Ridge v. Turner
| Decision Date | 07 June 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 517-70.,517-70. |
| Citation | 444 F.2d 3 |
| Parties | John RIDGE, Appellee, v. John W. TURNER, Warden, Utah State Prison, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Clifford L. Beem, Denver, Colo., for appellee.
Vernon B. Romney, Atty. Gen., and Lauren N. Beasley, Chief Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant.
Before SETH, McWILLIAMS and DOYLE, Circuit Judges.
On June 16, 1965, the appellee, John Ridge, was charged with the crime of robbery in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-51-1 (1953), and imprisoned in the Salt Lake County Jail.
The appellee was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to the robbery charge on June 17, 1965. Following a preliminary hearing held on July 12, 1965, the appellee was bound over to stand trial in the Third Judicial District Court in Salt Lake County.
On September 1, 1965, the appellee escaped from the county jail, but was captured and returned to the jail on September 4, 1965. Shortly thereafter (on September 8, 1965) the appellee withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty to the crime of robbery. He was then sentenced to serve an indeterminate term of five years to life in the Utah State Prison.
After exhausting his state remedies, appellee petitioned the United States District Court for the District of Utah seeking a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that his plea of guilty had been coerced as a result of beatings administered in the Salt Lake County Jail. The petition was filed on or about June 17, 1969.
At the hearing held on August 27 and 28, 1969, several witnesses gave testimony that the appellee had been beaten on his return to the jail. A question arose as to whether an officer had stomped on the petitioner's hand, and the hearing was recessed in order to obtain medical testimony. At a hearing held on May 19, 1970, the appellee testified that Captain George A. Nielsen had stomped on his hand when he was returned to the jail following his escape. It was after the escape that the appellee said he was coerced into confessing to the crime and pleading guilty. He testified that he feared further beatings and wanted to get out of that jail as soon as possible. Captain Nielsen, who testified at this hearing, denied any beating by himself or the deputies in his company. The hearing was continued because the district court judge wanted testimony from the doctor who operated on the appellee's hand.
On June 17, 1970, the hearing was concluded when the doctor could not be located. At the conclusion of this hearing, the district court judge granted the writ and discharged the appellee.
The important issue before the Court is whether the district court's findings of fact that the guilty plea was involuntarily entered was "clearly erroneous or without support in the record." Crail v. United States, 430 F.2d 459 (10th Cir. 1970). A secondary issue presented is whether the trial court abused its discretion in ordering Ridge immediately discharged.
We conclude that the court's judgment voiding the conviction was amply supported by the evidence and should be affirmed, and that the order of absolute discharge was not proper.
It is well settled that Machibroda v. United States, 368 U.S. 487, 493, 82 S.Ct. 510, 513, 7 L.Ed.2d 473 (1962).1
Counsel on both sides agree that the burden rests on Ridge to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that his guilty plea was coerced. See, e. g., Crail v. United States, supra, 430 F.2d at 460. Whether the guilty plea was coerced and involuntary is a question of fact, and the district court's findings are not to be disturbed unless such findings are "clearly erroneous or without support in the record." Id.
Following a review of the record we conclude that there is ample support for the district court's factual determination that Ridge's guilty plea was coerced. The trial judge decided that after the petitioner's escape and return to the Salt Lake County Jail, he "was placed in the `hole' in the Salt Lake County Jail and beaten severely about his body by attendants at the Salt Lake County Jail; that in order to be removed from the `hole' and avoid further beatings, petitioner changed his plea to guilty and on September 8, 1965, was committed to the Utah State Prison for the term of five years to life."
John Ridge testified on several occasions as to three beatings which he said had been inflicted on him. The first was supposed to have occurred in July when prison officials allegedly threw him down a flight of stairs. This attack was corroborated by an inmate who, while not witnessing the specific blows struck by the officers, testified to seeing Ridge struggling with several officers and then being catapulted down the stairs. No testimony was introduced corroborating the second beating, which was said to have occurred immediately after his arrest.
The third alleged beating took place, according to Ridge, after he was returned to jail following escape and rearrest. It was this attack which persuaded the district court that Ridge's change of plea was involuntary. One inmate testified to hearing Ridge scream and to hearing sounds of "flesh on flesh." Another inmate who worked for the prison doctor testified to seeing bruises all over Ridge's body soon after the incident. A third inmate related conversations he had with Ridge about the beatings and the pain Ridge felt in his hand, and testified to seeing bruises on Ridge's body. Two others testified that surgery was performed on Ridge's hand, and the court observed that evidence of injuries to his hand still remained at the time of the federal habeas hearing. Against this evidence was the testimony of four officers who denied the beatings.
After hearing the testimony from both sides the judge concluded that the evidence clearly established that John Ridge had been attacked and beaten by the prison officials:
Decisions regarding the credibility of witnesses are, of course, the province of the trier of fact. There is adequate credible evidence in support of the finding and conclusion that the guilty plea was coerced.
The second issue before this Court is whether the...
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