Gaito v. Brierley
Decision Date | 21 September 1973 |
Docket Number | No. 72-1977.,72-1977. |
Citation | 485 F.2d 86 |
Parties | Frank M. GAITO, C-7482, Appellant, v. Joseph R. BRIERLEY, Appellee. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Errol S. Miller, Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellant.
Robert W. Duggan, Dist. Atty., Robert L. Eberhardt, J. Kent Culley, Asst. Dist. Attys., Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellee.
Before GIBBONS and HUNTER, Circuit Judges.
Before ALDISERT, GIBBONS and HUNTER, Circuit Judges.
Submitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) July 2, 1973.
Resubmitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) September 4, 1973.
Submitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) on July 2, 1973.
Before GIBBONS and HUNTER, Circuit Judges.
Resubmitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) on Sept. 4, 1973.
Before ALDISERT, GIBBONS and HUNTER, Circuit Judges.
Frank Gaito appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denying, after an evidentiary hearing, his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Gaito's sole contention is that two required appearances before a jury in his prison clothes deprived him of his fourteenth amendment right to due process of law.
Gaito was convicted in 1959 in the criminal courts of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on charges of burglary, assault with intent to kill, and a violation of the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act of 1939. A series of appeals and petitions culminated in the granting of a new trial by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania because it found that an oral confession which the prosecution had introduced in the first trial was involuntary. Commonwealth ex rel. Gaito v. Maroney, 422 Pa. 171, 220 A.2d 628 (1966).
At his second trial, it is undisputed that Gaito was transported from the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh to the jury selection in his prison garb. This prison garb consisted of matching brown denim shirt and pants, work shoes, and a heavy dark brown corduroy coat. According to the affidavit of Edward Anent, a prison official, it was standard policy to take men to court in prison garb unless the court order specified that they were being sent for trial, in which event a suit would normally be furnished. Since Gaito's court order "only stated that he was to be brought to court," he was not provided with a suit. Consequently, while the jury was being chosen, appellant sat in the courtroom in his prison clothes. No objection to this procedure was made on that day by either appellant or his court-appointed attorney.
The next morning, according to Gaito's testimony at the evidentiary hearing, his sister brought his civilian clothes to the prison, but a guard refused to permit him to return to his cell to put them on. Then, while he was waiting for his trial to start, appellant says that another prisoner told him about a recent decision from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania which purportedly held that it was prejudicial error to try a man in his prison clothes.1 Based on this information, Gaito himself asked the trial judge to declare a mistrial so that a new jury could be picked. This motion was denied, and appellant's trial began with him dressed in his prison garb in full view of the jury. Several witnesses testified during the morning, and at the lunch recess Gaito obtained his civilian clothes which he wore for the rest of the trial. He was again found guilty and, after exhausting his state remedies, he filed the present habeas corpus petition.
In refusing to grant a writ of habeas corpus, the district court stated:
Although there is some authority to the contrary,2 we accept the majority view that compelling a defendant to appear before a jury in his prison clothes unconstitutionally infringes his due process right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.3E.g., Bentley v. Crist, 469 F.2d 854 (9th Cir. 1972); Hernandez v. Beto, 443 F.2d 634 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. denied 404 U.S. 897, 92 S.Ct. 201, 30 L.Ed.2d 174 (1971); Brooks v. Texas, 381 F.2d 619 (5th Cir.1967); Commonwealth v. Keeler, 216 Pa.Super. 193, 264 A.2d 407 (1970); Miller v. State, 249 Ark. 3, 457 S.W.2d 848 (1970); People v. Shaw, 381 Mich. 467, 164 N.W.2d 7 (1969); People v. Zapata, 220 Cal.App.2d 903, 34 Cal.Rptr. 171 (1963), cert. denied 377 U.S. 406, 84 S.Ct. 1633, 12 L.Ed.2d 495 (1964); Eaddy v. People, 115 Colo. 488, 174 P.2d 717 (1946); Collins v. State, 70 Okl.Cr. 340, 106 P.2d 273 (1940); Shultz v. State, 131 Fla. 757, 179 So. 764 (1934). See Watt v. Page, 452 F.2d 1174 (10th Cir.1972). Consequently, the issue which we must now decide is whether the district court was clearly erroneous in its factual finding that the clothes in question "were not reasonably identifiable as prison clothes."
Several photographs were taken of appellant in the attire which he was required to wear before the jury. We have examined these photographs, and it seems to us probable that at least some of the jurors recognized this attire as a prison uniform. The government argues that this is unlikely since the clothes worn by Gaito bore no markings and were of a type commonly worn by working men such as gas station attendants or delivery men. This is not persuasive, however, in light of the following testimony from Gaito:
On redirect, Gaito reiterated his direct testimony:
In addition to Gaito's testimony, his court-appointed attorney, who was called as a government witness, made the following statements on cross-examination:
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Estelle v. Williams
...to trial in prison or jail clothing because of the possible impairment of the presumption so basic to the adversary system. Gaito v. Brierley, 485 F.2d 86 (CA3 1973); Hernandez v. Beto, Supra; Brooks v. Texas, 381 F.2d 619 (CA5 1967); Commonwealth v. Keeler, 216 Pa.Super. 193, 264 A.2d 407 ......
-
Com. v. Jackson
...v. Williams, supra, to pretrial proceedings. But see Boswell v. Alabama, 537 F.2d 100, 102-103 & n. 7 (5th Cir.1976); Gaito v. Brierley, 485 F.2d 86, 88-90 (3d Cir.1973). We do not consider these issues now, because we conclude, after a careful review of the record, that the defendant was n......
-
U.S. v. Carter
...denied 394 U.S. 951, 89 S.Ct. 1292, 22 L.Ed.2d 486 (1969).33 See, e. g., Bentley v. Crist, 469 F.2d 854 (9th Cir. 1972); Gaito v. Brierley, 485 F.2d 86 (3rd Cir. 1973); Hernandez v. Beto, 443 F.2d 634 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. denied 404 U.S. 897, 92 S.Ct. 201, 30 L.Ed.2d 174 (1971); Brooks v.......
-
Jefferson v. Laclair
...admissions may have been the original, unlawful appearance in a prison uniform. (Pet.'s Obj. at 20–21, 25) (citing Gaito v. Brierley, 485 F.2d 86, 88–90 (3d Cir.1973)). In Gaito, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that there is “no way to know why” a defendant testified about h......
-
Trials
...a constitutional violation is negated. 1824 1823. See Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 512 (1976); see, e.g. , Gaito v. Brierley, 485 F.2d 86, 90 (3d Cir. 1973) (possible violation of due process and presumption of innocence for defendant to be brought in front of jury in recognizable pri......