Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Cavell

• Decision Date: 21 November 1957
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 16205.
• Citation: 157 F. Supp. 272
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA ex rel. James H. WOODS v. Angelo C. CAVELL, Warden, Western State Penitentiary, Pittsburgh 33, Pennsylvania.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

157 F. Supp. 272

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA ex rel. James H. WOODS v. Angelo C. CAVELL, Warden, Western State Penitentiary, Pittsburgh 33, Pennsylvania.

Civ. A. No. 16205.

United States District Court W. D. Pennsylvania.

October 31, 1957.

On Petition for Rehearing and for Leave to Amend Answer November 21, 1957.

Arthur Balistaris, Pittsburgh, Pa., for plaintiff.

Edward C. Boyle, Dist. Atty., Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pa., for defendant.

McILVAINE, District Judge.

On October 8, 1947, James H. Woods was arrested on charges of armed robbery, and sentenced on four indictments to a total term of 20 to 40 years.

At No. 3101 October 1952, James H. Woods petitioned the Common Pleas Court of Allegheny County for a writ of habeas corpus and was granted a hearing thereon. On March 17, 1953, the court in its opinion denied the writ. On June 18, 1956, James H. Woods again petitioned the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County for a writ of habeas corpus, and the Court dismissed this at No. 2473 July 1956. Before petitioner could save the amount of money necessary to pay the filing fee of the Prothonotary of the Superior Court the statutory period for taking such an appeal had run out. By its order dated February 4, 1957, the Court refused to allow an extension of time within which to file an appeal. Petitioner then filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for permission to file his petition nunc pro tunc. On March 4, 1957, the Supreme Court entered its order dismissing his petition nunc pro tunc. Petitioner then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court which was denied on June 10, 1957, 354 U.S. 911, 77 S.Ct. 1300, 1 L.Ed.2d 1430.

On September 11, 1957, there was a petition filed in this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. On October 7, 1957, the District Attorney for Allegheny County filed a motion to dismiss claiming that on its face the petition showed that the petitioner had not exhausted the remedies available to him in the Appellate Courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Woods' allegation is that because of his poverty he was unable to pay the filing fee in the Pennsylvania Court, and the Court would not and, in fact, could not waive the fee. The District Attorney of Allegheny County admits that the requirement for the payment of the sum of $12 for the filing of an appeal is mandatory and cannot be waived. The District Attorney for Allegheny County does not seriously challenge Woods' protestations of poverty, nor has he suggested any remedy in the Pennsylvania Courts which is available to him.

At the hearing held on October 21, 1957, it was definitely established that the income of a prisoner is approximately $3 per month and that Woods, in fact, during the period from May, 1956, to January, 1957, which includes the critical period as to this case, earned only $4.05.

This Court holds that:

"Where the only state remedies are inaccessible to a prisoner because of his poverty, his failure to pursue those remedies does not bar him from applying to the federal courts for relief." See United States ex rel. Embree v. Cummings, 2 Cir., 1956, 233 F.2d 188, 189, and cases cited therein.

The relevant and competent evidence at the hearing developed the fact that we have a petitioner who at the time of sentencing was 21 years old, of below average intelligence, whose judgment and reasoning approach the moron level, and whose achievement is inferior. His understanding of criminal procedures previous to his sentence consists of a record in the Juvenile Courts.

This Court finds as a fact that he did not have counsel, nor did he waive this right, nor was he given the opportunity to have counsel, and that the lack of counsel under all the relevant and competent evidence introduced in this case was critical and unfair to petitioner. He was facing severe charges for which he could have been sentenced to 120 years of prison and for which he did receive a sentence of 20 to 40 years.

In this setting and on the authority and reasoning of Johnson v. Zerbst, 1938, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461; Uveges v. Com. of Pennsylvania, 1948, 335 U.S. 437, 69 S.Ct. 184, 93 L.Ed. 127; and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ex rel. Herman v. Claudy, 1956, 350 U.S. 116, 76 S.Ct. 223, 100 L.Ed. 126, a writ of habeas corpus is granted.

