Pate v. Page

• Decision Date: 18 December 1963
• Docket Number: No. 7517.,7517.
• Citation: 325 F.2d 567
• Parties: Gerald PATE, Appellant, v. Ray PAGE, Warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

325 F.2d 567 (1963)

Gerald PATE, Appellant, v. Ray PAGE, Warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Appellee.

No. 7517.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

December 18, 1963.

Kenneth B. Kienzle, Sr., Shawnee, Okl. (Melvin L. Wulf and David N. Ellenhorn, New York City, on the brief), for appellant.

Jack A. Swidensky, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Oklahoma (Charles Nesbitt, Atty. Gen., of Oklahoma, on the brief), for appellee.

Before PICKETT, BREITENSTEIN and SETH, Circuit Judges.

PICKETT, Circuit Judge.

The petitioner, Gerald Pate, was convicted of murder in the State Court of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, and sentenced to death. The judgment and sentence was affirmed by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. 361 P.2d 1086, reh. denied 361 P.2d 1086. Following the affirmance, the District Court of Pittsburgh County, Oklahoma denied Pate's application for a writ of habeas corpus. Thereafter, in a habeas corpus proceeding filed directly in the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the court considered the question of whether a confession made by the petitioner was voluntary and otherwise admissible in evidence. After an extensive hearing, including the testimony of numerous witnesses, the petition was denied. 371 P.2d 500. A petition for certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States, 373 U.S. 915, 83 S.Ct. 1304, 10 L.Ed.2d 415.

Having completely exhausted his state court remedies, the petitioner instituted this habeas corpus proceeding in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and a hearing was had at which petitioner was present. As in the state proceedings, it was alleged that petitioner's confession to the crime charged in the state court was involuntary and the result of coercion by the state officers in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and was erroneously admitted in evidence. The basis for the allegation is that the confession resulted from extensive, systematic and unlawful questioning by state officers after the arrest of petitioner and the detention and threatened prosecution of his mother and younger brothers, if he did not confess to the murder of a 15 year old girl. The identical questions were presented during the trial of the case,¹ were carefully considered by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on direct appeal, 361 P.2d 1086, and again considered by that court in original habeas corpus proceedings. 371 P.2d 500. The case was submitted to the District Court on the records made in the State Court proceedings and the application denied. This appeal followed.

When a state prisoner alleges in a Federal Court proceeding that a confession was obtained as a result of coercion in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,

"* * * `the question in each case is whether the defendant\'s will was overborne at the time he confessed,\' Lynumn v. Illinois, 372 U.S. 528, 534, 83 S.Ct. 917, 9 L.Ed.2d 922. `In short, the true test of admissibility is that the confession is made freely, voluntarily and without compulsion or inducement of any sort.\' Wilson v. United States, 162 U.S. 613, 623 16 S.Ct. 895, 40 L.Ed. 1090. See also Bram v. United States, 168 U.S. 532 18 S.Ct. 183, 42 L.Ed. 568. And, of course, whether the confession was obtained by coercion or improper inducement can be determined only by an examination of all of the attendant circumstances." Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 513, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10 L.Ed.2d 513.

While the federal courts are generally bound by factual determinations of state courts made on conflicting evidence, still, when the question of whether a coerced confession was admitted in evidence in violation of the Constitution of the United States is properly raised, such courts are duty bound to make an independent investigation and determine from the entire record whether the finding of the state court has substantial support in the evidence. Haynes v. Washington, supra;² Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037; Spano v. New York, 360 U.S. 315, 79 S.Ct. 1202, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265; Lyons v. Oklahoma, supra. In proper proceedings in federal court, the petitioner is entitled to a "trial type proceeding" to test the validity of the state detention. Faye v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837; Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed. 2d 770.

The record discloses that on September 21, 1959 the petitioner was arrested at his mother's home by state officers, executing a bench warrant issued because of his failure to appear for trial on a burglary charge.³ Prior to the arrest, Mary Jane Haygood, a 15 year old girl, had disappeared and was last seen with the petitioner. Following the arrest he was taken to the town of Wewoka, Oklahoma where he consulted his attorney and was questioned as to his knowledge of the whereabouts of the Haygood girl. He denied having seen her after the date of her disappearance. Later he was removed to the county jail at Shawnee, Oklahoma. When the arrest was made, petitioner's mother and 16 year old twin brothers were brought to Shawnee and held for investigation until the next day. During the next five days Pate was questioned at length by different state and county officers, but continued to deny any connection with or knowledge of the disappearance of the Haygood girl. During this period, following the instructions of his attorney, he appeared in the state district court where he pleaded guilty to the burglary charge and was sentenced to serve a term of two and one-half years. On the afternoon of September 27th, an extensive search of the Pate farm was made by numerous citizens of the community. The body of the girl was found buried in a grave approximately ¼ mile from the Pate home. There was evidence that the girl had been dead for a number of days.

On the date the body was found, petitioner was again questioned by the officers, but continued to deny that he was implicated in any way. The questioning continued until sometime after midnight. During this time he consulted his attorney on two different occasions, and talked to his mother. Shortly thereafter, he admitted the murder of the Haygood girl and described in detail how it was accomplished, including the burial.⁴

When tried on the murder charge, petitioner's attorney objected to the admission of the confession in evidence upon the ground that it was not voluntary. It was argued that it resulted from the threats of county officials that the mother and twin brothers would be prosecuted as accomplices unless he confessed, and that he did confess upon the promise that there would be no such prosecution. Testimony to this effect was introduced, but this was categorically denied by state officers.⁵ The trial court overruled the objection and admitted the confession in evidence.

All of the questioning before the murdered...