United States v. McNeill

• Decision Date: 10 January 1958
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America ex rel. RuthARNUM, Petitioner, v. John F. McNEILL, M.D., as Director of Matteawan State Hospital, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

157 F. Supp. 882

UNITED STATES of America ex rel. RuthARNUM, Petitioner, v. John F. McNEILL, M.D., as Director of Matteawan State Hospital, Respondent.

United States District Court S. D. New York.

January 10, 1958.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ruth Farnum, petitioner, pro se.

Louis J. Lefkowitz, Atty. Gen., for respondent, Isadore Siegel, Asst. Atty. Gen., in charge of Div. of Mental Hygiene, of counsel.

LEVET, District Judge.

Ruth Farnum, an inmate of Matteawan State Hospital for the criminally insane, has petitioned this court for a writ of habeas corpus.

Upon the initial petition, a handwritten letter dated June 14, 1957, the application for the writ was denied since it did not appear that the petitioner had exhausted her state remedies or that the procedure followed by state officials in obtaining her commitment was violative of due process. However, by order dated July 16, 1957, an application by the petitioner for reargument was granted, and the clerk of this court was directed to issue a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum directing that petitioner be produced.

At the court's suggestion and at petitioner's request, she was assigned an able and experienced attorney to represent her. When the matter came on for hearing, however, the petitioner, in open court, arbitrarily and capriciously rejected his services. Nevertheless, as a friend of the court, he attended the first session. Petitioner was also afforded ample opportunity to obtain counsel of her own choosing, but she did not do so.

Hearings on reargument of the application for habeas corpus were held on September 11, October 4 and November 18, 1957. After hearing the petitioner upon her own behalf, and the Attorney General on behalf of the respondent, and after examining the exhibits, affidavits and briefs or memoranda submitted on behalf of the respective parties, I have concluded that the petitioner's confinement is not violative of due process and that no basis exists for the granting of a writ of habeas corpus by this court.

The following is a summary of the facts relating to petitioner's confinement:

1. On July 3, 1948, the petitioner was arrested on a charge of assault in the third degree. The arrest was made in petitioner's apartment by two police officers without a warrant over eight hours after the commission of the alleged assault. A complaint was sworn out by Hazel Mathis, the victim of the alleged assault, and petitioner was arraigned before New York City Magistrate Harry G. Andrews. The complaint was read to the petitioner, and she was informed of her right to secure an adjournment in order to obtain counsel or witnesses. She pleaded not guilty and requested an adjournment. The case was thereupon adjourned to July 6, 1948, petitioner being paroled in her own custody.

2. The case was subsequently adjourned from July 6, 1948 to July 12, 1948 in order to permit petitioner to obtain counsel of her own choosing.

3. On July 12, 1948, petitioner appeared before Magistrate Morris Ploscowe and requested an adjournment on the ground that her attorney was out of town. When questioned by the Magistrate, petitioner refused to reveal the name of the attorney because she had not yet engaged him and she did not know whether she would in fact retain him. Petitioner refused to have counsel assigned to her and agreed to return at 2:00 P.M. with an attorney. That afternoon, petitioner appeared with counsel. A conference in chambers ensued, during which petitioner disappeared. A warrant for petitioner's arrest was issued.

4. On August 24, 1948, the petitioner was brought before Magistrate Andrews by an officer. Petitioner waived examination. Bail was fixed at $100 and the case was referred to the Court of Special Sessions for trial.

5. An information charging petitioner with assault in the third degree was filed in the Court of Special Sessions on September 16, 1948.

6. After several adjournments, petitioner was tried in the Court of Special Sessions on January 3, 1949 before Judges Nathan D. Perlman, Joseph V. Loscalzo and William B. Northrop and was found guilty. At the trial she was represented by counsel of her own choosing. After her conviction, but before sentence, she was ordered committed to Bellevue Hospital for observation and report.

7. On January 26, 1949, a report was submitted by the Psychiatric Division of Bellevue Hospital to the Court of Special Sessions stating that petitioner was in such a state of insanity as to be incapable of understanding the charges made against her.

8. On February 14, 1949, Judge Northrop on his own motion ordered petitioner's convictions set aside, and further ordered petitioner discharged on her own recognizance.

9. On February 25, 1949, Hon. Benedict D. Dineen of the New York Supreme Court, New York County, granted petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the record of the proceedings in the Court of Special Sessions did not lay an adequate foundation for petitioner's commitment. Petitioner was ordered returned to the Court of Special Sessions for further proceedings.

