Thompson v. Cox
| Decision Date | 15 November 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 8255.,8255. |
| Citation | 352 F.2d 488 |
| Parties | Otto THOMPSON, Appellant, v. Harold A. COX, Warden New Mexico State Penitentiary, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
George E. Johnson, Denver, Colo., for appellant.
L. D. Harris, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen. (Boston E. Witt, Atty. Gen., with him on the brief), for appellee.
Before MURRAH, Chief Judge, and PICKETT and LEWIS, Circuit Judges.
This appeal is taken from an order of the District Court for the District of New Mexico denying, after a full evidentiary hearing, petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus. Appellant is presently confined in the New Mexico State Penitentiary pursuant to a life sentence imposed by the state court after a trial to jury resulting in a verdict of guilty to the crime of murder. The sentence was imposed in 1952. Appellant asserts that his conviction was premised upon a confession admitted during the trial which was involuntary as a matter of law. The district court found that the confession was voluntary as a matter of fact.
On December 25, 1951, appellant walked into the police station at Artesia, New Mexico, and stated that he had shot and killed a man. At such time he was intoxicated and was immediately arrested as drunk and disorderly. On December 26, he was taken before a justice of the peace and received a sentence of six days. Upon being questioned as to his statement concerning the killing, appellant retracted but agreed to submit to a lie detector test. The test was immediately given and was followed on December 27 by an interrogation of appellant after injections of sodium pentothal. On December 28, appellant confessed in detail to participation with others in a robbery during the course of which a Mexican National was killed by a co-participant. At the time of his confession appellant was without counsel. There is no evidence that he was affirmatively denied such right. Compare Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977. He was represented by competent counsel at all stages of his actual trial.
At the evidentiary hearing before the court below, appellant's principal contention was that he was coerced into submission to injections of sodium pentothal on December 27 and was still under the influence of the drug on December 28, the date of his confession. The trial court fully explored both factual contentions and specifically found that appellant had voluntarily submitted to the medication and that the effect of the drug had dissipated by December 28. The findings are amply supported by lay and medical testimony. Upon appeal, emphasis is shifted to the claim that the "unorthodox" procedures of the state authorities when considered under the totality of the circumstances constitutes denial to appellant of a federal constitutional right. We agree with appellant to the extent that the recited procedures dictate appellant's right to a "fair hearing in which both the underlying factual...
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Commonwealth v. Hill
...341 Pa. 541, 548, 19 A.2d 389, 393 (1941); Commonwealth v. Hipple, 333 Pa. 33, 39, 3 A.2d 353, 355–356 (1939). See: Thompson v. Cox, 352 F.2d 488 (10th Cir.1965); United States v. McDevitt, 328 F.2d 282 (6th Cir.1964).Schneider, 562 A.2d at 870–871. Furthermore, a confession is not involunt......
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Com. v. Schneider
...341 Pa. 541, 548, 19 A.2d 389, 393 (1941); Commonwealth v. Hipple, 333 Pa. 33, 39, 3 A.2d 353, 355-356 (1939). See: Thompson v. Cox, 352 F.2d 488 (10th Cir.1965); United States v. McDevitt, 328 F.2d 282 (6th Cir.1964). A confession is not involuntary merely because it was made in anticipati......
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Wakaksan v. United States
...confession was involuntary. Birnbaum v. United States, 356 F.2d 856, 865 (8th Cir. 1966); Mitchell v. Stephens, supra; Thompson v. Cox, 352 F.2d 488 (10th Cir. 1965). The finding as to voluntariness is fully supported by the evidence and will not be disturbed. Thomas v. Commonwealth of Virg......
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Nickel v. Hannigan
...115 S.Ct. 271, 130 L.Ed.2d 189 (1994); see also United States v. Guerro, 983 F.2d 1001, 1004 (10th Cir.1993) (same); Thompson v. Cox, 352 F.2d 488, 489 (10th Cir.1965) (holding that the petitioner's confession to police was voluntary where there was no evidence that any information gained b......