Gregoire v. Henderson

• Decision Date: 20 August 1969
• Docket Number: Misc. No. 1028.
• Citation: 302 F. Supp. 1402
• Parties: Robert Joseph GREGOIRE v. C. Murry HENDERSON, Warden.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana

302 F. Supp. 1402

Robert Joseph GREGOIRE v. C. Murry HENDERSON, Warden.

Misc. No. 1028.

United States District Court E. D. Louisiana, Baton Rouge Division.

August 20, 1969.

Alfred E. Mitchell, Plaquemine, La., for petitioner.

Jack P. F. Gremillion, Atty. Gen. of Louisiana, Jack E. Yelverton, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, La., Leonard Yokum, Dist. Atty., Twenty-First Judicial District, Hammond, La., for respondent.

WEST, Chief Judge:

Petitioner, Robert Joseph Gregoire, is presently incarcerated in Louisiana State Penitentiary awaiting execution of a death sentence imposed upon him by a Louisiana State Court jury in June of 1964. He was indicted for the murder of one Mrs. Blanche Ozment in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. During his jury trial there were ten bills of exception reserved which formed the basis of his appeal to the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana. His appeal was heard, and judgment was rendered by the Louisiana Supreme Court affirming the conviction and sentence. See State of Louisiana v. Gregoire, 249 La. 890, 192 So.2d 114 (1966). Petitioner now applies to this Court for a writ of habeas corpus alleging that his constitutional rights were violated in that (1) he was subjected to improper interrogation following his arrest; (2) he was not represented by counsel for a period of some five months following his arrest on September 23, 1962; and (3) he was the victim of an illegal search and seizure resulting in the obtaining of evidence which was improperly used against him during his trial.

This Court appointed Alfred E. Mitchell, Jr., Esquire, to represent petitioner and an evidentiary hearing was held on May 6, 1969, at which hearing petitioner was present and testified. Since all of the grounds asserted here by petitioner were raised by him during his trial and also included in his appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court, the State, rather than call their witnesses again, chose to rely on the transcript of the State Court proceedings, a complete copy of which was filed with this Court for review. After hearing the testimony of petitioner, and after carefully studying the transcript of the proceedings had against petitioner in the State Courts, this Court concludes that the issues herein presented were correctly passed upon by the State Courts which found, both as a matter of law and fact, that there was no merit to petitioner's contentions.

On the night of September 23, 1962, one Mrs. Blanche Ozment was brutally murdered in her home in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. Her body was placed in an automobile and driven several miles into St. James Parish, where the body was hidden in some bushes and the car abandoned. On the night of the murder, witnesses had seen petitioner driving the same automobile later found abandoned and had seen him drive up to the residence of Mrs. Ozment. The next door neighbor heard him go to the door of Mrs. Ozment's house and heard her open the door and admit him. One of the neighbors heard him say "Mrs. Ozment, this is Mr. Gregoire," before she admitted him to the house. Some twenty minutes later she heard Mrs. Ozment say "Oh no" and then she heard a "terrible noise — a loud thump, like a dull sound." She then saw a man "dragging something out" and "he threw it in the car." After the police were notified of these events their investigation led them first to the home of petitioner's parents on Carondelet Street in New Orleans and then to the home of petitioner's brother, William Leonard Gregoire, at 617 Urbandale Street, in Marrero, Louisiana. When the officers went to the door of this home on Urbandale Street, they were met by a seventeen year old boy, William Leonard Gregoire, Jr. The officers told young Gregoire what and who they were looking for, and the young man invited them in to search the house. During this search, which was made without a warrant, but with young Gregoire's consent, and actually at his invitation, the officers found some wet clothes, shoes, and a partially packed suitcase, all of which belonged to petitioner. The officers took these things with them and went into the woods a mile or so from the residence in search of petitioner. They were aided in their search by some dogs and other searchers. They finally came upon a house occupied by a negro man and found petitioner sitting on the porch. They advised him that he was under arrest and put him in the police car and went first to the jail in Gretna, Louisiana, and from there to the courthouse at Tulane and Broad Street in New Orleans. From there they called the police in Amite, Louisiana (Tangipahoa Parish) and requested someone to meet them at the end of the causeway leading to Tangipahoa Parish. They were met there by a deputy sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish, and the petitioner and the seized articles of clothing were turned over to him. Petitioner was then taken to the jail in Tangipahoa Parish where he remained until after his trial.

