United States v. Murphy

Decision Date31 August 1962
Docket NumberCiv. No. 8131.
PartiesUNITED STATES of America ex rel. Floyd Edgar MARTIN, Petitioner, v. Hon. Robert E. MURPHY, Warden of Auburn Prison, Auburn, New York, Respondent.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

Andrew V. Clements, Albany, N. Y., for petitioner.

Louis J. Lefkowitz, Atty. Gen. of New York, Albany, N. Y., for respondent Warden, Roger E. Davis, (now retired), Dist. Atty., Wayne County, Newark, N. Y., Raymond B. Madden, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel.

JAMES T. FOLEY, District Judge.

In a seven-page memorandum-decision and order dated September 1, 1960, I denied without a hearing a petition filed by Martin for a writ of habeas corpus. (D.C., 187 F.Supp. 395). As expressed in the decision, I granted therein without further application a certificate of probable cause to review such denial because of the many imponderables and immense variety of viewpoint expressed by the federal appellate judges in relation to the question presented.

Such question is undeniably one of federal substance but, incredibly, in my judgment, has now become a common and routine challenge in this District Court. (See United States ex rel. Kiernan v. LaVallee, D.C., 191 F.Supp. 455). It involves the admission in evidence of two confessions taken from the petitioner by the State Troopers of New York during his trial in 1946 resulting in a conviction by a jury of murder, first degree, and a sentence to death by execution rendered on November 7, 1946. The death sentence, after unanimous affirmance by the Court of Appeals, New York, was commuted June 4, 1947 by Governor Dewey to life imprisonment.

There is no need for repetition of the totality of facts and circumstances that I gleaned and reviewed from the lengthy State trial record and thought compelling to support my conclusion that neither confession was coerced or involuntary. My conclusion was based upon the prescribed federal test outlined in numerous writings by the Supreme Court, and read often by reason of continuous contact with these murder cases. It is that the search for violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and its constitutional concept of due process must be an appraisal of all the circumstances in the differing factual situations. In one of his last great contributions to this important field of federal-state relationship in the administration of criminal justice involving confessions used in State trials, Mr. Justice Frankfurter in a massive review of the federal principles and limitations, in my judgment, again brings back balance, practicality and wisdom to these delicate problems. His flinty and keen remarks as to the consequences of the presence of a lawyer at these police interrogatories point out the facts of life known to every lawyer and judge with experience in the criminal field. There is renewed clarity of a principle so necessary to preserve the balance in the interests of society by the expression that in a long series of cases the Supreme Court has held that the Fourteenth Amendment does not prohibit a State from such detention and examination of a suspect as, under all the circumstances, is found not to be coercive. It is emphasized that the McNabb rule for federal criminal cases has not been extended to State prosecutions as a requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment. The foremost principle which should alleviate some of the confusion in these delicate problems is phrased by stating that the ultimate test remains that which has been the only clearly established test in Anglo-American courts for two hundred years: the test of voluntariness. (Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 578-579, 590-592, 600-602, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037).

This dissertation is far afield from the simple task before me. By a per curiam decision and order dated December 14, 1960, the Court of Appeals granted the petitioner leave to appeal in forma pauperis, "and upon the papers before us the case is remanded to the district court for a determination whether the relator was timely notified of his right to counsel after arraignment. See Crooker v. State of California, 357 U.S. 433, 439 78 S.Ct. 1287, 2 L.Ed.2d 1448 (1958); U. S. ex rel. Reid v. Richmond, 277 F.2d 702 (2nd Cir. 1960); cf. People v. Di Biasi, 7 N.Y.2d 544 200 N.Y.S.2d 21, 166 N.E.2d 825 (1960)." It would seem a simple remand with narrow search for limited determination that could be easily accomplished by the most inexperienced fact-finder. However, I am frank to say, with all respect, that concern on my part is present because my perception is that the clause "timely notified of his right to counsel after arraignment" seems to give import and serious connotation to an isolated factor that from my viewpoint of the federal province may only be weighed as one pertinent element in the totality of circumstances. "Timely" has meaningful legal significance even to the law student, and to the dictionary reader means seasonable or opportune.

As directed by the Court of Appeals, I appointed as counsel Dean Andrew V. Clements to represent the petitioner in the presentation of his case. Although not so directed, the petitioner was brought down from Auburn Prison to Albany by a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum, a hearing held, and the petitioner testified, although he did not take the stand in his original trial in 1946. It was a most satisfactory hearing. Assistant Attorney General Madden and District Attorney Davis of Wayne County participated in behalf of the Warden and the People of the State of New York. An unusual occurrence in these long delayed challenges, and in my opinion one fortunate for the People, was that the Justice of the Peace before whom Martin was arraigned in 1946 and the District Attorney who prosecuted and convicted Martin testified at the hearing. The minutes were transcribed by my order for the use of Dean Clements who filed them with me with his scholarly brief. Such minutes shall now be filed by the Clerk of the Court as part of the record. My references hereinafter are to the transcript of the hearing.

My overall impression of the testimony at the hearing is that the petitioner was not victimized in the taking of either statement by physical or psychological coercion. In my mind, my previous judgment was reinforced after the evaluation of the testimony produced at the hearing that both confessions were freely and voluntarily given. The petitioner admitted the troopers used no physical force or violence or threats of the same during his interrogation in either instance. (Tr. 28-29). His background was not that of the illiterate, the uneducated, or the imbecile that gives concern in these situations as easy targets for overreaching by experienced questioners. He was twenty years of age, had two years of high school and served three years in the Navy in theaters of war, and was discharged as Quartermaster, Second Class March 13, 1946. (Tr. 7-10). As to the statement taken at the County Jail on August 6, 1946, after he had been arraigned July 31, 1946, the petitioner testified that one trooper asked most of the questions and typed the answers, the petitioner corrected the statement with pen and ink, signed his initials and...

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  • Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • 20 Marzo 1989
    ...85 Cal.Rptr. 409, 417, 466 P.2d 961, 969 (1970). A matter is "timely" when it is seasonable or opportune. United States ex rel Martin v. Murphy, 208 F.Supp. 562, 564 (D.C.N.Y.1962). It's approval required a three-step process. On January 12, 1982, the communitization agreement was approved ......
  • United States v. LaVallee
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York
    • 2 Enero 1964
    ...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 j......
  • United States v. Murphy, 356
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • 2 Julio 1963
    ...was timely notified of his right to counsel after arraignment." The District Court held a hearing and again denied the petition. 208 F.Supp. 562 (N.D.N.Y.1962). This appeal is taken from that order of In brief summary, the facts upon which relator seeks to invalidate his conviction as lacki......
  • United States v. McMann, 107
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • 23 Julio 1965
    ...constitutional rights. When the case was last before us, 319 F.2d 897 (1963), we affirmed Judge Foley's order denying the petition, 208 F.Supp. 562 (1962), see also 187 F.Supp. 395 (1960), without reaching the merits, on the sole ground that, despite People v. Howard, 12 N.Y. 2d 65, 236 N.Y......
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