Walden v. United States, Civ. A. No. 75-151.

• Decision Date: 30 June 1976
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 75-151.
• Parties: Vernon E. WALDEN v. UNITED STATES of America.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

418 F. Supp. 386

Vernon E. WALDEN v. UNITED STATES of America.

Civ. A. No. 75-151.

United States District Court, E. D. Pennsylvania.

June 30, 1976.

Thomas M. Nocella, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff.

William J. McGettigan, Asst. U.S. Atty., Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant.

OPINION

DITTER, District Judge.

This case comes before the court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 on petitioner's motion to vacate the conviction which was entered following his plea of guilty to the charge of wilfully attempting to evade the payment of income taxes for the year 1971. Three¹ grounds are advanced in support of the motion. After carefully considering the evidence adduced at the hearing, the memoranda, and oral arguments of counsel, I conclude that petitioner is entitled to no relief.

Walden first asserts that at the time he entered his plea of guilty and for several weeks prior thereto he was receiving dosages of Valium and "sleeping powder" on a daily basis from the medical staff at Graterford State Prison as part of the treatment for a severe nervous condition. He argues that these daily drug treatments "so eroded his ability to reason and understand as to deprive his plea of having the quality of a knowing, voluntary act."² Despite the fact that before accepting petitioner's plea I questioned him and counsel thoroughly, and satisfied myself that petitioner was fully competent,³ I nonetheless accepted Magistrate Naythons' recommendation that a hearing be held on this issue. See Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963); Lopez v. United States, 439 F.2d 997 (9th Cir. 1971); United States v. Miranda, 437 F.2d 1255 (2d Cir. 1971), cert. denied 409 U.S. 874, 93 S.Ct. 207, 34 L.Ed.2d 126 (1972).

A person seeking to vacate his conviction bears the burden of proof upon each ground presented for relief. Day v. United States, 428 F.2d 1193, 1195 (8th Cir. 1970); Chandler v. United States, 332 F.Supp. 397, 403 (D.Md.1971); cf. Lepisco v. United States, 426 F.2d 769, 771 (3d Cir. 1970); United States ex rel. Tillman v. Alldredge, 350 F.Supp. 189 (E.D.Pa.1972). Therefore, Walden must show that at the time his plea was entered he was so influenced by drugs as to be incompetent to stand trial or incapable of understanding the nature and consequences of his plea. Grennett v. United States, 131 U.S.App. D.C. 202, 403 F.2d 928, 930 (1968); see also United States ex rel. Fitzgerald v. LaVallee, 461 F.2d 601, 604 (2d Cir.) cert. denied 409 U.S. 885, 93 S.Ct. 121, 34 L.Ed.2d 142 (1972); United States ex rel. Sadler v. United States, 315 F.Supp. 1377, 1379 (E.D. Pa.1970). Evidence of some drug use is not enough to establish as a matter of law that the defendant is lacking such competency or capacity. Grennett, supra, 403 F.2d at 931. The test of competency, as stated in Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960) is

". . . whether he the defendant has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding—and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him."

Id. at 402, 80 S.Ct. at 789. With these principles in mind, I proceed to a consideration of the evidence adduced at the hearing.

Three physicians and a pharmacologist were called as witnesses. Dr. Harvey Tapolow, chief psychiatrist at Graterford State Prison, saw Mr. Walden during the time Walden was incarcerated there. Dr. Tapolow had prescribed Valium, a tranquilizer which was discontinued 11 days prior to Walden's entry of his plea of guilty, Librium, a tranquilizer used in place of the Valium, and Dalmine, a sleeping medicine given at bedtime. It was Dr. Tapolow's opinion that these medications would not affect Mr. Walden's thought processes and that a reading of the transcript for the day in question, June 15, 1973, showed Walden was competent to enter a plea of guilty. He felt that had there been any effect from the medications it would have produced drowsiness, slurred speech or drooping eyes. At the time of the plea, neither Walden's attorney nor I noticed any such symptoms.

