Cobas v. Clapp
| Decision Date | 12 December 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 8533,8533 |
| Citation | 79 Idaho 419,319 P.2d 475 |
| Parties | David R. COBAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. L. E. CLAPP, Chairman of the Idaho State Board of Corrections, and Warden of the Idaho State Penitentiary, Defendant-Respondent. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Nash Barinaga, Boise, for appellant.
Graydon W. Smith, Atty. Gen., T. J. Jones, III, Edward Aschenbrener and Elbert Gass, Asst. Attys. Gen., for respondent.
Appellant commenced this proceeding in the District Court of Ada County to secure his release from alleged unlawful confinement in the Idaho State Penitentiary. By order made, the Honorable Merlin S. Young, District Judge, ordered defendant L. E. Clapp, Warden of the Penitentiary to produce appellant at a time fixed 'together with the time and cause of the detention'.
The warden produced the body of appellant as directed and answered that he, as such warden, retained custody of appellant by virtue of a judgment of conviction and order of commitment from the District Court of the Eleventh Judicial District of the State of Idaho for Twin Falls County. At a hearing on return, the warden produced the commitment together with a showing that appellant had been convicted of robbery and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of not exceeding twenty years.
Testimony was submitted on behalf of appellant. The trial judge made findings of fact and conclusions of law adverse to appellant, quashed the writ of habeas corpus and remanded appellant to the custody of the warden. From the judgment quashing the writ and remanding appellant, he appealed.
Relative to the proceeding which caused appellant's imprisonment, the trial judge found that appellant voluntarily waived a preliminary hearing prior to being bound over to the district court for trial; that he voluntarily, competently and intelligently waived his right to counsel when brought before the district court for arraignment on January 16, 1956; that appellant competently, intelligently and understandingly entered a plea of guilty to the charge of robbery.
These findings are by appellant assigned as error.
Appellant further assigns as error the failure of the court to find the converse of the facts found; that counsel to represent petitioner in the habeas corpus proceeding should have been appointed by the court; also that the court erred in failing to receive in evidence the petition and affidavit in support thereof for the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus.
The facts may be briefly summarized as follows: On January 9, 1956, the Blue Top Bar in Twin Falls, Idaho, owned and operated by Charles Shorthouse was held up and robbed. The bartender, Arthur J. Egbert, was threatened and ordered by the robber to accompany him, which Egbert did. Petitioner was thereafter arrested on suspicion of robbery and kidnaping. After the arrest appellant voluntarily signed an order reading as follows:
'January 9, 1956, 2:10 p. m.
'I, David Ray Cobas, request that the $239.13 taken from my person by the Twin Falls Police officers January 9, 1956, be returned to the rightful owner, Chas. Shorthouse, owner of the Blue Top Bar, 701 2nd Ave. South, Twin Falls, Idaho.
'David Ray Cobas'
A criminal complaint was filed before J. P. Pumphrey, Justice of the Peace, charging appellant with robbery. When brought before said justice, after the filing of the complaint, appellant was informed of the charge against him and advised that he was entitled to the aid of counsel in every stage of the proceedings. The complaint was read to him and his rights made known and he then waived preliminary hearing and was bound over to the district court for trial. The record shows that Sec. 19-801, I.C. providing for the procedure before a committing magistrate was in all things complied with.
Thereafter, petitioner in a voluntarily written statement dated January 10, 1956, among other statements, said that he knew he was entitled to the services of an attorney, that 'I do not want an attorney.' * * * 'I am guilty of the offense for which I am held to answer, namely, robbery' and asked to be taken before the district court for arraignment. An information was filed charging appellant with robbery and he was arraigned before the Honorable Hugh A. Baker, district judge, on January 16, 1956. At the time of the arraignment the following conversation in the form of questions and answers occurred:
'The Court: * * * Do you have an attorney to appear for and represent you in this action?
'Defendant: No, sir.
'The Court: Have you made any effort to obtain an attorney?
'Defendant: No.
'The Court: Do you desire the aid of an attorney?
'Defendant: No.
'The Court: You are willing to proceed in this court without the advice of an attorney, are you?
'Defendant: Yes.'
The information was read to appellant and he was furnished with a copy of the same. Appellant waived the statutory time for entry of plea and evidenced a desire to enter a plea at that time. Appellant then pleaded guilty.
On January 17th appellant again appeared before the district judge and was asked if he had any legal cause to show why judgment should not be pronounced against him, to which he replied that he had none. No sufficient cause being shown or appearing the trial judge pronounced judgment that appellant be confined in the penitentiary for a period of not exceeding twenty years.
When appellant was arraigned in the district court he stated specifically that he did not desire counsel, nor was there any showing made that he was unable to employ counsel, nor did he ask the court to appoint counsel for him. The rights afforded appellant under Sec. 19-1512, I.C. on arraignment were in all things complied with. The right to counsel having been properly waived, the assistance of counsel is no longer a necessary element of the court's jurisdiction. Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461.
In the petition for writ of habeas corpus appellant asserts that various errors were committed in the proceedings taken against him, that his constitutional rights were violated and prays that such alleged errors, if any, be corrected in this proceeding.
Relative to the findings challenged, suffice to say that the findings made by the trial judge are supported by the evidence--in fact, there is no substantial conflict on any material issue. It sufficiently appears that appellant, subsequent to his arrest, was at no time coerced, threatended, or promised immunity or leniency by anyone. While held in the Twin Falls jail he was permitted to use the telephone and was advised that he could contract any person or attorney he might desire.
The entire proceeding discloses that appellant is a man of more than average intelligence and from the time of his arrest to the time of pronouncing sentence he knew and was fully informed of his...
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...and the latter are as, if not more, important and vital than the former.' 70 Idaho at 425-426, 220 P.2d at 381. Cobas v. Clapp, 79 Idaho 419, 319 P.2d 475 (1957), decided before Gideon v. Wainwright, supra, contains two factual elements not presented in the instant case. First, after waivin......
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