Ralph v. Pepersack

• Citation: 335 F.2d 128
• Decision Date: 16 July 1964
• Docket Number: No. 9176.,9176.
• Parties: William RALPH, Appellant, v. Vernon L. PEPERSACK, Warden, Maryland State Penitentiary, Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

335 F.2d 128 (1964)

William RALPH, Appellant, v. Vernon L. PEPERSACK, Warden, Maryland State Penitentiary, Appellee.

No. 9176.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued January 14, 1964.

Decided July 16, 1964.

Edward L. Genn, Washington, D. C., Court-assigned counsel (Lawrence Speiser, Washington, D. C., Court-assigned counsel, on brief), for appellant.

Robert F. Sweeney, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Maryland (Thomas B. Finan, Atty. Gen. of Maryland, on brief), for appellee.

Before BOREMAN and J. SPENCER BELL, Circuit Judges, and BARKSDALE, District Judge.

BOREMAN, Circuit Judge:

Appellant, William Ralph, was convicted of rape and sentenced to death by three judges of the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Maryland, sitting without a jury. His conviction was affirmed by the Maryland Court of Appeals¹ and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.² Ralph then filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The District Court entered an order staying further proceedings on the petition and granted a stay of execution to permit Ralph to exhaust state remedies by pursuing the procedures available in the Maryland courts for post-conviction relief.³ After proceeding unsuccessfully in the courts of Maryland, Ralph renewed his petition in the Maryland District Court which denied the petition after a full hearing and after considering the transcript of the state proceeding.⁴ On this appeal Ralph challenges the legality of his arrest and detention and the admissibility at trial of an alleged oral confession. We think it necessary to set forth rather fully the pertinent facts.

In the early morning of March 21, 1960, the Police Department of Montgomery County, Maryland, received a report of a breaking, entering, rape and sodomy in Kensington, Maryland. The victim of the crimes furnished the Montgomery County Police with a general description of her assailant and, as a result thereof, they sent a telegraphic message or "lookout" to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia describing the suspect as a colored male, age 25 to 40, height five feet ten inches, weight 155 pounds, with very thick lips, muscular chest, close cropped kinky hair, wearing a zipper jacket, possibly leather. The report also noted that an automobile foreign to the area was observed at about the time of the crime and described the vehicle as a 1956 Oldsmobile with green body and white top, registration unknown.

Three days later, on March 24, 1960, the Montgomery County Police received a report of an entry, assault and attempted rape in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The victim of the attempted rape described her assailant as a colored male, 28 to 32 years old, height five feet eight inches to five feet ten inches, weight 165-170, having a medium brown complexion, thick lips, thin mustache, short kinky black hair, stocky build and a barrel chest. This description, like that of the suspect in the Kensington crimes, was sent by telegraphic message to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, and reference was again made to the earlier message of March 21. The Montgomery County police report noted the similarity of the description of the Chevy Chase assailant to that given by the victim of the Kensington crimes.

The above "lookout notices" were read at a number of roll calls at the Eighth Precinct Station of the Metropolitan Police. Significantly, they were read in their entirety at the 11 P.M. roll call of March 25.

At 2:55 A.M. on March 26, about four hours after the notices were last read, officers of the Eighth Precinct received a report of a woman screaming in a wooded area in the 2700 block of Macomb Street in the District of Columbia. A patrol car was notified of the report and proceeded to the area within a few minutes. Upon arriving in the vicinity the two officers in the patrol car, Williams and Donahue, saw only Ralph. He was standing beside an Oldsmobile with a green body and white top adjusting his clothing in some manner (seemingly attempting to pull a sweater over his head) and as the patrol car approached he entered the automobile. He was apparently placed under arrest almost immediately and a call was sent in for the Sex Squad. Officers of the Sex Squad arrived within a few minutes and directed that Ralph be taken to the Eighth Precinct Station. Two Montgomery County traffic violation tickets were taken from Ralph's person and a search of the car revealed Maryland license plates and some nontaxpaid whiskey.

