Halko v. Anderson

244 F. Supp. 696, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7337
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedJuly 29, 1965
DocketNo. 39
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 244 F. Supp. 696 (Halko v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Halko v. Anderson, 244 F. Supp. 696, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7337 (D. Del. 1965).

Opinion

LAYTON, District Judge.

Petitioner is under sentence of the Superior Court of Delaware for driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and for driving while his license was revoked. He seeks relief in this Court on a writ of habeas corpus. The recitation of facts by the Supreme Court of Delaware in Halko v. Anderson, 204 A.2d 628, 629-630 (1964) is fair and comprehensive. For the purpose of convenience it is repeated here:

“On October 18, 1959, one Forestieri was driving his automobile in the environs of the City of Wilmington at about 1:30 a. m. In front of him he observed an automobile which he thought to be a Cadillac weaving from side to side. This car pulled off to the side. Forestieri passed it and as he did so saw Halko, the appellant, at the wheel. Forestieri continued on and stopped for a red light at which time in his rear-view mirror he saw the other car coming up behind him. Sensing the danger of a collision, he started to drive through the red light but his car was struck by the car driven by Halko. Property damage to Forestieri’s car was slight.

“The car driven by Halko stopped briefly after the accident, started up and passed in front of Forestieri’s car. For-estieri again recognized Halko as the driver. He noted the license number of Halko’s car and followed it to South du-Pont Road where it turned left followed by Forestieri. Halko’s car finally turned right into Valley Road but Forestieri continued straight on to the Park Cab Company’s office where he stopped and reported the circumstances to one Perry, including the license number of the car which had struck his. Perry made a call to the Wilmington Police at about 1:40 a. m. reporting the incident. For-estieri then returned to Valley Road looking for Halko’s car and located it parked in front of 15 Brookside Drive, Halko’s place of business. He observed Halko slumped at the wheel of his car. The headlights of Halko’s car were on, the windows' and doors Were closed but the motor was not running.

“Forestieri then returned to the office of the Park Cab Company and told Perry that he had located the car and its location. He then returned to 15 Brook-side Drive and waited for the police to arrive. Actually, Forestieri then, or at some subsequent time, learned that Hal-ko’s car was not a Cadillac but was in fact a blue 1959 Chrysler.

“Thereafter, Perry came to 15 Brook-side Drive and found only Forestieri there. Perry went to look for the Wilmington City Police and returned at about 2:15 a. m. with two officers who had previously tried to locate the accident which had been reported earlier by Perry in response to Forestieri’s request and broadcast on the Wilmington police radio. The City Police did nothing. They waited on the scene since the site was outside of the city limits. About 15 minutes later two State Police Officers, Klair and Stoops, arrived. They found Halko slumped over the wheel of the Chrysler parked on the scene. They were unable to arouse him and accordingly opened the door and ultimately removed him from his car. An empty wine bottle was observed between his legs. In their opinion he was drunk. In view of their inability to get an intelligent answer from Halko or ascertain his identity, they handcuffed him, put him into the police car and took him to Troop No. 2 Station where he was locked up for the balance of the night and charged the next morning with driving while under the influence of liquor on a warrant executed by Fores-[699]*699tieri. At 2:41 a. m. the State Police Officers reported by radio to Troop No. 2 that they were returning with Halko in their custody.

“Halko’s defense was alibi. His alibi was attempted to be established by himself and other witnesses. In brief, it was that he, in the company of friends, had gone to a movie earlier that evening and returned to his place of business sometime prior to 11 o’clock in order to perform some necessary work. Halko, whose license incidentally had been, revoked as a result of a prior conviction, testified, supported by his witnesses, that he had never driven his car that night. While at his place of business Halko received numerous telephone calls from a Mrs. Janes who called him several times between 12:30 a. m. and 1:45 a. m., and also from his former wife who called him between 1:00 and 1:30 a. m. and again about 1:50 to 2:00 a. m.” [While admitting the police found him on the front seat of his car at his place of business about 2:00 a. m., he denied he was drunk or had driven the car that evening. He said one Lombardi was driving him because his license had been revoked and he was sitting in the car waiting for Lombardi to come and drive him home.]

“On these facts the case was submitted to the jury and Halko was found guilty. It is obvious that the jury rejected his evidence as to alibi and believed the testimony offered by Forestieri and the police officers.”

Seven grounds are set forth to support a grant of the writ:

1) That he was deprived of a fair trial in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution because the State prosecutor marked for identification a wine bottle and allowed the wine bottle to remain in the presence of the jury for a day of trial, even though the prosecutor knew that he would not be able to introduce the wine bottle into evidence.

2) That he was deprived of a fair trial in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution because the trial court did not admonish the jury not to read newspaper articles or listen to radio broadcasts about the pending trial.

3) The Petitioner was deprived of rights under the Constitution when he was sentenced under 21 Del.Code, Ch. 41, after the Legislature had repealed that chapter of the laws of Delaware.

4) That he was deprived of his rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution when the trial judge gathered material and introduced it into evidence at the hearing on the Petitioner’s Motion to Suppress Evidence.

5) That he was deprived of a fair trial'in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution because the trial court did not allow petitioner’s counsel to use two accident reports, prepared by police officers, in cross-examining the police officers.

• 6) That he was deprived of rights under the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution because evidence which was used to convict petitioner was seized without a search warrant when the petitioner was taken into custody parked on private property owned by the petitioner.

7) That he was deprived of his rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution because the Petitioner was detained for approximately eight hours before he was arrested or apprised of the charges against him.

WHETHER THIS COURT SHOULD EXERCISE JURISDICTION

The State urges - that this Court should not exercise jurisdiction because the petitioner has not “exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The State points out that the petitioner has not pursued habeas corpus in the State courts. Although 28 U.S.C. § 2254

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Related

United States Ex Rel. Garrett v. Anderson
391 F. Supp. 174 (D. Delaware, 1975)
State v. O'DONNELL
158 N.W.2d 699 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)
State v. Collins
150 N.W.2d 850 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1967)
Peterson v. Henderson
271 F. Supp. 30 (E.D. Tennessee, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
244 F. Supp. 696, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/halko-v-anderson-ded-1965.