During the automobile trip from the point of his capture to the Gretna Courthouse and Jail, Chief of Police Edward S. Tucker, Deputy Sheriff Oswald Johnson, and petitioner sat in the back seat of the automobile. Deputy Sheriff Harry Joynton and another deputy from Jefferson Parish who was driving the car were seated on the front seat. Petitioner's brother, Leonard Gregoire, was also seated on the back seat. It was during this ride to Gretna that the officers allege and testify that the petitioner voluntarily made certain inculpatory statements. Petitioner denied that he made any such statements. When, during the trial, the prosecution attempted to introduce the testimony of Chief of Police Tucker to show the inculpatory statements made by petitioner, an objection was made on petitioner's behalf. The jury was retired and both Deputy Johnson and Chief of Police Tucker testified that such statements were in fact made by petitioner. Chief of Police Tucker testified:

"One question he wanted to know was what we had him for and I said, `I think you know what we have you for' and he said, `I ain't done nothing,' and I said `Well, how did you get in that house out there? Did you jerk the hook off the screen, or how did you get in there?' and he said, `Naw, I didn't jerk no hook off the screen, she let me in,' and I said `Who do you have reference to?' and he said `Mrs. Ozment.' I said, `Why did she let you in the house?' He said, `Well, she knew me. She knew who I was. I lived out there for a long time.' I said, `Well, Buster, why did you do what you done?' and he said, `I don't know.' I said, `Did you do it?' and he said, `Yeah, but I don't know why.' I said, `Why did you do it?' and he said, `I don't know.'"

Deputy Johnson testified that such statements were made by petitioner while he was present in the car. Deputy Joynton, who was seated in the front seat, said he did not hear the discussion between petitioner and Chief of Police Tucker. Petitioner says he made no such statements, despite the fact that he was struck in the chest two or three times by Mr. Tucker's elbow, and despite the fact that Deputy Johnson said they ought to "hang him from the next light post." He did admit, however, that after arriving at the Gretna jail he told news reporters that "I don't know why I did it."

All of the officers in the car vehemently deny that petitioner was at any time threatened or struck, and they all deny that any threat to "hang him from the next light post" was ever made.

Later, when petitioner arrived at the jail in Tangipahoa Parish, he gave another statement which was reduced to writing by Mrs. Corinne Watson, Deputy Sheriff and Stenographer for the Parish of Tangipahoa. The petitioner refused to sign this statement, and both at his State Court trial and before this Court he denied ever having made the statement. Upon objection being made during his trial to the introduction of the unsigned statement, the State refrained from introducing the statement but did use testimony of the statement having been given by petitioner. The question of whether or not the statement alleged to have been made by petitioner in the automobile and the statement made by him in the Tangipahoa Parish Jail were in fact made, and if so, whether or not they were voluntarily made, was heard by the Trial Judge outside of the presence of the jury. After hearing all of the witnesses, including petitioner himself, the Trial Judge ruled that the statements were, in fact, made, and that they were freely and voluntarily made without duress, intimidation, threats, inducements or promises. After this independent ruling by the Court, based upon testimony heard out of the presence of the jury, the testimony concerning the making of these statements went to the jury for its evaluation along with the other evidence in the case. The right of the defendant to have the voluntariness of his confession judicially determined before it is submitted to the jury was set forth thusly in Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964):

"It is now axiomatic that a defendant in a criminal case is deprived of due process of law if his conviction is founded, in whole or in part, upon an involuntary confession, without regard for the truth or falsity of the confession, Rogers v. Richmond, 365 U.S. 534, 81 S.Ct. 735, 5 L.Ed.2d 760, and even though there is ample evidence aside from the confession to support the conviction. * * * Equally clear

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