Nothing we have said here precludes a new trial or the taking of proper steps to hold the defendant in custody pending such a new trial. See United States ex rel. Thompson v. Dye, 3 Cir., 1955, 221 F.2d 763, 768.

This opinion shall serve as Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

On Petition for Rehearing and for Leave to Amend Answer

In an Opinion of this Court filed on October 31, 1957, this Court found as a fact that James H. Woods, the petitioner, a 21-year-old defendant of low mentality, was sentenced from 20 to 40 years in the penitentiary without benefit or opportunity of counsel and that no waiver of counsel had been made by him.

Since this case involved a state prisoner sentenced under state law, this United States District Court, cognizant of the need of comity between the states and the federal sovereignties, had to first find that an exceptional reason existed for it to inquire into whether or not a constitutional right of Woods had been violated by the State of Pennsylvania as the highest court of Pennsylvania, although the prisoner's position had been before them, had not ruled on the question.

This problem was fully understood by this Court and the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth through the District Attorney of Allegheny County on October 7, 1957, filed a motion to dismiss the petition for habeas corpus filed by Woods for this very reason, i. e., that the petitioner Woods had not exhausted his state remedies.¹ The motion recited the facts and showed that neither the Superior Court nor Supreme Court of Pennsylvania had reviewed this question. However, the petitioner had alleged that the reason he had not been heard by the higher courts of Pennsylvania was that he was unable to pay a $12 mandatory filing fee because of poverty. The poverty of this prisoner was apparent. The Commonwealth by its petition and at the Argument conceded this $12 fee was mandatory and could not be waived. This Court following a precedent set by the United States Court of Appeals in the First, Second and Sixth Circuits, which cases were similar to the instant case, ruled that these circumstances properly allowed a federal district court to inquire into the alleged violations of the defendant's constitutional rights. United States ex rel. Embree v. Cummings, 2 Cir., 1956, 233 F.2d 188; Robbins v. Green, 1 Cir., 1954, 218 F.2d 192; Dolan v. Alvis, 6 Cir., 1951, 186 F.2d 586. A hearing was held. The relevant evidence showed beyond question the absence and non-waiver of counsel and an overreaching of this young, uneducated, almost moronic defendant. In the face of this, the Commonwealth in its brief took the position that the Sixth Amendment, one of the Bill of Rights, providing for the right of counsel to a defendant in a criminal case did not apply in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution notwithstanding. They then argue that even if this is the law that the denial of counsel in itself was not a constitutional violation. In my opinion the denial of counsel to this borderline moron on offenses for which he could have been sentenced from 60 to 120 years and in fact was sentenced from 20 to 40 years was in itself a denial of due process. But in addition, I found that the results were unfair to the defendant. My conclusion was and is that the constitutional rights of petitioner Woods were violated.

After the opinion was handed down, the District Attorney of Allegheny County, representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, petitioned for a rehearing. The gist of their petition is that they wrongly advised this Court as to the mandatory filing fee. It is proper to note that at the request of the District Attorney of Allegheny County additional time was granted him to research his position before argument on his motion, and that he, the District Attorney, informed this Court that the Attorney General of Pennsylvania had been informed of this case, and after study that high officer might wish to intervene. Nonetheless, they adhered to their original position that the $12 fee was mandatory and that the State had a right to demand this fee. The Attorney General did not intervene.

This Court, of course, does not have the right or intention of passing any opinion on the right or policy of the Commonwealth in proscribing its own rules and regulations. All we held was that if a prisoner is barred by poverty from appealing under the State's rules then this was an exceptional circumstance that allowed an inferior United States Court to pass on an alleged constitutional violation without the highest court of the State having an opportunity to first pass on the question.

This Court feels that on the facts before it a proper hearing was held. It feels that a violation of a citizen's constitutional rights were shown. The question thus presents itself as to whether the Commonwealth should be given another opportunity to show that under certain other facts that the federal court might not have heard the testimony showing the constitutional violation. To put it another way, should this Court blind itself to the constitutional violation of which it is now aware and give the Commonwealth, their first position being untenable, another chance to show that the defendant Woods had not...