Similar medical opinions were received from Dr. Dennis M. Jurczak, a board certified psychiatrist employed by the Bureau of Prisons who had treated Mr. Walden while he was incarcerated at Danbury, and Dr. Francis H. Hoffman, a board certified psychiatrist who is head of the psychiatric division of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Only Dr. Martin Adler, a pharmacologist at the Temple University Medical School, thought that the drug dosages were in the "upper limits" or a "little high" and that there might be an effect on Mr. Walden's ability to think or make important decisions. Dr. Adler had never seen Mr. Walden nor had Dr. Adler read the notes of testimony from the day Mr. Walden's plea was entered. Dr. Adler spoke of the possible effects of the medications, but did not say that such effects had been produced in Mr. Walden. To make the record clear, however, insofar as there is any conflict between the testimony of Dr. Adler and Doctors Tapolow, Jurczak, and Hoffman I accept the latter and reject the former.

It is clear that the petitioner failed to satisfy his burden of proof that he was mentally or emotionally incapacitated. Mr. Walden asserts that if he had been in his right mind and thinking clearly, he would not have pleaded guilty. He also states that he recalls recovering from this condition sometime after June 15, 1973. Despite such statements, the testimony adduced at the evidentiary hearing overwhelmingly establishes that Mr. Walden was not rendered incompetent by the medications he took.

Petitioner next argues that his plea was induced by an "agreement" between his counsel and the United States Attorney's office as to the sentence which petitioner would receive, an agreement which was not honored.⁴ If true, these allegations would render Walden's plea involuntary. Santabello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 262, 92 S.Ct. 495, 499, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971); United States v. Valenciano, 495 F.2d 585, 587-88 (3d Cir. 1974); Moorehead v. United States, 456 F.2d 992, 995 (3d Cir. 1972). However if petitioner's counsel merely "predicted" the sentence Walden would likely receive after a guilty plea, the plea would not thereby be rendered involuntary. Paradiso v. United States, 482 F.2d 409, 412 (3d Cir. 1973); Masciola v. United States, 469 F.2d 1057, 1059 (3d Cir. 1972).

At the hearing,⁵ petitioner's attorney, Harry R. Seay, Esquire, testified that he had neither made a deal with the United States Attorney, nor had he represented to Walden that he would receive a sentence of two years or less if he pleaded guilty. Mr. Seay did admit that he had advised Walden that if he pleaded guilty and cooperated with the government's drug strike force, his cooperation would be made known to the Court at the time of sentencing.⁶ Mr. Seay said that he had had numerous discussions with Mr. Oliver Burt and Mr. J. Clayton Undercofler, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and felt that the government had a very strong case. The fact that the government was interested in Mr. Walden as a source of information reinforced his belief that cooperation by Walden, along with his guilty plea, could possibly result in a lower sentence. Although Mr. Walden's testimony at the hearing ran directly counter to that of his attorney, I find Mr. Seay's testimony to be creditable and reject Mr. Walden's insofar as it conflicts with that of Mr. Seay.⁷ The advice given to petitioner by Mr. Seay was perfectly appropriate under the circumstances and is in fact the very type of practical evaluation of a client's situation that a competent attorney should provide. Such advice clearly amounts to no more than a prediction "based on his counsel's experience in criminal matters, on his knowledge of the tendencies of the sentencing judge, or on any of a number of other factors unrelated to any putative agreement with the prosecutor," United States v. Hawthorne, 502 F.2d 1183, 1188 (3d Cir. 1974), and could not reasonably have been construed otherwise by Mr. Walden. Compare United States ex rel. Oliver v. Vincent, 498 F.2d 340, 345-46 (2d Cir. 1974); Mosher v. LaVallee, 351 F.Supp. 1101, 1111 (S.D.N. Y.1972), aff'd 491 F.2d 1346 (2d Cir.), cert. denied 416 U.S. 906, 94 S.Ct. 1611, 40 L.Ed.2d 111 (1974).

Petitioner's final ground for relief is that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel.⁸ Specifically, Walden argues that Mr. Seay told him that he had made no investigation of the charges against petitioner nor made any...