Christakos v. Hunter
| Decision Date | 13 June 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 3470.,3470. |
| Citation | 161 F.2d 692 |
| Parties | CHRISTAKOS v. HUNTER, Warden. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Irving J. Hayutin, of Denver, Colo., for appellant.
Eugene W. Davis, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Topeka, Kan. (Randolph Carpenter, U. S. Atty., of Topeka, Kan., on the brief), for appellee.
Before PHILLIPS, BRATTON, and MURRAH, Circuit Judges.
By this habeas corpus proceedings petitioner, Louis E. Christakos, seeks discharge from further service of an aggregate sentence of seventeen years and two days, imposed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama for a series of crimes committed after he escaped from a military stockade at Camp Bowie, Texas. The sentence was separately imposed upon five separate indictments, charging violations of 10 U.S.C.A. § 1393 (); 18 U.S.C.A. § 76 (impersonation of United States officer); 18 U.S.C.A. § 408 (National Motor Vehicle Theft Act); 18 U.S.C.A. § 415 (National Stolen Property Act); and 18 U.S.C.A. § 87 ().1
As grounds for release petitioner alleges (1) that when he appeared before the sentencing court he was not informed as to the number of indictments pending against him, but entered only a plea of guilty to a violation of the Dyer Act; (2) that his plea of guilty was obtained by threats and coercion; and, (3) that he was deprived of his constitutional right to the assistance of counsel. After a full and complete hearing, the trial court denied the petition for the writ and petitioner has appealed.
Testifying in support of the allegations contained in the writ, petitioner related the following facts. He was arrested in Birmingham on January 29, 1945 and taken to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Office, where he was questioned and threatened continually for ten hours. He asked Winston Brooke, the F. B. I. Agent, for an attorney, but was told there was no need for counsel; that he should enter a plea of guilty to a violation of the Dyer Act just to clear up the records and he would then be turned over to Military authorities, but if he did not enter such a plea the F. B. I. would ask an army court martial to give him a life sentence in the penitentiary. At the end of ten hours questioning, he was placed in the city jail and there threatened by several police officers. The next morning he was taken before the United States Commissioner and arraigned on one complaint, charging a violation of the Dyer Act. After arraignment he was removed to the Walker County jail about thirty-five miles from Birmingham and kept there for approximately three months before his case was disposed of. When he was taken before the sentencing court on April 20, the court inquired what plea he desired to make, and thinking that only the violation of the Dyer Act was involved he entered a plea of guilty, without knowledge that other indictments were pending against him. He stated that he was not advised of his right to counsel nor asked if he desired counsel; that when he entered his one plea of guilty to what he thought was a violation of the Dyer Act, the court just said "seventeen years" and he was then "rushed right out of the court room on the way to the penitentiary."
The respondent introduced in evidence the depositions of Judge Mullins, the sentencing judge; the United States Attorney; the Assistant United States Attorney; the Court Clerk; the F. B. I. agent, Brooke, and the judgment and commitment in each of the five cases.
Judge Mullins testified that when petitioner was brought before him he explained in a general way the particular charges involved in the five indictments; that he advised him of his right to counsel and offered to appoint counsel, but that petitioner stated he did not desire counsel and wished to handle the cases himself. He stated that after petitioner had waived the appointment of counsel he asked the United States Attorney to explain the charges of each indictment, and he did so; that after petitioner entered a plea of guilty to each indictment he recessed court thirty minutes and conferred with the District Attorney and the Probation Officer, and then later in the day imposed a sentence on each indictment. Judge Mullins' account of what transpired in the court room, when petitioner was sentenced, is corroborated in every respect by the testimony of the United States Attorney, the Assistant United States Attorney and the Court Clerk, all of whom were present.
Winston Brooke, the F.B.I. agent, accused by petitioner of having obtained his plea of guilty by coercion and...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State ex rel. Stewart v. Blair
...l.c. 466; Riddle v. Dyche, 262 U.S. 333, 336(3), 67 L.Ed. 1009, 43 S.Ct. 555; Edminston v. Hunter, 161 F.2d 691, 692(2); Christakos v. Hunter, 161 F.2d 692, 694(4); Klopp Overlade, 66 F.Supp. 450, 453-4(4). [16]Williams v. Kaiser, 323 U.S. 471, 89 L.Ed. 398, 65 S.Ct. 363; Tomkins v. Missour......
-
Adams v. Hiatt
...Record page 18, et seq. 11 Smith v. Hiatt, D.C.M.D.Pa., 54 F. Supp. 481; Edminston v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 161 F.2d 691; Christakos v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 161 F.2d 692; Banach v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 161 F.2d 682; Ex parte Whistler, D.C.Wis., 65 F.Supp. 40, appeal dismissed 7 Cir., 154 F.2d 500, certi......
-
Duval v. Humphrey, 231.
...denied 322 U.S. 768, 64 S.Ct. 1052, 88 L. Ed. 1594; United States v. Gutterman, 2 Cir., 147 F.2d 540, 157 A.L.R. 1221. 23 Christakos v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 161 F. 2d 692, certiorari denied 332 U.S. 801, 68 S.Ct. 92; Maye v. Pescor, 8 Cir., 162 F.2d 641. 24 Moss v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 167 F.2d 683......
-
United States v. Ragen
...held that the recital as to counsel shown in the court's record speaks absolute verity, in the absence of fraud. Christakos v. Hunter, Warden, 10 Cir., 161 F.2d 692, 694. There is no showing of fraud here, although it is hinted that counsel forced himself into the case without the relator's......