Grant v. Swenson

313 F. Supp. 1117, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11839
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedMay 4, 1970
DocketNo. S70 C 8
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 313 F. Supp. 1117 (Grant v. Swenson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant v. Swenson, 313 F. Supp. 1117, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11839 (E.D. Mo. 1970).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HARPER, Chief Judge.

Petitioner, presently confined in the Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City, Missouri, has previously requested leave to proceed in forma pauperis and filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the same has been transferred to this court. A show cause order was issued on March 6, 1970. The state of Missouri has responded. Leave to proceed in for-ma pauperis is granted.

The petitioner was convicted by a jury, after a plea of not guilty, of the offense of forcible rape on June 13, 1962, in the Circuit Court of New Madrid County, Missouri. The court found that petitioner had been convicted of four prior felonies and pursuant to the Habitual Criminal Act assessed the punishment at 99 years imprisonment. No appeal was taken.

Petitioner filed a motion under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 27.26 V.A.M. R., to vacate the sentence and judgment, which was heard, submitted, and overruled on September 10, 1963. Petitioner [1119]*1119appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court and the order overruling the 27.26 motion was reversed and remanded. State v. Grant, 380 S.W.2d 799 (Mo.1964). The cause was remanded with directions to set aside the imposition of sentence and rendition of judgment on June 13, 1962, and to grant petitioner allocution and, if no legal cause be shown, to sentence him and render final judgment. Pursuant to this mandate, the previous entry was set aside on September 22, 1964, and petitioner was granted allocution and was sentenced to a term of 99 years imprisonment with credit for the time spent in prison from June 13, 1962. From this sentence and judgment, petitioner appealed, and the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed. State v. Grant, 394 S.W.2d 285 (Mo.1965). Petitioner is currently serving this sentence.

Thereafter, petitioner filed a motion under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 27.-26 to vacate and set aside the sentence entered September 22, 1964. An evidentiary hearing was held in the Circuit Court of New Madrid County on November 26, 1968, and the motion was overruled. On appeal from the order overruling the motion to vacate, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed. Grant v. State, 446 S.W.2d 620 (Mo.1969).

Petitioner states three grounds in support of his motion under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254: 1) That he was denied due process in that the confrontation conducted in his case at the time of his arrest was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification as to “taint” the subsequent line-up and in-court identifications; 2) that he was never granted proper allocution; and 3) that the New Madrid County assistant prosecuting attorney was also acting as a Magistrate Court clerk during the prosecution of this case and was thus debarred by .statute from prosecuting the case.

An examination of the record in this case discloses that petitioner has exhausted his remedies available in the state courts of Missouri with respect to the first two grounds asserted in his petition; and further discloses that petitioner has not exhausted his available state remedies with respect to his third ground. However, in “Petitioner’s Traverse to the Response to Order to Show Cause”, the petitioner waives and “forever abandons” his “Contention No. 3, the allegation that the New Madrid County prosecutor was acting also as a Clerk, debarring him from further prosecution of this case.”

Petitioner contends that the court’s failure to grant allocution in the first instance (June 13, 1962) deprived him of his right to appeal and prevented him from filing a valid motion for new trial and a “number of other rights” which could not be restored by later granting proper allocution. There is no dispute as to the fact that petitioner was granted allocution on September 22, 1964. Petitioner’s contention is that a subsequent granting of proper allocution is not a proper remedy for failure to grant allocution — that only a new trial or release would be a proper remedy. Petitioner’s contention is totally without merit.

Habeas corpus is a civil remedy which tests the legality of the petitioner’s detention. The remedy is justified when the petitioner is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States. 28 U.S.C.A. § 2241(c) (3). The trial court’s failure to grant allocution is not error of character or magnitude cognizable under a writ of habeas corpus; and, in the absence of aggravating circumstances, does not constitute a denial of constitutional right or even raise a federal question. See, e. g., Ellis v. New Jersey, 282 F.Supp. 298 (D.C.N.J.1967); Tuggle v. Oklahoma, 275 F.Supp. 653 (D.C.Okla.1967). For a similar result under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255, see, Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424, 82 S.Ct. 468, 7 L.Ed.2d 417 (1962); Machibroda v. United States, 368 U.S. 487, 82 S.Ct. 510, 7 L.Ed.2d 473 (1962); Bone v. United States, 351 F.2d 11 (8th Cir. 1965); Williams v. United States, 344 F.2d 264 (8th Cir. 1965), cert. den. [1120]*1120382 U.S. 857, 86 S.Ct. 112, 15 L.d.2d 95; Robins v. United States, 402 F.2d 470 (7th Cir. 1968); Feeney v. United States, 392 F.2d 541 (1st Cir. 1968).

After petitioner was granted allocution on September 22, 1964, and sentence imposed, he had the right to take an appeal within ten days after the judgment became final. In fact, petitioner did appeal. The Missouri Supreme Court reviewed the alleged errors at trial and affirmed the conviction and sentence (394 S.W.2d 285). The record belies petitioner’s claim that he was denied a right to appeal. Similarly, petitioner’s claim that he was also prevented from filing a valid motion for a new trial is contrary to the facts. Petitioner did file a valid motion for a new trial (380 S.W.2d 799, 803).

There is no justification in the record for the granting of a new trial on the basis of the trial court’s failure to grant allocution in the first instance, and the court finds no authority in the law for the petitioner’s contention that proper allocution was an inadequate remedy.

Petitioner’s primary contention, consistent with Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967), is that the confrontation conducted at the time of his arrest was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identity that he was denied the due process of the law. This same issue has been considered by the trial court in petitioner’s most recent 27.26 hearing, and by the Missouri Supreme Court on appeal from the order overruling the motion. In each instance, the constitutionality and validity of the identification was upheld.

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

Related

Bell v. North Dakota
567 F. Supp. 2d 1130 (D. North Dakota, 2008)
Freddie Lee Grant v. Carl White, Warden
579 F.2d 48 (Eighth Circuit, 1978)
Grant v. State
516 S.W.2d 69 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1974)
Johnson v. Wyrick
381 F. Supp. 747 (W.D. Missouri, 1974)
Peterson v. State of Missouri
355 F. Supp. 1371 (W.D. Missouri, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
313 F. Supp. 1117, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11839, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-swenson-moed-1970.