Hampton v. Wyrick, 79-1284
| Decision Date | 11 October 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-1284,79-1284 |
| Citation | 606 F.2d 834 |
| Parties | David O. HAMPTON, Appellant, v. Donald WYRICK, Warden, John Ashcroft, Attorney General, State of Missouri, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Robert O. Appleton, Jr., Braun, Newman, Stewart & Appleton, Clayton, Mo., filed brief for appellant.
John D. Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., and Bruce E. Anderson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Mo., filed brief for appellee.
Before LAY, BRIGHT and HENLEY, Circuit Judges.
David O. Hampton appeals from the district court's 1 denial, without evidentiary hearing, of his petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
Appellant, an inmate of the Missouri State Penitentiary, was convicted in 1976 of two counts of robbery first degree with a dangerous and deadly weapon and a third count of carrying a concealed weapon. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in State v. Hampton, 559 S.W.2d 224 (Mo.App.1977). This ruling was followed by appellant's unsuccessful attempts to secure post-conviction relief in the courts of the State of Missouri.
Having apparently exhausted his state appeal remedies, appellant in December, 1978 filed the present petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Eastern District of Missouri, reiterating the claims previously ruled on by the Missouri Court of Appeals. 2 The case was referred to Magistrate William S. Bahn for review and recommendation, with the result that the district court adopted the magistrate's recommendation of dismissal without evidentiary hearing. The single contention raised on this appeal is that the district court erred in dismissing the claim of racial discrimination in jury selection without an evidentiary hearing.
Appellant's jury selection claim rests on the fact that the prosecutor in Hampton's criminal trial used peremptory challenges to exclude ten blacks from the jury panel. The record shows that the jury was nevertheless composed of six blacks and six whites, and that appellant introduced no evidence beyond the dismissal of ten jurors to support his claim of discrimination in jury selection. Appellant thus failed to state a prima facie case so as to compel an evidentiary hearing under the standard of Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S.Ct. 824, 13 L.Ed.2d 759 (1965).
In Swain v. Alabama, supra, the Supreme Court held that peremptory challenges, as an integral part of the jury system, are presumed to be utilized for the valid end of obtaining a fair and impartial jury. Id. at 221-22, 85 S.Ct. 824. Alleged discriminatory use of peremptory challenges is cognizable only where there has been systematic use of the challenge system against blacks Over a period of time. Id. at 227, 85 S.Ct. 824. Accord, United States v. Nelson, 529 F.2d 40, 42 (8th Cir.), Cert. denied, 426 U.S. 922, 96 S.Ct. 2631, 49 L.Ed.2d 377 (1976); United States v. Carter, 528 F.2d 844, 848-49 (8th Cir. 1975), Cert. denied, 425 U.S. 961, 96 S.Ct. 1745, 48 L.Ed.2d 206 (1976). Since appellant in the present case merely stated that the prosecutor excused black jurors in his particular trial and since his trial jury in fact included six black persons, his failure to make a prima facie case is clear.
Appellant also alleged that the jury selection process for the City of St. Louis is discriminatory. This claim comes closer to stating a prima facie case, insofar as the jury selection process has traditionally received greater judicial scrutiny than the peremptory challenge system. Turner v. Fouche, 396 U.S. 346, 90 S.Ct. 532, 24 L.Ed.2d 567 (1970) (); Swain v. Alabama, supra, 380 U.S. at 227, 85 S.Ct. 824; United States v. Carter, supra, 528 F.2d at 848. However, appellant's broadside attack on the jury selection process for the entire City of St. Louis is unexhausted as to state remedies. Moreover, even if this claim were exhausted, appellant was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the claim since he alleged no facts or statistics to support his allegation. Cf. Ross v. Wyrick, 553 F.2d 51 (8th Cir. 1977); Murrah v. Arkansas, 532 F.2d 105 (8th Cir. 1976).
The record reveals no unusual circumstances which would compel an evidentiary hearing. Appellant does not suggest that he was precluded from introducing all relevant evidence regarding discriminatory jury selection in his state court tr...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Manis v. Wyrick
...372 U.S. 293, 312-13, 83 S.Ct. 745, 756, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963); Jensen v. Satran, 651 F.2d 605, 608 (8th Cir.1981); Hampton v. Wyrick, 606 F.2d 834, 836 (8th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1022, 100 S.Ct. 681, 62 L.Ed.2d 654 (1980). This rule generally applies unless the dispute can be re......
-
U.S. v. Childress
...Cir.1974) (Eastern District of Missouri); United States v. Pollard, 483 F.2d at 930 (Eastern District of Missouri). Cf. Hampton v. Wyrick, 606 F.2d 834 (8th Cir.1979) (habeas corpus petition from Missouri prisoner), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1022, 100 S.Ct. 681, 62 L.Ed.2d 654 (1980). Racial d......
-
Evans v. Thigpen
...court noted that a black juror was on the jury which decided both guilt and the advisory death sentence. Id. See also Hampton v. Wyrick, 606 F.2d 834, 835 (8th Cir.1979) (no prima facie case under Swain where jury included six blacks and petitioner introduced no evidence of exclusion beyond......
-
White v. Bloom, s. 79-1858
...blacks from the jury, the plaintiff must allege facts to show systematic discrimination over a period of time. E. g., Hampton v. Wyrick, 606 F.2d 834, 835 (8th Cir. 1979). This systematic exclusion, however, is but one of several forms of evidence to support the ultimate fact of "deliberate......