Hope v. Peyton

340 F. Supp. 197, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14423
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedMarch 30, 1972
DocketCiv. A. No. 69-C-40-D
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 340 F. Supp. 197 (Hope v. Peyton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hope v. Peyton, 340 F. Supp. 197, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14423 (W.D. Va. 1972).

Opinion

OPINION

WIDENER, Chief Judge.

The petitioner was convicted of robbery in the Corporation Court of the City of Danville, March 14, 1968. He was tried by a jury, which convicted him and fixed his punishment at thirty years in the penitentiary.

He appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Appeals, which did not grant a writ of error.

He now petitions this court for relief from his sentence by way of habeas corpus. As grounds for relief, his petition states the following:

1. Systematic discrimination against members of my [black] race in the selection of jury.
2. The trial judge struck a venireman for cause which was without cause. The venireman happened to be black.
3. A confession was improperly admitted.
4. The jury was not truly of a cross section of the community. Those jurors who had conscientious scruples against the death penalty were excused.

The assignments of error and the petition for writ of error assigned only the following grounds:

1. Systematic discrimination against members of the black race in the selection of the jury.
2. The admissibility of the confession.

The respondent answered the petition here stating that the assignments of error contained in the appeal are the same as the allegations contained in the petition, and that the petitioner had exhausted his state remedies. The record of the state trial was filed, and, in addition, an ore tenus hearing was afforded the petitioner in this court.

Later, the respondent, in an additional memorandum of authorities, claimed non-exhaustion of state remedies, which, had it been pleaded at first, would have been good as to all, or almost all, of the contentions of the petitioner in this court.

The claim of non-exhaustion, however, was made after the trial, and the court will consider all the matters raised by the petition about which evidence was offered, and, so as to be perfectly fair to the petitioner, will dismiss, without prejudice, for failure to exhaust state remedies, under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, those claims in the petition here which were, in fact, not exhausted and about [199]*199which no evidence was offered in this court.

Claim 1, that of systematic discrimination against black people on the jury, was not presented to the trial court but was argued to the Supreme Court of Appeals, and evidence was presented as to that ground here. It will be considered on its merits.

Claim 2 will be considered here in the context that the petitioner claims that the court’s excusing one of the black jurors for cause made it possible for the Commonwealth to strike all the other black jurors from the venire with peremptory challenges.

Claim 3 was properly considered by the trial court and the Supreme Court, and will be considered here.

Claim 4 was considered neither by the trial court nor the Supreme Court, and will not be considered here. No objection was made to the action of the trial court in seating the jurors after their questioning about conscientious scruples concerning the death penalty, although the defense attorney requested, and was granted, a hearing in chambers, out of the presence of the jury, on the matter concerning the court’s excusing the black venireman for cause. No question was made of the matter in the assignments of error or in the petition for writ of error. No authorities were cited to the Supreme Court of Appeals concerning this contention, and, in fact, the only mention that is made of the matter is in recital of some of the evidence in the petition for writ of error, which is obviously only an introduction into the examination of the black venireman. Bringing the matter up here at this stage of the proceeding is obviously an afterthought, since neither state court has considered the matter. The petition as to claim 4 will be dismissed, without prejudice.1

The record of the case shows that the petitioner robbed, at gun point, the Security Bank and Trust Company in Dan-ville. He made his getaway from the bank in an automobile and was run down and disarmed by an insurance agent who happened to be in the bank at the time of the robbery. The petitioner’s captor held the petitioner at gun point for about twenty-five minutes awaiting the police. The insurance agent fired two warning shots close to the petitioner, when he hesitated in complying with his captor’s orders on one occasion and when it looked as if the petitioner might try to get up off the ground on another occasion. The officer who first answered the call handcuffed the petitioner and held him in his car until two detectives arrived, at which time the petitioner was turned over to the detectives. No statement made by the petitioner to the first officer arriving on the scene is at issue in this case. The detectives recovered the petitioner’s pistol and the money stolen from the bank, $5,021.00, from the seat of the petitioner’s car. When the detectives put the petitioner in their car, one of them advised him of his rights as follows:

“I advised him that he didn’t have to make any statement concerning the robbery to me, that anything he did say to me could be held against him in Court, and that it would be used against him in Court. I advised him that he had a right to an attorney, and to consult with an attorney before telling us anything. I told him that if he couldn’t afford an attorney, that one would be appointed for him, and that if he did want to have anything to say about it, he could stop at any time he chose.”

[200]*200In the police ear, having been advised of his rights, the defendant told the detectives that he wasn’t trying to deny the robbery, that he had done it, and that all he wanted to do was be cooperative and come out of it as well as he could. He was neither threatened nor promised anything by the detectives, and he admits this in his own testimony in the ore tenus hearing in this court. He was taken to the police station and signed a recital and waiver of his Constitutional rights as to confessions as follows:

“Before we ask you any questions, you must understand your rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in Court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions and to have him with you during questioning. You have this right to the advice and the presence of a lawyer even if you cannot afford to hire one. We have no way of giving you a lawyer but one will be appointed for you if you wish, if and when you go to Court. If you wish to answer questions now, without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering questions at any time. You also have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to a lawyer.” And then the waiver below says, “I have read the statement of my rights shown above. I understand what my rights are. I am willing to answer questions and make a statement. I do not want a lawyer. I understand and know what I am doing and no promises or threats have been made to me and no pressure of any kind has been used against me.”

The petitioner has a master’s degree and had been teaching school for thirteen years at the time.

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Related

Withers v. Cox
365 F. Supp. 704 (W.D. Virginia, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
340 F. Supp. 197, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14423, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hope-v-peyton-vawd-1972.