Ralph arrived at the precinct station shortly before 3:30 A.M. and was "booked." The Montgomery County Police were notified of Ralph's arrest and Sergeant Leahey of that department was sent to the Eighth Precinct Station. Leahey was apprised of the investigation and made arrangements for one of the victims of the Maryland crimes to come to Police Headquarters later in the morning. Ralph was questioned for about forty-five minutes by members of the Metropolitan Police Department concerning his activities of that night and his possession of the nontaxpaid whiskey. He stated that he had stolen wine and beer from his employer which he had traded for the whiskey. Sergeant Leahy observed some of the interrogation but did not participate in the questioning. During the time that Ralph was being questioned about his activities in the District of Columbia, the Metropolitan Police received a report of a rape and sodomy which had been committed by a colored male in the wooded area in the 2700 block of Macomb Street where, a few minutes after the screams had been reported, Ralph had been apprehended. The interrogation of Ralph at the Eighth Precinct Station continued intermittently until approximately 6:00 A.M., apparently centering around the rape which had occurred near Macomb Street. Ralph was placed in a lineup and viewed by the victim of the District of Columbia crime. He denied any knowledge of that offense and the victim was apparently unable to identify him.

At approximately 6:00 A.M. on the morning of his arrest, Ralph was taken from the Eighth Precinct Station to the Metropolitan Police Headquarters, arriving there at about 6:45 A.M. after stopping briefly at an address where he claimed to be living. He was then given something to eat and taken to the Identification Bureau. From approximately 7:30 A.M. until 9:56 A.M., Ralph was questioned in the polygraph room of the Metropolitan Police Headquarters by Lieutenant Eichelberger of the Metropolitan Police Department. During that time he consented to and was given a polygraph examination. The questioning and the polygraph examination related to the Macomb Street rape of the same morning. Ralph is alleged to have confessed at 9:40 A.M. to committing that offense.

After a brief recess at about 10 A.M., during which Ralph was taken to a second lineup, questioning by Lieutenant Eichelberger was resumed. The victim of the Kensington crimes, a Mrs. Peck, and Lieutenant Whalen, the officer in charge of the Montgomery County investigation, arrived at Headquarters shortly after 10:30 A.M. and conferred briefly with Lieutenant Eichelberger. At about 10:50 on the morning of Ralph's arrest, the interrogation first turned to the rape in Kensington, Maryland. Ralph is alleged to have confessed to the commission of that offense shortly after 11:00 in the presence of Lieutenant Eichelberger, Lieutenant Whalen of the Montgomery County Police and the victim, Mrs. Peck. At 11:38 he was taken before a magistrate for a preliminary hearing in connection with the District of Columbia crime. Shortly thereafter he was extradited to Maryland where he was subsequently tried for the Kensington rape. His alleged oral confession was admitted in evidence at his trial; he was convicted and sentenced to death.

Ralph attacks the admission in evidence of his confession on a number of grounds. Principally, he contends that his confession was inadmissible because it was the product of an illegal arrest and because it was obtained after an unnecessary delay by federal officers in charging him before a magistrate.

It should be noted at the outset that the power of a federal court to review on habeas corpus a state court proceeding is strictly limited. This court has no general supervisory powers over state courts and our inquiry must be confined to determining whether, in the circumstances here, the admission of Ralph's oral confession into evidence at trial constituted a denial of due process of law. See Gallegos v. Nebraska, 342 U.S. 55, 72 S.Ct. 141, 96 L.Ed. 86 (1951). Of course, in deciding this question we are not bound by the state court's conclusion and, indeed, must make an independent determination of that issue. Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10 L.Ed.2d 513 (1963); Haley v. Ohio, 332 U.S. 596, 68 S.Ct. 302, 92 L.Ed. 224 (1948); Ashcraft v. Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 147-148, 64 S.Ct. 921, 88 L.Ed. 1192 (1944).

Ralph contends that his arrest was illegal in that (1) it was without probable cause, and (2) it was an arrest merely for investigation. These contentions were treated separately in the brief and oral argument of the appellant and we shall so consider them here.

We turn first to the question of probable cause for arrest. The existence of "probable cause" is to be determined by the application of a practical, not a technical, standard. The meaning of the phrase has been so frequently stated as to require little elaboration here. See, e. g., Kerr v. California, 374 U.S. 23, 83 S.Ct. 1623, 10 L.Ed.2d 726 (1963); Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949); Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925); United States v. Peisner, 311 F.2d 94, 104 (4 Cir. 1962). Probable cause is something more than mere suspicion and something less than evidence which would justify a conviction.⁵ The essence of all definitions...