouri State Penitentiary and the Texas prosecutor filed a written request for temporary custody for the purpose of bringing him to Texas for trial on the murder charge. Cavallaro was not taken before a Missouri judge for a pretransfer hearing and he was never informed of his right to legal counsel. However, before the Texas request was granted, Cavallaro, with the assistance of a prison inmate, filed a petition for habeas relief in a Missouri state court in an effort to prevent his transfer under the outstanding detainer. Following a transfer hearing at the Missouri State Penitentiary in November 1981, the state court denied Cavallaro's petition and authorized his removal to the state of Texas. Cavallaro filed a similar habeas petition with the Missouri Supreme Court and it was denied in December 1981; however, in this petition Cavallaro complained that he was not being afforded the procedural protections that were available to extradited persons.
This federal habeas corpus action followed and the district court dismissed Cavallaro's petition for failure to state a claim cognizable in habeas corpus. Cavallaro's transfer to Texas has been held in abeyance pending the outcome of this appeal.
In Cuyler v. Adams, 449 U.S. 433, 101 S.Ct. 703, 66 L.Ed.2d 641 (1981), the Supreme Court held that a prisoner incarcerated in a state that has adopted the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act is entitled to the procedural protections of that Act, including the right to a pretransfer hearing, before being transferred to another state under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers. The pretransfer hearing is an important procedure for a prisoner who is confronted with the threat of transfer to another state against his will. At this hearing the prisoner is addressed by a state trial judge and is informed of the request for custody by another state, of his right to counsel, and of his right to apply for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the custody request.
Like Cuyler, this case involves the relationship between the Interstate Agreement and the Extradition Act. Because Missouri has adopted both the Interstate Agreement and the Extradition Act, and because Texas is seeking temporary custody of Cavallaro under the Interstate Agreement, we must decide whether Missouri's failure to provide Cavallaro with a pretransfer hearing under the Interstate Agreement, and the coincidental opportunity to secure legal counsel, may be remedied by habeas corpus under Sec. 2241.
There are two facets to this cognizability question: whether the Interstate Agreement should be considered one of the "laws ... of the United States" contemplated by Sec. 2241; and, if so, whether the failure to grant Cavallaro a pretransfer hearing is a violation of that federal law for which relief under Sec. 2241 may be had. The first facet is answered by the Cuyler analysis, and we hold that the Interstate Agreement is federal law for Sec. 2241 purposes.
The second facet focuses upon Missouri's violation of the Interstate Agreement. It is undisputed that Cavallaro was not afforded a pretransfer hearing. Cavallaro argues that he resorted to representation by a prison inmate in his state habeas hearing because he was never advised of his right to counsel. The state views the failure to comply with the pretransfer hearing requirement as a trifling, technical violation of the Interstate Agreement. It argues that Cavallaro was not prejudiced by its clear omission to follow the Interstate Agreement, and points to the...
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State v. Moss
...hearing is entitled to seek habeas relief in the asylum state in order to prevent his transfer without a hearing, Cavallaro v. Wyrick, 701 F.2d 1273 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 462 U.S. 1135, 103 S.Ct. 3120, 77 L.Ed.2d 1372 (1983), a prisoner who has been denied a pretransfer hearing is n......
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Shack v. Warden of Graterford Prison
...(1980) (Opinion of Brennan, J.). 16 This result is not in conflict with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Cavallaro v. Wyrick, 701 F.2d 1273 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 103 S.Ct. 3120 (1983). In Cavallaro, a divided court ruled that a state prisoner still in custo......
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Shack v. Attorney General of State of Pennsylvania, 84-1598
...by the IAD. He relies on U.S. v. Williams, 615 F.2d 585 (3d Cir.1980); U.S. v. Esola, 520 F.2d 830 (3d Cir.1975); and Cavallaro v. Wyrick, 701 F.2d 1273 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 462 U.S. 1135, 103 S.Ct. 3120, 77 L.Ed.2d 1372 (1983). His analysis of this case law paints with too broad a bru......