United States v. LaVallee

Citation225 F. Supp. 278
Decision Date02 January 1964
Docket NumberCiv. No. 9498.
PartiesUNITED STATES of America ex rel. Anthony C. RICCO, Petitioner, v. Hon. J. Edwin LaVALLEE, Warden of Clinton Prison, Dannemora, New York, Respondent.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

Anthony C. Ricco, pro se.

Louis J. Lefkowitz, Atty. Gen. of New York, Albany, N. Y., Joseph J. Rose, Albany, N. Y., of counsel, for respondent.

JAMES T. FOLEY, Chief Judge.

This is another of the numerous habeas corpus applications that are so time-consuming for two judges in this District Court owing to the fact the serious claim of the use of a coerced confession at a New York criminal trial is made. (See United States ex rel. Kiernan v. LaVallee (NDNY), 191 F. Supp. 455; United States ex rel. Martin v. Murphy, D.C., 208 F.Supp. 562; 2 Cir., 319 F.2d 897; United States ex rel. Walker v. LaVallee, (NDNY), 224 F. Sup. 661). By rulings of the highest judicial authority in the land that under our legal system must be followed by federal and state courts, it is now settled law that the federal courts must make independent examination of the record in these presentations to determine the merit of the claim. The performance of such duty cannot be foreclosed by the findings of a court, or the verdict of a jury, or both. (Payne v. Arkansas, 356 U.S. 560, 562, 78 S.Ct. 844, 2 L.Ed.2d 975; Spano v. People of State of New York, 360 U.S. 315, 79 S.Ct. 1202, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265; Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 515, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10 L.Ed. 2d 513). With this delicate responsibility imposed by the Supreme Court of the United States, it seems well to point out that the federal District Judge needs the cooperation and assistance of the Attorney General of New York and the District Attorneys throughout that State in obtaining the necessary records for review. It is most helpful, when it is necessary,—and usually it is, — that the complete state trial record be submitted to the District Judge for retention and use of the same when he can reach the matter for decision. Answering affidavits of the Attorney General, or the particular District Attorney involved, from my experience, have great value when they refer by page number to the various parts of the trial record pertaining to the voluntariness issue of the admissions or confessions. Reference in the same manner should be made to the pages that contain the rulings during the trial and charge of the State trial Judge on these issues. It is an aid at times to have submitted the printed briefs from the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals when such are in existence and contain these same type references and contentions in relation to the coerced confession issue. (See United States ex rel. Wade v. Jackson, 144 F.Supp. 458, 460; Reversed 2 Cir., 256 F.2d 7; cert. den. 357 U.S. 908, 78 S.Ct. 1152, 2 L.Ed.2d 1158). I make these statements as serious suggestions because the burden of these matters is becoming severe, in my judgment, for the State legal officers as well as the District Judges and wholehearted cooperation between the state prosecutive and legal officers is necessary to cope with these increasing applications. There are practical problems ever present in this District due to confinement of the prisoners upstate that in every instance brings these serious and substantial questions here by the jurisdictional provisions of the federal habeas corpus statutes after the trials are held in New York City or Brooklyn or the surrounding metropolitan areas and counties. (28 U.S.C.A. § 2241; Ahrens v. Clark, 335 U.S. 188, 68 S.Ct. 1443, 92 L.Ed. 1898). It is evident that more hearings than previously held are in store for this District Court in view of the ruling in Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 311-312, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770. It should be realized that in some instances a full and productive hearing may be impossible in this District far from New York City, because under the range of the present subpoena power in a civil proceeding our subpoena process in this District could not reach into New York City and Brooklyn. If hearings are not to be handicapped by failure of effective process, it may be there should be extension of the subpoena range in habeas corpus proceedings. In several important habeas corpus hearings I have held there was serious inconvenience caused for responsible and busy citizens, such as doctors, judges, lawyers, detectives and others concerned by the need for travel to Albany from the New York City area, and being compelled at times to remain in Albany for several days. Again it may be that thought should be given to a provision in the federal habeas corpus statute that would allow discretionary transfer of hearings to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York where the state trial was held and where the pertinent records and material witnesses are usually available, and where the federal Courthouses are within subway distance for all concerned. (See 28 U.S.C.A. § 1404). As well as furthering the efficient administration of justice in habeas corpus, this might alleviate the situation pointed out by Judge Friendly of the Court of Appeals, Second Circuit recently that the happenstance of location of prisons in upstate New York has resulted in a disproportionate share of the habeas corpus burden being borne by the District Judges for the Northern and Western Districts of New York. (United States ex rel. McGrath v. LaVallee, 2 Cir., 319 F.2d 308, pg. 318).

The petitioner here was convicted in the Court of General Sessions, New York County, in 1953 of the crimes of possessing and selling narcotics, and was sentenced as a prior felony offender to a term of 7½ to 15 years. The conviction was affirmed without opinion. (People v. Indiviglio, 284 App.Div. 1032, 136 N.Y. S.2d 363). It was affirmed, no opinion, by the Court of Appeals, New York. (308 N.Y. 1036, 127 N.E.2d 869). In 1955 the Court of Appeals, on motion, amended its remittitur to state specifically that the denial of application for a preliminary hearing before receipt of a confession in evidence was not a denial of due process or violation of rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution. (309 N.Y. 805, 130 N.E.2d 608). Certiorari was denied Ricco v. People of State of N. Y., 350 U.S. 918, 76 S.Ct. 206, 100 L.Ed. 804. More than ten years after the conviction the present petition, handwritten in form but with intelligent and clear presentation of fact and law, was filed directly with me in this District Court. I issued an order to show cause to the Attorney General of New York State and the District Attorney of New York County where the trial was held and the conviction rendered. The Assistant Attorney General has filed an adequate answering affidavit, but unfortunately without reference to the pages of trial record noted previously as a most important assistance. The office of District Attorney Hogan, a distinguished District Attorney of New York, did not appear or answer in any manner. This has been the custom and practice of that office in regard to these applications from my memory, except in only one or two instances. By effort of my own office, a transcript of the trial record was forwarded at my request from the Law Library, Supreme Court of New York, General Sessions Branch, 100 Centre Street, New York City 13, N. Y., where it shall be returned by mail. The references in this decision are to the numbered pages of that particular transcript of the trial. I had to find my own way through this 653 page record and shall endeavor to point out by page reference the portions of the record that relate to the issue in order that some help may be given to the Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, when the inevitable appeal is filed from this decision of denial.

My review of the record does not permit the finding of coercion and involuntariness that would lead to the drastic conclusion that would void this ten-year-old conviction. As indicated recently by Judge Smith in United States ex rel. Williams v. Fay, 2 Cir., 323 F.2d 65, 67, a reasonable guide for decision in these perplexing problems is comparison of the particular facts involved with the facts of prior decided cases which have found confessions to be coerced. In the most recent writing by the Supreme Court, Justice Goldberg emphasized again that whether...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT