In Re Shipp

66 Cal. 2d 721
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedMay 24, 1967
DocketCrim. No. 9539
StatusPublished

This text of 66 Cal. 2d 721 (In Re Shipp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Shipp, 66 Cal. 2d 721 (Cal. 1967).

Opinion

66 Cal.2d 721 (1967)

In re OSCAR SHIPP on Habeas Corpus.

Crim. No. 9539.

Supreme Court of California. In Bank.

May 24, 1967.

Oscar Shipp, in pro. per., and Frederic Campagnoli, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Petitioner.

Thomas C. Lynch, Attorney General, Edward P. O'Brien and Robert R. Granucci, Deputy Attorneys General, for Respondent.

TOBRINER, J.

Petitioner seeks a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that he is unlawfully imprisoned under a judgment of conviction for first degree murder. A jury convicted petitioner of two counts of second degree robbery and one count of first degree murder. The court sentenced him to the term prescribed by law for the first two counts; the jury fixed the punishment at death on the murder count. On petitioner's automatic appeal (Pen. Code, 1239, subd. (b)) we affirmed the judgment in all respects, holding that the erroneous denial of a request for discovery did not prejudice petitioner. (People v. Shipp (1963) 59 Cal.2d 845 [31 Cal.Rptr. 457, 382 P.2d 577].) The United States Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari. (Shipp v. California (1964) 377 U.S. 999 [12 L.Ed.2d 1049, 84 S.Ct. 1927].)

After the above proceedings petitioner sought his first writ of habeas corpus in this court. (In re Shipp (1965) 62 Cal.2d 547 [43 Cal.Rptr. 3, 399 P.2d 571].) In that instance we reversed the judgment as to penalty because of errors of the type condemned in People v. Morse (1964) 60 Cal.2d 631 [36 Cal.Rptr. 201, 388 P.2d 33]. Although petitioner also then contended, as he does now, that the trial court improperly permitted the introduction of his extrajudicial statements procured by the police without informing him of his rights to counsel and to remain silent under People v. Dorado (1965) 62 Cal.2d 338 [42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361], we held that the judgment had become final prior to the rendition of Escobedo *723 v. Illinois (1964) 378 U.S. 478 [12 L.Ed.2d 977, 84 S.Ct. 1758]; he was therefore not entitled to relief.petitioner then sought certiorari in the United States Supreme Court to review our decision; that court denied his petition. (Shipp v. Wilson (1966) 382 U.S. 1012 [15 L.Ed.2d 528, 86 S.Ct. 623].) As of the date of the presentation of the instant petition petitioner awaited a new penalty trial. When we issued the order to show cause we ordered a stay of that proceeding pending the outcome of the instant petition.

[1] Petitioner now properly raises the Escobedo issue in the pending petition in light of our intervening decision in In re Spencer (1965) 63 Cal.2d 400 [46 Cal.Rptr. 753, 406 P.2d 33]. In that case we adopted, for purposes of applying the Escobedo doctrine, the definition of finality set forth in Linkletter v. Walker (1965) 381 U.S. 618 [14 L.Ed.2d 601, 85 S.Ct. 1731]: "By final we mean where the judgment of conviction was rendered, the availability of appeal exhausted, and the time for petition for certiorari had elapsed. ..." (381 U.S. 618 at p. 622 fn. 5, 14 L.Ed.2d 601 at p. 604.)

