Kidd v. Coiner

299 F. Supp. 1380, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8627
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedMay 29, 1969
DocketCiv. A. No. 69-43-E
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 299 F. Supp. 1380 (Kidd v. Coiner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kidd v. Coiner, 299 F. Supp. 1380, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8627 (N.D.W. Va. 1969).

Opinion

MAXWELL, Chief Judge.

Petitioner, now incarcerated in the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville under an order of conviction from the Common Pleas Court of Cabell County, West Virginia, applies for a federal writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 2241, 2254 (Supp. 1967).

Previous to filing his petition in this Court, it appears that Petitioner [1381]*1381presented comparable issues in an original petition for habeas corpus relief to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia wherein his petition was denied. Solely by this prior habeas corpus application, Petitioner claims to have exhausted his available state remedies as required by 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (Supp. 1967)--

The statute>28 U.S.C. § 2254, amended in 1966, relating to federal habeas corpus for state prisoners and dealing specifically with the requirement of exhaustion of state remedies, provides in part:

(b) An application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted unless it appears that the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State, or that there is either an absence of available State corrective process or the existence of circumstances rendering such process ineffective to protect the rights of the prisoner.
(c) An applicant shall not be deemed to have exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State, within the meaning of this section, if he has the right under the law of the State to raise, by any available procedure, the question presented.

Although the above quoted paragraphs of 28 U.S.C. § 2254, have been carried forward from the earlier existing statute, it is necessary to presently evaluate these provisions within the context of the amended habeas corpus statutes, particularly the amendments to this section. The intent of the amendments, as articulated by the Habeas Corpus Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States and adopted by Senate Report No. 1797 of the 89th Congress, Second Session, is expressed in this language :

Furthermore, we have revised the text of H.R. 1835, supra, in the form that it passed the House and was approved by the Judicial Conference, in certain particulars, in order to improve phraseology and to strengthen our purpose to provide for a qualified application of the doctrine of res judicata, to an extent we regard as needed and desirable to proceedings on applications for habeas corpus in the U. S. courts by persons in custody under judgments of State courts and by statutory enactment to create reasonable presumptions and fix the party on whom the burden of proof, as to certain factual issues, shall rest in such proceedings, but without the impairment of any of substantive rights of the applicant.
It is the opinion of your committee that the proposed legislation, if enacted, will be a strong inducement to the States that have not already done so to provide adequate postconviction remedies and procedures and to make and keep available records of evidentiary matter in criminal and postconviction proceedings, and to the State courts in criminal proceedings to safeguard the constitutional rights of defendants. 1966 U.S. Code Cong. & Adm. News, pp. 3671-3672.

In addition to setting forth the requirement of exhaustion, the aihended statute provides a procedure whereby the federal courts may review findings made by a state court, after the state court hearing on the merits of factual issues, without conducting a new hearing thereon. The obvious intent of 28 U.S.C. § 2254, when read in conjunction with all other statutory provisions relating to federal habeas corpus, is to encourage states to provide effective methods for hearing factual issues raised in habeas corpus and to require state habeas corpus applicants to fully utilize the state procedures, when available in the state, before seeking federal relief.

In Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 435, 83 S.Ct. 822, 847, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963), the Supreme Court discussed the exhaustion requirements within the context of the historical development of federal habeas corpus. The Court held [1382]*1382that, while exhaustion cannot be interpreted as a forfeiture doctrine, a habeas corpus applicant must exhaust state remedies “still open * * * at the time he files his application in federal court.” This exhaustion requirement, the Court points out, deals with the appropriate exercise of the power of the federal courts to review state convictions and is based upon the doctrine of comity between courts of concurrent jurisdiction whereby the federal court, having the power to review a matter in habeas corpus, abstains from acting until the courts of the state, also having jurisdiction, have had an opportunity to pass upon the issues. Federal jurisdiction is not lost by this exhaustion requirement. An applicant’s right to have the federal court pass upon the matter, should the state refuse to grant him relief, is in no way diminished by first seeking the remedies available in the state.

In Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 318, 83 S.Ct. 745, 759, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963), the Supreme Court sets forth the consideration which may make the exercise of the federal power to hear issues of fact mandatory. However, underlying these guidelines is the policy that the state be given , the opportunity to conduct a full hearing in order to pass on the relevant factual issues. “The duty (of the federal court) to try the facts anew exists in every case in which the state court has not after a full hearing reliably found the relevant facts.” Townsend v. Sain, supra.

West Virginia’s Legislature has provided a broad and effective post-conviction review remedy in the post-conviction habeas corpus statute, W.Va. Code §§ 53-4A-1 to 11 (Michie Supp.1968), passed and effective as of January 25, 1967, superseding the older habeas corpus statute, W.Va. Code §§ 53-4-1 to 13 (Michie 1966). The intent and purpose of this new statute are to provide a complete forum to any person incarcerated under state conviction and sentence to raise all state and all federal constitutional issues in state courts and, thereupon, to receive a full evidentiary hearing on any and all factual questions before the appropriate state statutory or circuit court.. The first section of the statute reads in part as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
299 F. Supp. 1380, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kidd-v-coiner-wvnd-1969.