Whitley v. State of North Carolina

• Decision Date: 07 February 1966
• Docket Number: No. 10282.,10282.
• Parties: Bruce WHITLEY, Appellant, v. STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, Hugh Logan, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

357 F.2d 75 (1966)

Bruce WHITLEY, Appellant, v. STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, Hugh Logan, Appellees.

No. 10282.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued January 6, 1966.

Decided February 7, 1966.

James Dennis Rash, Charlotte, N. C. (Court-assigned counsel) Moore & Van Allen, Charlotte, N. C., on the brief for appellant.

Theodore C. Brown, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen. of North Carolina, (T. W. Bruton, Atty. Gen. of North Carolina, on the brief) for appellees.

Before SOBELOFF, BOREMAN and BRYAN, Circuit Judges.

SOBELOFF, Circuit Judge:

The District Court dismissed Bruce Whitley's petition for writ of habeas corpus on the ground that he had "made no attempt to present all the questions here raised, including the question of a coerced plea of guilty, by means of post-conviction hearing, appeal or petition for writ of certiorari, to the Supreme Court of North Carolina."

During the October, 1961, term of the Nash County Superior Court Whitley was convicted on four counts of breaking and entering. He then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the Nash County Superior Court, alleging that he had been denied counsel at his trial. Treating the petition for habeas corpus as a request for post-conviction relief under the North Carolina Post-Conviction Hearing Act, N.C.Gen.Stat. § 15-217, the Superior Court on January 9, 1964, ordered a new trial. In February, 1964, Whitley through his court-appointed attorney entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced by the Nash County Superior Court to a term of five to seven years. It is this plea of guilty which formed the basis of Whitley's petition to the District Court.

The petitioner alleged, among other things, that his plea was coerced.¹ His petition stated that the trial judge was

"prejudiced toward Petitioner in that he did state in open Court that if Petitioner had entered a plea of not guilty and had been found guilty by a jury his Honor would have given Petitioner at least double his original sentence. That Petitioner had already been informed by the Sheriff of Nash County of the Court\'s intention and that Petitioner was forced to enter a plea of guilty."

In dismissing the petition on the ground that Whitley had failed to exhaust his available state remedies, we think the District Court erred.²

An examination of the record reveals that in December, 1964, Whitley filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the Nash County Superior Court, reciting that he "was forced to enter a plea of guilty to keep from getting a sentence at least twice his original sentence. Petitioner was informed by the sherriff sic of Nash County that if he entered a plea of not guilty and was found guilty, he was going to recieve sic a sentence at least double his original sentence."³ The Superior Court denied the "Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus," stating that the "petition fails to disclose the allegation of any facts which would make said sentence void, and also fails to allege any facts which would constitute a denial or violation of any constitutional rights of the petitioner." Whitley petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, reciting verbatim the allegations presented to the Superior Court above quoted, but the North Carolina Supreme Court denied certiorari on February 23, 1965.

On this appeal the State contends that because Whitley filed a "petition for writ of habeas corpus" rather than a petition under the North Carolina Post-conviction Hearing Act, the North Carolina courts have not had an opportunity to pass on Whitley's constitutional claims, but have instead been limited to a consideration of whether the sentencing court had jurisdiction to impose sentence. The State argues that Whitley, before he petitions the federal...