In re Spencer, supra, 63 Cal.2d 400, involved a chronological situation parallel to that in the instant case. In the pending matter the United States Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari (Shipp v. California, supra, 377 U.S. 999) on June 22, 1964, the same day that the high court handed down the Escobedo decision. In People v. Spencer (1963) 60 Cal.2d 64 [31 Cal.Rptr. 782, 383 P.2d 134], the Supreme Court also denied certiorari on June 22, 1964. (Spencer v. California (1964) 377 U.S. 1007 [12 L.Ed.2d 1055, 84 S.Ct. 1924].) When the defendant in Spencer then petitioned this court for a writ of habeas corpus we held: "Since in the instant case the United States Supreme Court did not deny petitioner's petition for certiorari prior to the time the court rendered the Escobedo [decision], his judgment did not become final prior to those decisions." (In re Spencer, supra, at p. 405.) We concluded that, "Petitioner may therefore invoke Escobedo ... and Dorado ... to attack his judgment." (Id at p. 406; see People v. Treloar (1966) 64 Cal.2d 141 [49 Cal.Rptr. 100, 410 P.2d 620]; In re Varnum (1965) 63 Cal.2d 629 [47 Cal.Rptr. 769, 408 P.2d 97]; People v. Arguello (1965) 63 Cal.2d 556 [47 Cal.Rptr. 485, 407 P.2d 661]; People v. Polk (1965) 63 Cal.2d 443 [47 Cal.Rptr. 1, 406 P.2d 641], for applications of the Spencer doctrine resulting in reversals.) We have recently reaffirmed our holding *724 that we apply Escobedo and Dorado "to all ... cases which had not become final before June 22, 1964." (People v. Rollins (1967) 65 Cal.2d 681, 691 [56 Cal.Rptr. 293, 423 P.2d 221].) Accordingly, we must resolve the merits of petitioner's contentions.

The opinion in petitioner's automatic appeal sets out the facts in detail (People v. Shipp, supra, 59 Cal.2d 845, 846-849); a summary of the events relevant to the present issue will suffice here. The prosecution's case consisted of evidence tending to show that on the night of December 30, 1961, two persons had beaten and robbed two elderly men in their hotel rooms. One of the two, a Mr. Hawley, died six days later as a result of the beating. Oscar Shipp and his codefendant, La Verne Jones, both of whom resided in the same hotel, were seen there on the night in question. In Shipp's room the police found two bank passbooks and a journal behind the refrigerator. They also discovered spots that appeared to be bloodstains on Shipp's jacket and on one of his shoes. Upon arresting Shipp the police found a key in his pocket which fitted the locks on both the victims' doors, although it would not actually unlock the deceased's door. [fn. 1]

The principal evidence offered by the prosecution, and the evidence upon which Shipp now posits the Escobedo-Dorado objection, was a tape recording of Jones' and Shipp's statements to four police officers. In this recording, made six days after their arrests, they described in detail how they had robbed each victim.petitioner and his codefendant admitted that they engaged in restraining each victim and "keeping him quiet"; they admitted, too, that they left Hawley lying on the floor. [fn. 2] Jones claimed that Shipp struck the victim; Shipp said that he could not remember striking him and did not think that any of his actions could have caused Hawley's death.

Both petitioner and his codefendant testified. Although their testimony conflicted in many particulars with the account in the tape recording, they admitted the truth of its substance. Jones indicated that after they left the deceased's room Shipp said he was going to return because he thought *725 they might have "missed something." Shipp denied returning. To the question, "Did you do anything physically to Mr.

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

Related

Spencer v. California
377 U.S. 1007 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Escobedo v. Illinois
378 U.S. 478 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Muschette v. United States
378 U.S. 569 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Linkletter v. Walker
381 U.S. 618 (Supreme Court, 1965)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
In Re Spencer
406 P.2d 33 (California Supreme Court, 1965)
People v. Polk
406 P.2d 641 (California Supreme Court, 1965)
People v. Arguello
407 P.2d 661 (California Supreme Court, 1965)
Erlich v. Superior Court
407 P.2d 649 (California Supreme Court, 1965)
People v. Treloar
410 P.2d 620 (California Supreme Court, 1966)
People v. Morse
388 P.2d 33 (California Supreme Court, 1964)
People v. Smith
409 P.2d 222 (California Supreme Court, 1966)
People v. Dorado
398 P.2d 361 (California Supreme Court, 1965)
People v. Rollins
423 P.2d 221 (California Supreme Court, 1967)
People v. Spencer
424 P.2d 715 (California Supreme Court, 1967)
In Re Varnum
408 P.2d 97 (California Supreme Court, 1965)
People v. Terry
390 P.2d 381 (California Supreme Court, 1964)
People v. Shipp
382 P.2d 577 (California Supreme Court, 1963)
People v. Stewart
400 P.2d 97 (California Supreme Court, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 Cal. 2d 721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-shipp-cal-1967.