Carder v. Maxwell

298 F. Supp. 1056, 21 Ohio Misc. 7
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedApril 7, 1969
DocketNo. Civ. A67-16
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 298 F. Supp. 1056 (Carder v. Maxwell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carder v. Maxwell, 298 F. Supp. 1056, 21 Ohio Misc. 7 (S.D. Ohio 1969).

Opinion

Kinneary, District Judge.

Petitioner, a state prisoner, has brought this action for a writ of habeas corpus un[8]*8der Title 28, United States Code, Section 2241. An evidentiary hearing was held under the doctrine of Townsend v. Sain (1963), 372 U. S. 293, 83 S. Ct. 745, 9 L. Ed. 2d 770, because there were material facts which were not adequately developed in the state court proceedings.

Petitioner is presently serving two life sentences for, (1) first degree murder with premeditation, and, (2) first degree murder while in the perpetration of a robbery. These sentences were imposed by the Common Pleas Court of Fairfield County, Ohio, on September 17, 1964. Petitioner appealed these convictions to the Court of Appeals for Fairfield County, Ohio, which court affirmed the judgment of the Common Pleas Court. Upon appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio, the judgments of conviction were affirmed. State v. Carder (1966), 9 Ohio St. 2d 1. The exhaustion doctrine of 28 U. S. Code, Section 2254, thus is satisfied by a decision on the merits by the highest court of this state.

The issues presented to this court for decision are as follows:

1. The convictions and sentences under which petitioner is being detained, were imposed in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United . States Constitution, in that petitioner was deprived of his right to counsel during in-custody interrogation.

2. The convictions and sentences under which petitioner is being detained were imposed in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in that petitioner was compelled to be a witness against himself by the admission into evidence at his trial of involuntary statements made by him while in custody.

3. The convictions and sentences under which petitioner is being detained were imposed in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in that the fruits of an unlawful search and seizure were introduced into evidence by the state at petitioner’s trial and over his objection.

As specifically permitted by Rule 52 (a) of the Federal [9]*9Roles of Civil Procedure, all findings of fact and conclusions of law of this court appear in the body of this opinion and are not separately stated.

I

Petitioner’s first contention relates to a violation of due process of law of the Fourteenth Amendment in that he was deprived of his right to counsel during in-custody interrogation. Specifically, this violation allegedly occurred during two separate periods of interrogation, (1) beginning at approximately 9:00 a. m. on the morning of April 7, 1964, and continuing for the better part of that morning, the petitioner was questioned by various state and local law enforcement officials concerning his involvement in the homicide of Vanetta Brucker, and (2) on April 9, 1964, while in state custody and while being transported to the Juvenile Diagnostic Center in Columbus, the petitioner was questioned by the transporting officers concerning this same homicide. It is conceded that at neither of these periods of interrogation was a lawyer actually present with the petitioner.

The first point of inquiry concerning this contention will be directed at a determination of the legal standard to be applied to the facts in this case. Petitioner’s trial commenced on August 31, 1964, a date which occurs during the hiatus period between two celebrated Supreme Court cases. On June 22, 1964, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision in Escobedo v. Illinois (1964), 378 U. S. 478, 84 S. Ct. 1758, 12 L. Ed. 2d 977, which decision revised to a degree the legal rules relating to the availability of legal counsel to an accused and also admissibility of incriminating statements taken from an accused without the benefit of legal counsel or valid waiver thereof. Then, on June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision in Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U. S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 10 A. L. R. 3d 974, which elaborated on the legal principles announced in Escobedo with respect to the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and which to a certain extent altered and extended those principles.

[10]*10Thus, by the terms of Johnson v. New Jersey (1966), 384 U. S. 719, 86 S. Ct. 1772, 16 L. Ed. 2d 882, which declared that neither Escobedo nor Miranda were to be applied retroactively, the legal standards as announced in Escobedo only are applicable to this case. See State of Texas v. Payton (5th Cir. 1968), 390 F. 2d 261.

Initially, with respect to the petitioner’s allegation of deprivation of the right to counsel during in-custody interrogation, the court notes that at no place in the record does it appear that the petitioner was refused a request to consult with his lawyer. On the contrary, on more than one occasion the petitioner was asked whether he wished to see his parents or his attorney and he specifically indicated that he did not. This court cannot accept the proposition of the petitioner that the desire of counsel to see the petitioner, in spite of petitioner’s continued refusal to see anyone, is a situation to which the Escobedo standards were meant to apply. The Escobedo case does not require local law enforcement officials to allow a lawyer to see a person in custody where that person has expressly declared that he does not want to see a lawyer. The court also finds no merit in the argument that petitioner, because of his age, could not refuse the services of an attorney employed by his parents.

Further, with regard to the second conversation on April 9, 1964, alleged by the petitioner to have violated his constitutional right to counsel during in-custody interrogation, the court finds that the petitioner’s constitutional rights were not violated by the conversation of the juvenile officer, the police officer, and the petitioner on the trip to the Juvenile Diagnostic Center. There is no evidence in the record to indicate that this conversation was anything other than a product of a completely voluntary decision on the part of the petitioner to talk about the crime. This court cannot speculate as to the reasons why, after being admonished by at least two lawyers not to say anything, Carder insisted on discussing his involvement in the Brucker murder. Whether the motive was remorse, self guilt, or shame, it cannot be said that the petitioner’s constitutional rights were violated because he chose to talk freely about the matter to the state officials.

[11]*11n

The petitioner’s second contention relates to the voluntariness of the various statements he made to the police.

In the first instance, petitioner attempts to allege a violation of the Escobedo standards by focusing attention on the fact that the petitioner was allegedly never warned of his absolute right to remain silent. Failure to warn a defendant of his absolute constitutional right to remain silent, regardless of other circumstances, does not, by

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298 F. Supp. 1056, 21 Ohio Misc. 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carder-v-maxwell-ohsd-1969.