Dixon v. Beto

320 F. Supp. 1, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9409
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedNovember 25, 1970
DocketCiv. A. No. 70-H-643
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 320 F. Supp. 1 (Dixon v. Beto) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dixon v. Beto, 320 F. Supp. 1, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9409 (S.D. Tex. 1970).

Opinion

SINGLETON, District Judge.

Memorandum and Order:

On January 9, 1970, when Danny Dixon, petitioner herein, appeared before the State 12th District Court with retained counsel, he pled guilty to an assortment of charges — burglary, theft, robbery by assault and by firearm — and received a sentence of thirty-five years imprisonment. Petitioner seeks to have that judgment and sentence set aside in this application for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241 et seq. His sole [2]*2contention is that the state court “refused all attempts by me in-time and out-of-time to appeal and finally refused to accept my habeas corpus and sent it back to me.” Respondent opposes the application on the grounds that petitioner deliberately by-passed the Texas appellate procedure and that in any event petitioner has failed to exhaust his available state remedies under Article 11.07, Vernon’s Ann.C.C.P. What petitioner would raise on appeal or actually did raise in his state court petition for habeas corpus is not clear from the pleadings, but it appears that petitioner would base such an appeal upon a contention that his plea of guilty was coerced.

The petition alleges that petitioner wrote a letter to the Court on January 10, 1970, requesting an appeal. No reply was made to this letter, and petitioner, three days later, was removed to the Texas Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence. Petitioner apparently also requested an appeal again after the ten day period proscribed by Art. 44.08(c), V.A.C.C.P. had expired. The petition further reflects that petitioner communicated his desire to appeal to his retained attorney in open court, but that his plea fell on deaf ears. On March 28, 1970, petitioner sought to file an application for a writ of habeas corpus with the trial court. There is no record of it ever having been filed, but according to petitioner, the judge returned it to him with a cover letter saying he had refused it. Thereafter, petitioner filed the present application for federal habeas relief.

Article 11.07, V.A.C.C.P., enacted by the Texas Legislature several years ago, provides a comprehensive postconviction remedy for those convicted in Texas courts. It contemplates that petitions for habeas corpus should first be presented to the convicting court, Ex parte Young, 418 S.W.2d 824 (Tex.Cr.App.1967). The exhaustion procedure within Article 11.07 has been federally approved. Texas v. Payton, 390 F.2d 261 (5th Cir. 1968).

However, this is not to say that a federal district court would be an improper forum in which such a petitioner may seek relief after exhausting all his state remedies. Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963), set forth six criteria to guide federal district judges in granting or denying evidentiary hearings to habeas petitioners. The third criteria listed in Townsend, 372 U.S. at 313, 83 S.Ct. at 757, 9 L.Ed.2d at 786, was “(3) the fact-finding procedure employed by the state court was not adequate to afford a full and fair hearing”; the sixth standard was “(6) for any reason it appears that the state trier of fact did not afford the habeas applicant a full and fair fact hearing.” The court continued to comment that “Even where the procedure employed does not violate the Constitution, if it appears to be seriously inadequate for the ascertainment of the truth, it is the federal judge’s duty to disregard the state findings and take evidence anew.” Our final category is intentionally open-ended because we cannot here anticipate all thq situations wherein a hearing is demanded. It is the province of the district judges first to determine such necessities in accordance with the general rules. The duty to try the facts anew exists in every case in which the state court has not after a full hearing reliably found the relevant facts.

Since the state courts, in most instances, seem to summarily deny prisoners’ petitions without deterrence for the need of evidentiary hearings, it seems unfortunately necessary for the federal courts to cross the traditional line of federal-state comity and provide a much delayed evidentiary hearing or to release the prisoners without prejudice to the state to retry them. Let it be understood that this Court wholeheartedly concurs in the holding of Childress v. Beto, 273 F.Supp. 401 (D.C.Tex.1967) where it was stated: “The correct and desirable forum for fact-finding hearings of the type outlined in Townsend v. Sain, supra, is the state court where the petitioner was originally tried.”

Petitioner here complains that he was denied his right to appeal. It is [3]*3undisputed that a prisoner has a right to appeal. An indigent is entitled to an appeal with a transcript of the first appellate proceedings. Griffin v. People of State of Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956). The case of Tindol v. Beto, 392 F.2d 582 (5th Cir. 1968) (applying Texas law) is instructive in this area for in that case, as in the instant case, the defendant was represented by retained counsel. The attorney never told the defendant of his right to have a statement of facts for the purpose of a first appeal. “Although appellant failed to file the required affidavit of inability to pay, there is no evidence that counsel informed him * * *. These facts do not support a conclusion that the failure to request a Statement of Facts was due to petitioner’s deliberate conduct or that there was a knowing waiver of his rights.”

Nor is there evidence to support a conclusion that appellant waived his right to be represented by counsel on the appeal of his conviction, Swenson v. Bosler, 386 U.S. 258, 87 S.Ct. 996, 18 L.Ed.2d 33 (1967); Douglas v. People of State of California, 372 U.S. 353, 83 S.Ct. 814, 9 L.Ed.2d 811 (1963); Baker v. Wainwright, 391 F.2d 248 (5th Cir., Mar. 14, 1968).” Tindol at 584. (The court then held that if Texas should grant appellant a meaningful appeal the constitutional infirmity rendering his detention illegal would be cured.)

The Fifth Circuit has taken admirable steps to insure justice in the appellate process. As in Baker v. Wainwright, 391 F.2d 248, 249 (5th Cir. 1968), when the court stated:

“In Entsminger v. Iowa, 1966, 386 U.S. 748, 87 S.Ct. 1402, 18 L.Ed.2d 501, the Supreme Court said:
As we have held again and again, an indigent defendant is entitled to the appointment of counsel to assist him on his first appeal, Douglas v. People of State of California, 372 U.S. 353, 83 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
320 F. Supp. 1, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dixon-v-beto-txsd-1970.