Johnson v. Dye

• Decision Date: 18 April 1947
• Docket Number: No. 138.,138.
• Parties: JOHNSON v. DYE.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania

71 F. Supp. 262

JOHNSON v. DYE.

No. 138.

District Court, W. D. Pennsylvania.

April 18, 1947.

Hymen Schlesinger and Samuel J. Goldstein, both of Pittsburgh, Pa., for relator.

Louis L. Kaufman and Raymond D. Evans, both of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Charles F. Uhl, U. S. Atty., of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the United States.

McVICAR, District Judge.

Leon Johnson, in his petition for a writ of Habeas Corpus in this case, set forth that he is a resident of the City of Clairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and is unlawfully imprisoned in the custody of the Warden of the Allegheny County Jail by a detainer of the District Attorney of Allegheny County, at the request of authorities of Cobb County, Georgia; that on January 25, 1943, he was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to imprisonment during his natural life; that he escaped from prison in June, 1943 and has been a fugitive since that time; that the State of Georgia requested an extradition warrant of the Governor of Pennsylvania and on March 20, 1946, his extradition was approved by the Governor of Pennsylvania. He avers, in his petition, that his imprisonment is unlawful for the following reasons:

First: Your relator avers that he was improperly found guilty of murder in Cobb County, Georgia, and his constitutional rights were violated inasmuch as several of the witnesses who testified against him at the hearing were compelled to do so by duress and coercion on them by certain police authorities of Cobb County, Georgia, and that the testimony of such coerced and intimidated witnesses was material, resulted in his conviction and in truth and fact was wholly false and perjured, as the prosecuting authorities well knew.

Second: Following his conviction, your relator was committed to a chain gang in the State of Georgia at hard labor and was the victim of cruel, barbaric and inhuman treatment at the hands of his jailors to the extent that his life and health were in grave jeopardy.

Third: Your relator avers that in the event he is returned to the State of Georgia to complete his unfinished sentence, his life will be endangered and he fears that if he is returned, there is danger that he will meet his death by mob violence or be so brutalized and tortured by his jailors that he will succumb.

This Court, on the presentation of said petition, granted a rule upon the Warden of Allegheny County Jail, the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the District Attorney of Allegheny County, the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and upon the State of Georgia to show cause why the prayer of said petition should not be granted. Answers to said petition were filed by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the District Attorney of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In all of the answers, objection was made to the granting, by this Court, of the writ of Habeas Corpus prayed for, the reasons set forth therein.

From the evidence, the following facts appear: That relator, Leon Johnson, December, 6, 1942 and prior thereto, was a citizen of the State of Georgia; that he had a room in a house where Minnie Owens and her daughter, Mae George, age 14, resided; that relator and Sarah Thompson, a negro, occupied the same room; that on December 6, 1942, Sarah Thompson was killed by a shot from a shot gun in the room occupied by her and relator; that immediately or shortly after the killing, relator went to the State of Alabama; he remained there until he was brought back to Georgia by the Georgia State Officers; that he was indicted on the charge of murdering Sarah Thompson and in January, 1943 he was tried and convicted. At the trial he was represented by counsel. He was sentenced to a penitentiary at hard labor for and during the term of his natural life. In June, 1943, he escaped with about 175 other prisoners; he came to Pennsylvania and has resided in Clairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, since he came to this state.

The Governor of Georgia issued a requisition to the Governor of Pennsylvania for the extradition of Johnson to Georgia. The Governor of Pennsylvania, in pursuance thereto, caused a warrant of arrest to be issued and as a result, relator is now and has been since the issuing of the warrant, in the Allegheny County Jail.

Relator made an application for a writ of Habeas Corpus to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, setting forth in support thereof, the same reasons set forth in his petition in this Court, which are stated above. He had a hearing on his application for a writ of Habeas Corpus in the Common Pleas Court. After hearing, the Court refused his application. The trial Judge stated in substance, that in his opinion, relator had failed to show that he was entitled to have said writ granted. He took an appeal from the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. That Court affirmed the judgment of the Common Pleas Court of Allegheny County. This case is reported in Commonwealth ex rel. Johnson v. Dye, 159 Pa.Super. 542, 49 A.2d 195. The Court by Arnold, J., filed an opinion October 30, 1946. In that opinion it is stated, inter alia:

"The positions of the relator apparently are (1) that he was improperly convicted (that a demurrer to the evidence would have been good and that the corpus delicti was not proved); (2) that witness or witnesses for the State of Georgia testified falsely because of intimidation and force practiced by police officers upon them; (3) that while undergoing his sentence he received brutal treatment from the prison guards, who threatened to kill him, and that his life will be endangered if he is returned to Georgia. * * *

"The appellant complains that the court below would not determine the facts as to the alleged brutal treatment of the prison guards and the danger to relator's life if returned; but that was not the court's position. The court stated, in a brief opinion, dictated at the close of the evidence: `* * * there is no warrant for a writ of...