10. On February 25, 1949, petitioner's case was restored to the calendar in the Court of Special Sessions and a bench warrant was issued to bring petitioner back from Bellevue Hospital. Petitioner entered a plea of not guilty and bail was fixed in the amount of $5,000.

11. On March 1, 1949, on motion of the District Attorney, Judges Northrop, Loscalzo and Perlman of the Court of Special Sessions, by whom petitioner had been found guilty, unanimously voted to vacate the February 14, 1949 order of Judge Northrop, which had purported to set aside the judgment of conviction against petitioner. March 9, 1949 was set as the date of sentencing. It does not appear that petitioner or counsel representing her was present to oppose the motion of the District Attorney.

12. On March 9, 1949, petitioner's motion for arrest of judgment was denied and she was again ordered committed to Bellevue Hospital for observation and report.

13. By letter dated March 17, 1949, the Psychiatric Division of Bellevue Hospital advised the Court of Special Sessions that petitioner was suffering from a mental disorder diagnosed as a paranoid condition. Her commitment to a State mental institution was recommended.

14. On April 8, 1949, Hon. John E. McGeehan of the New York Supreme Court, New York County, granted petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that she had been confined at Bellevue Hospital for an unreasonably long period of time. Petitioner was again remanded to the Court of Special Sessions for a sanity hearing.

15. A hearing on petitioner's sanity took place in the Court of Special Sessions on April 25 through April 28, 1949, before Judges Irving Ben Cooper, Myles A. Paige and Irwin D. Davidson. Petitioner was represented by two attorneys and a record of 473 pages was compiled. Decision was reserved, to be rendered on May 3, 1949.

16. On May 3, 1949, the following decision was rendered in open court:

"Justice Cooper: On the basis of all the proceedings heretofore had from the inception of this case, on the various rulings heretofore entered and made part of the record, on the basis of the Bellevue Hospital report dated January 26, 1949 and the subsequent communications addressed to this Court by that institution, on the basis of the proceedings had before this particular tribunal made up of myself and my learned colleagues, Judge Davidson and Judge Paige, we feel that we have complied with every prerequisite laid down in the Code, particularly Section 875 Code Cr.Proc. and the various sections referred to therein, and it is our seasoned and reflected judgment that this defendant will best be treated in the Matteawan State Hospital, and an order will be entered to that effect."

17. Thereafter, an order was signed committing petitioner to Matteawan State Hospital until no longer in such a state of insanity as to be incapable of understanding the charge against her or of making her defense thereto.

It is clear from the foregoing summary of facts that petitioner's case was beset with certain irregularities from its inception. However, the sole question before this court is whether these irregularities, either singly or collectively, rendered petitioner's ultimate confinement at Matteawan State Hospital violative of due process. In my opinion, this question must be answered in the negative.

There can be little doubt that petitioner's arrest without a warrant for a misdemeanor, not committed in the presence of the arresting officers, was illegal. New York Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 177. However, while such an illegal arrest may give rise to a personal liability on the part of the arresting officer (see Gill v. Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc., 3rd Dept.1954, 284 App.Div. 36, 129 N.Y.S.2d 288, 49 A.L.R. 2d 1452), the New York courts have consistently held that it does not affect the validity of subsequent proceedings against the person arrested, e. g., Rose v. McKean, Sup.Ct.1948, 190 Misc. 982, 76 N.Y.S.2d 391; People v. Baxter, Co.Ct. 1942, 178 Misc. 625, 36 N.Y.S.2d 1020, appeal dismissed App.Div., 37 N.Y.S.2d 489; People v. Iverson, 2nd Dept.1899, 46 App.Div. 301, 61 N.Y.S. 220.

Consequently, petitioner's illegal arrest provides no basis for the granting of a writ of habeas corpus by this court. See Stallings v. Splain, 1920, 253 U.S. 339, 343, 40 S.Ct. 537, 64 L.Ed. 940; United States ex rel. Ling Yee Suey v. Spar, 2 Cir., 1945, 149 F.2d 881, 883; Curran v. Shuttleworth, 6 Cir., 1950, 180 F.2d 780, 781; United States ex rel. Brink v. Claudy, D.C.W.D.Pa., 1951, 96 F.Supp. 220, 224, affirmed 3 Cir., 195...