United States ex rel. LaBelle v. Mancusi

• Decision Date: 03 December 1968
• Docket Number: No. 209,Docket 31404.,209
• Citation: 404 F.2d 690
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America ex rel. Edward F. LaBELLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Hon. Vincent MANCUSI, Warden of Attica State Prison, Attica, New York, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

404 F.2d 690 (1968)

UNITED STATES of America ex rel. Edward F. LaBELLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Hon. Vincent MANCUSI, Warden of Attica State Prison, Attica, New York, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 209, Docket 31404.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued December 3, 1968.

Decided December 3, 1968.

Jeffrey A. Barist, New York City (Anthony F. Marra, New York City, on the brief), for petitioner-appellant.

Lillian B. Cohen, New York City (Louis J. Lefkowitz, Atty. Gen. of the State of New York, Samuel A. Hirshowitz, First Asst. Atty. Gen., and Brenda

Soloff, Asst. Atty. Gen., on the brief), for respondent-appellee.

Before LUMBARD, Chief Judge, FRIENDLY, Circuit Judge, and RYAN, District Judge.^*

LUMBARD, Chief Judge:

The petitioner, Edward F. LaBelle, confined to Attica State Prison following his conviction in Rensselaer County Court for a rape and murder committed on November 28, 1963, appeals from the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus by the District Court for the Western District of New York. The recent decision of the Supreme Court in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), which the Court subsequently made retroactive in Roberts v. Russell, 392 U.S. 293, 88 S. Ct. 1921, 20 L.Ed.2d 1100 (1968), leaves us no alternative but to direct the issuance of the writ unless within a reasonable time the State retries LaBelle. Although we indicated in open court that the order of the district court must be reversed, the importance of the case and the heinous nature of the crimes for which petitioner was convicted require a statement of our reasons.

Edward F. LaBelle was tried jointly with his brother, Richard, for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl named Rosemary Snay. It was the prosecution's theory that the murder was committed on November 28, 1963, between the hours of 8:00 and 11:00 P.M. The state court record shows that although there were no eye witnesses to the crime, testimony was introduced which showed that the brothers were seen together between 7:00 and 8:00 P.M. on that day, that Edward was seen talking to the girl during that time, and that the girl was last seen being followed by the brothers in their automobile. Another witness testified that the brothers were together at approximately 10:45 P.M. of that day. In addition, physical evidence — including blood samples, pieces of clothing and hair — was introduced which showed that the girl had been in the car. A hatchet and crowbar discovered in the trunk of the car were found to have human blood and hair on them which corresponded with the blood type and hair of the victim.

Neither brother testified at trial. However, a written statement made by Richard after his arrest, and held to be voluntary in a pre-trial Huntley hearing in the county court, was read into evidence after redactions were made. In addition, witnesses testified as to oral statements made by Edward at the time of his arrest. These statements were also the subject of a Huntley-type hearing and also found to be voluntary, despite a delay of twenty hours between arrest and arraignment.

Petitioner's counsel, relying on Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), claims that even as redacted the admission in evidence of Richard's statement was so prejudicial as to require the reversal of Edward LaBelle's conviction, despite the fact that the jury was charged that the statement was not evidence against Edward. We must reluctantly agree.

In Bruton admissions made by one defendant were introduced at trial, but the jury was instructed not to consider these admissions in determining the guilt of a co-defendant. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction of the co-defendant, holding that he had been denied his Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine an adverse witness because of the failure of the confessing defendant to take the stand. The Court concluded that it was not realistic to assume that the limiting instructions had removed the inculpating confession from the minds of the jurors as they considered the non-confessing defendant's guilt.

In our case Richard's confession was redacted with the intention of removing those portions which were inculpatory to Edward. Since Bruton left open the possibility that a confession could be sufficiently redacted to remove any prejudice to a co-defendant the state asks us to affirm the denial of the writ, and thus require petitioner to submit initially to the state courts the question of the applicability of Bruton to the facts of this case.

After a careful examination of the version of Richard's confession which was admitted...