Eutues White v. Fred Finkbeiner

687 F.2d 885, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 20662
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 26, 1982
Docket79-1563
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 687 F.2d 885 (Eutues White v. Fred Finkbeiner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eutues White v. Fred Finkbeiner, 687 F.2d 885, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 20662 (7th Cir. 1982).

Opinions

SWYGERT, Senior Circuit Judge.

Pursuant to an order of the Supreme Court,1 this case is before us for the third time. The first time we considered this case we reversed the district court’s denial of petitioner-appellant Eutues White’s application for a writ of habeas corpus and remanded for an evidentiary hearing.2 On remand, the district court again denied habeas relief, finding that White had not requested to have counsel present during a custodial interrogation. Consequently, the district court held that the confession which White made during the interrogation was admissible under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). In an appeal from that judgment, we affirmed. However, we rejected the district court’s determination that White had not requested counsel. Instead, we held that although White had made such a request, he had validly waived his right to counsel afterward.3

In its remand order, the Supreme Court directed us to reconsider our decision in White II in the light of Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). Additionally, although we found it unnecessary to do so previously,4 we now must consider respondent-appellee Finkbeiner’s contention that we should extend the rationale of Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1976), to bar White from obtaining federal habeas relief on the basis of a Miranda claim which White had a full and fair opportunity to litigate in the state court proceedings.5

After considering the parties’ statements submitted to this court pursuant to Circuit Rule 19, for the reasons given below, we reverse the district court’s judgment and remand with instructions to issue the writ and order White’s release unless he is retried within ninety days of the issuance of this court’s mandate.6

I.

Edwards completely undermines our holding in White II and behooves us to reverse the district court’s judgment. In Edwards, after being given Miranda warnings, which he acknowledged that he understood, the defendant stated that he was willing to be questioned. Having been told that another suspect had implicated him in the crime, Edwards denied any involvement in the crime, gave an alibi, and tried to negotiate a deal. The interrogating officer told Edwards that he wanted a statement and that he had no authority to make a deal. Thereafter, Edwards telephoned an attorney but hung up after a few moments. Edwards then told the officer that he wanted an attorney before making a deal.7- “At that point, questioning ceased and Edwards was taken to county jail.” 451 U.S. at 479, 101 S.Ct. at 1882. The next morning two detectives called on Edwards at the county jail. Although he said that he did not want to talk to the detectives, Edwards was told that he must. After being given additional Miranda warnings and listening to part of a [887]*887tape recording of an alleged accomplice’s statement, Edwards confessed. Id.

The Supreme Court determined that Edwards’ confession, given during the second custodial interrogation, was inadmissible. Specifically, the Court stated:

[w]e now hold that when an accused has invoked his right to have counsel.present during custodial interrogation, a valid waiver of that right cannot be established by showing only that he responded to further police-initiated custodial interrogation even if he has been advised of his rights. We further hold that an accused, such as Edwards, having expressed his desire to deal with the police only through counsel, is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made available to him, unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges or conversations with the police.

451 U.S. at 484-85, 101 S.Ct. at 1884-1885 (footnote omitted). Under this test Edwards’ confession was deemed inadmissible because, after invoking his Miranda right to counsel, Edwards was subjected to additional interrogation which he did not initiate, without counsel having been made available to him. 451 U.S. at 486-87, 101 S.Ct. at 1885-1886.

The facts of this ease are almost identical to those of Edwards. In White II we found that, although not clear and unequivocal, White’s statement during an initial interrogation: “I’d rather see an attorney,” constituted a request for counsel under Miranda. 611 F.2d at 189-90.8 Under Edwards, after requesting counsel during the initial interrogation, White should not have been subjected two days later to interrogation which he did not initiate and before which counsel had not been made available to him.9 Consequently, when White confessed during the second interrogation he had not validly waived his Miran[888]*888da rights. Nor did his confession itself constitute a valid waiver. Thus, White’s confession was inadmissible.

II.

As stated above, in two previous appeals in this case we did not have to decide, as respondent Finkbeiner urged us to do, whether to extend the rationale of Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1976), to bar habeas relief on the basis of a Miranda claim. See note 4, supra and accompanying text. However, our conclusion that White is entitled to habeas relief under Edwards compels us to resolve that question now. For reasons discussed more fully below, we decline to extend Stone.

The holding of Stone is deceptively simple:

[W]here the state has provided an opportunity for full and fair litigation of a Fourth Amendment claim, a state prisoner may not be granted federal habeas corpus relief on the ground that evidence obtained in an unconstitutional search or seizure was introduced at his trial.

428 U.S. at 494, 96 S.Ct. at 3052 (footnotes omitted).10 However, the basis and perimeter of Stone remain obscure and ambiguous. See Stone, 428 U.S. at 503-06, 96 S.Ct. at 3056-3058 (Brennan, J., dissenting); United States ex rel. Sanders v. Rowe, 460 F.Supp. 1128 at 1141-42.11

Some insight may be gained by looking backward at the concurring opinion of Justice Powell, the author of Stone, in Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 250-75, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2059-2072, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973) (Powell, J., concurring), and by examining Rose v. Mitchell, 443 U.S. 545, 99 S.Ct. 2993, 61 L.Ed.2d 739 (1979), decided three years after Stone, in which, in its only decision explicitly resolving an argument to extend Stone beyond the Fourth Amendment,12 the Court held that Stone

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Bluebook (online)
687 F.2d 885, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 20662, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eutues-white-v-fred-finkbeiner-ca7-1982.