Ex parte Grotta

113 F. Supp. 574, 1953 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2623
CourtDistrict Court, D. Rhode Island
DecidedMay 22, 1953
DocketM. P. No. 453
StatusPublished

This text of 113 F. Supp. 574 (Ex parte Grotta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex parte Grotta, 113 F. Supp. 574, 1953 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2623 (D.R.I. 1953).

Opinion

GIBSON, District Judge.

Statement of the Case

This is a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, filed on April 24, 1953. It came on for hearing on May 1, 1953. Jurisdiction is claimed as founded on 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

The petitioner, Erpilio Della Grotta, alleges that he is being unlawfully imprisoned and restrained of his liberty by William K. Kindelan, Warden of the Rhode Island State Prison, by virtue of a sentence imposed by the Superior Court of Rhode Island on May 12, 1952. He further alleges that the action of the Superior Court in sentencing him was illegal and in violation of and repugnant to the provisions of the Constitution of Rhode Island, as set forth in Section 10 of Article 1 thereof, in that he [575]*575was not confronted by witnesses or notified of the charges or given an opportunity to be heard, and was deprived of his liberty without a judgment of his peers.

Petitioner further alleges that the action of the Superior Court was repugnant to Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Findings of Fact

From all the evidence, the pleadings, stipulations and statements of counsel, this Court finds the following facts:

1. The petitioner, Emilio Della Grotta, appeared before the Rhode Island Superior Court in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 28, 1945, and pleaded nolo contendere to a charge of breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit larceny. On August 20, 1948, Emilio Della Grotta received a deferred sentence on this plea, and, on the same date, entered into a written agreement with the Attorney General of Rhode Island, which reads as follows :

“Providence, Sc State v. Emilio Della Grotta
Superior Court August 20, 1948
Ind. No. 22486
Agreement Under Which Sentence Is Deferred
It is hereby agreed that sentence may be deferred on the above indictment, — complaint — upon the payment of all costs, during the good behavior of the defendant, and so long as the Attorney General is satisfied that the defendant has broken none of the criminal laws of this State, since the date of this agreement.
Attorney General.
Emilio Della Grotta,
Defendant.”

2. There is statutory authority for the deferred sentence and the agreement set forth above. Chapter 496, Section 18, General Laws of Rhode Island, Revision of 1938; as amended by Chapter 1560, Public Laws of 1945.

3. On March 22, 1952, petitioner was charged in a complaint brought by the Rhode Island State Police with knowingly and wilfully obstructing a public officer in the performance of his duty, in violation of Chapter 605, Section 7, General Laws of Rhode Island, Revision of 1938. Petitioner filed a motion to quash this complaint, and on May 5, 1952, the District Court of the Eighth Judicial District of Rhode Island granted this motion.

4. Between the date of the complaint and the date of the granting of this motion, namely, on March 24, 1952, a capiaswas issued by virtue of the original indictment (which is noted above as Number 22486), and petitioner was brought before-the Superior Court in Providence, wheix the Attorney General moved for sentence under the deferred sentence agreement. On May 12, 1952, the Superior Court granted the motion of the Attorney General and sentenced petitioner to a term of seven years. At the hearing on May 12, 1952, no evidence was presented, but statements of counsel were made.

5. On May 26, 1952, Raymond F. Henderson, Esq., then attorney for the petitioner, left with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and on June-9, 1952, Mr. Henderson received notice,, in the form of a letter from the Chief Justice, that the Supreme Court refused to-entertain the petition.

6. On January 8, 1953, Messrs. Addeo- and Rotondo, present attorneys for petitioner, left with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, a petition for a writ of certiorari, and on February 20, 1953, they received the following notice:

“The Supreme Court of the State of
Rhode Island
Office of the Clerk
Providence
Ralph Rotondo, Esquire
904 Hospital Trust Building
Providence 3, Rhode Island
Re: Emilio Della Grotta
v. Superior Court
Dear Sir:
I am instructed by the Court to notify you that it has considered the above mentioned petition and in view of all the cir[576]*576cumstances of record it declines to entertain the petition.
Very truly yours,
/s/ John H. Greene, Jr.
John H. Greene, Jr., Clerk”

7. In Rhode Island, apparently a procedural custom has developed whereby petitions for writs of habeas corpus and certiorari are left with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; the Chief Justice then takes up such petitions with the other Justices, and if a petition is not to be entertained, notice is sent to the petitioner by mail, the form being a letter from the Chief Justice or the Clerk of the Court. However, no official record is created in the files of the Clerk of the Supreme Court.

8. The original petitions of May 26, 1952, and January 8, 1953, were offered in evidence upon this hearing, and the Court notes that neither bears any note of its entry into the files of the Supreme Court, such as would ordinarily be affixed.

9. From'all the evidence and testimony, this Court finds that there is no official record of these earlier petitions in the files of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. However, I also find that petitioner has never sought to file and enter with the Clerk of the Rhode Island Supreme Court either a petition for habeas corpus or for a writ of certiorari. Nor has the petitioner sought to have the records of the Rhode Island Supreme Court corrected to show what actually has taken place.

In the petition now before this Court, Della Grotta alleges, in substance, that because the complaint issued against him on March 22, 1952, was quashed on May 5, 1952, there is no basis for the charge that he is in violation of the deferred sentence agreement, and that consequently he is being unlawfully restrained in prison under the sentence of March 24, 1952.

Conclusions of Law

28 U.S.C. § 2254 provides in essence that this Court shall not grant an application for a writ of habeas corpus made by one in custody under a State Court judgment unless it appears that the applicant has either exhausted his State Court remedies, or that there is an absence of available state connective process, or the existence of circumstances which render that process ineffective.

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Related

White v. Ragen
324 U.S. 760 (Supreme Court, 1945)
Darr v. Burford
339 U.S. 200 (Supreme Court, 1950)

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Bluebook (online)
113 F. Supp. 574, 1953 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2623, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-grotta-rid-1953.