Cline v. Craven

310 F. Supp. 997, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13672
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedDecember 17, 1969
DocketCiv. No. 69-104.-AAH
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 310 F. Supp. 997 (Cline v. Craven) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cline v. Craven, 310 F. Supp. 997, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13672 (C.D. Cal. 1969).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

HAUK, District Judge.

Petitioner is a State prisoner incarcerated at the California State Prison at Folsom. Petitioner was convicted by a jury of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer in violation of Calif. Penal Code § 245(b) (West, 1957), and in 1962, after he admitted two prior felonies, a 1947 robbery and a 1955 burglary conviction, he was sentenced by the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles to life imprisonment as a habitual criminal, Calif. Penal Code § 644(a) (West, 1957). The conviction was affirmed by the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, People v. Cline, 222 Cal.App.2d 597, 35 Cal.Rptr. 420 (1963), and a hearing was denied by the California Supreme Court. In 1964, he filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, Civil No. 8792, in which Petitioner alleged that he was deprived of his right to counsel in the 1947 conviction, which was used to augment his 1962 sentence pursuant to the habitual criminal statute. Judge Sherrill Halbert denied the Petition and a certificate of probable cause was denied by the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. In 1967, the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, In re Cline, 255 Cal.App.2d 115, 63 Cal.Rptr. 233 (1967), denied another petition for writ of habeas corpus, and the California Supreme Court denied a hearing.

Seven contentions concerning the 1962 conviction and sentence are presented:

1) That Petitioner was denied his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights because statements were admitted at his trial that were elicited by police interrogation while Petitioner was in the hospital in “critical condition”.

2) That he was denied “due process” because evidence was confiscated, he was confined in a small jail cell during the time when he was attempting to prepare a defense, and he was denied the right to counsel.

3) That he was denied the right of compulsory process for obtaining witnesses.

4) That he was denied “due process” because an allegedly invalid Nevada conviction was placed on the counsel table in full view of the jurors.

5) That he was denied counsel in the 1947 conviction that was used to augment the 1962 sentence pursuant to the California Habitual Criminal Statute, Calif. Penal Code § 644(a) (West, 1957).

6) That the habitual criminal statute was incorrectly applied to him.

7) That he was denied “due process” because he was denied the right to a complete appeal when he was allegedly restrained from filing a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.

After reviewing the Petition, the Response, the numerous exhibits attached to the Response, and the two published and one unpublished opinions involving Petitioner’s 1962 conviction and sentence, this Court is fully advised in the premises and thus orders that the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus be denied for the following reasons.

[999]*999Petitioner’s first claim, that he was denied his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by the admission of the statements elicited from him at the hospital, is without merit. Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (1964) and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) are not applicable to Petitioner’s 1962 conviction because the two decisions are not retroactive. Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719, 86 S.Ct. 1772, 16 L.Ed.2d 882 (1966). The pre-Miranda law dealing with involuntary confessions does not require us to hold that it was error to admit the hospital statements, particularly since Petitioner does not present any facts that show the statements were coerced. See In re Cline, 255 Cal.App.2d 115, 63 Cal.Rptr. 233 (1967).

Contentions two through six were presented on appeal to the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, 222 Cal.App.2d 597, 35 Cal. 420 (1963), and were determined to be without merit. The Court’s findings were set forth in an exhaustive written opinion, 222 Cal. App.2d at 600-602, 35 Cal.Rptr. at 422-423:

“Subsequent to the appointment of counsel for defendant the latter filed a supplemental opening brief, a further supplement at a later date and a closing brief in propria persona in which he has presented a number of additional contentions. Court-appointed counsel and defendant urged that we consider these documents; we permitted them to be filed and have reviewed them. In them defendant contends: There were coerced confessions or admissions; he was denied witnesses; he was held incommunicado; documents in his possession were taken from him; papers relating to a prior conviction were left where the jury could see them; he should not have been charged with the same act more than once; the prosecutor was excessive in his impeachment; the bailiff gave news bulletins to the press from jury notes; and he was denied counsel in the preliminary hearing of another case.
“We have examined the record and the detailed argument accompanying such presentations and find no merit in any of these contentions. The record reflects that there were no coerced confessions or admissions. No such contention was made at the time of trial. (People v. Milium, 42 Cal.2d 524, 526-528, 267 P.2d 1039.) The record does not reflect that defendant sought any process in the court below, nor does it indicate that the court refused or would have refused subpoenas. (People v. Pike, 183 Cal. App.2d 729, 733, 7 Cal.Rptr. 188.) No prejudice appears in defendant’s purported claim that he was held incommunicado. There is no support for such claim in the record except a general reference thereto, but during such period defendant prepared and filed a petition in this court.
“Defendant claims certain papers were taken from his possession and not returned. The sergeant in charge of the jail testified no such documents were removed. No specific contentions with respect to the purpose for which such documents might be used or be material were advanced. The trial court could reasonably have disbelieved defendant’s testimony or believed it to have been fabricated to present legal error.
“Defendant contends a record indicating his conviction of a prior felony was permitted to lie on the counsel table, where possibly it could have been viewed by the jury. The trial judge stated that there was nothing in the record to indicate from a distance, from the counsel table to the jury box, that there was any prejudicial content in such document, but advised that it be kept out of sight. We deem the court’s disposition of the matter proper. (People v. Kidd, 56 Cal.2d 759, 768-769, 16 Cal.Rptr. 793, 366 P.2d 49.)
******
“The claimed error relating to deprivation of counsel during an earlier Santa Clara County conviction 16 years before [1000]*1000is not apparent from the record. In the trial of the instant case defendant admitted the prior conviction without reservation.”

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cline v. Procunier
328 F. Supp. 205 (C.D. California, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
310 F. Supp. 997, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13672, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cline-v-craven-cacd-1969.