Kimbro v. Henderson

277 F. Supp. 550, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7489
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Tennessee
DecidedDecember 27, 1967
DocketNo. 67-99-Civil
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 277 F. Supp. 550 (Kimbro v. Henderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kimbro v. Henderson, 277 F. Supp. 550, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7489 (W.D. Tenn. 1967).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBERT M. McRAE, Jr., District Judge.

Petitioner, Carl Kimbro, is before this Court on his Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. On November 19, 1960, petitioner was convicted of first degree murder and murder committed in the perpetration of a robbery. The jury fixed petitioner’s punishment at death by electrocution, said sentence having been subsequently commuted to a term of ninety-nine years by the Governor of Tennessee.

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has, on two separate occasions and without a hearing, denied petitioner the relief he seeks. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has on both occasions affirmed the dismissals by the District Court. Kimbro v. Bomar, 333 F.2d 755 (C.A. 6),1 Kimbro v. Heer, 364 F.2d 116 (C.A. 6). However on Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the ' United States Supreme [552]*552Court vacated the judgment in Kimbro v. Heer, 386 U.S. 128, 87 S.Ct. 902, 17 L.Ed.2d 778 (1967) and remanded the case to the District Court for an evidentiary hearing and, in doing so, cited Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S. Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770.

Because petitioner was under judgment and sentence of the Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, which County is in the Western District of Tennessee, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S. C.A. § 2241, ordered the petition, sub judice, transferred to this Court for hearing and determination.2

This Court appointed James C. Blackburn of the Memphis and Shelby County Bar to represent petitioner and has conducted the evidentiary hearing.

This Court finds that petitioner asserts three primary grounds for relief. First, he maintains that he was “not represented by counsel at the time of the arraignment or preliminary to the hearing”; second, that he was “arrested without a warrant” and “was not carried before a magistrate”; and third, that his Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights were violated. He charges that his home was unlawfully searched on two separate occasions, once with a general warrant authorizing a search for “anything from the service station” and another time without a warrant at all. Petitioner further charges that his automobile was the subject of a search without a warrant.

As to petitioner’s arrest without a warrant, the Court is of the opinion that the evidence adduced at the evidentiary hearing provides strong support for the finding that the provisions of TCA § 40-803, enumerating the grounds for arrest without a warrant, were fully met:

“An officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person * * * (3) When a felony has in fact been committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it.”

Petitioner was arrested on June 20, 1960, and the Court finds from the evidence presented at the evidentiary hearing that Kimbro was afforded a preliminary hearing before the City Judge of the City of Memphis who served as Committing Magistrate for crimes committed in Memphis, Tennessee. The City Judge, on June 23, 1960, sua sponte and without interrogation of anyone, entered a plea of not guilty for petitioner and bound him over to the Grand Jury on the charges preferred by the State.

Petitioner’s federal constitutional rights were protected since he was not permitted to respond to the charges to his prejudice. In the instant circumstances, petitioner’s claim of non-representation by counsel at his preliminary hearing must fail, since under Tennessee procedure the preliminary hearing is not a critical stage in criminal proceedings. State ex rel. Reed v. Heer, Tenn., 403 S.W.2d 310; State ex rel. Autwell v. Johnson, Tenn., 401 S.W.2d 773; State ex rel. George v. Bomar, 216 Tenn. 82, 390 S.W.2d 232.

As to petitioner’s assertion that he was not represented by counsel at his arraignment, the minutes of the Criminal Court, introduced at the evidentiary hearing, refute petitioner’s testimony. This Court finds that petitioner was represented by counsel at the time of his arraignment.

The grounds of the petition which are addressed to the violation of petitioner’s Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights concern two searches of his house and a search of his automobile. The first search of petitioner’s house was made pursuant to a search warrant. The police officer who sought the warrant presented to a City Judge a warrant previously prepared by the officer. The judge meticulously reworded and limited the scope of the proposed warrant. Pur[553]*553suant to the warrant based upon the police officer’s return and a signed statement by the wife of the petitioner nothing was removed from the premises.

The other alleged search was made when officers went to the residence of petitioner to arrest his wife.

The Court finds that no unreasonable search was made of petitioner’s residence. It should be noted that no physical evidence from the residence was introduced at the trial wherein the petitioner was convicted. There was oral evidence introduced based upon information resulting from leads which the officers obtained from their observations and statements of the wife of the petitioner made when officers were there on one or the other of the trips to the residence.

The third assertion of the petitioner concerning his Fourth Amendment rights is addressed to the seizure of his automobile and the search thereof. At the time of the arrest of the petitioner by the police the petitioner was at his place of employment, the scene of the murder, and his automobile was parked on the premises. The police impounded his automobile and subsequent thereto subjected the automobile, including interior portions thereof, to certain tests for fingerprints and blood. They also removed from the ash tray of the automobile a check which had been written and apparently discarded. The tests made upon the automobile proved negative from the standpoint of any proof adverse to the interests of the petitioner. The check found in the ash tray was introduced at the trial without objection from petitioner’s counsel, as was a photograph of the petitioner’s automobile showing the license plate. Because the search of the automobile was made without a warrant and subsequent to the arrest of the petitioner, the search and seizure should be considered in light of Preston v. United States of America, 376 U.S. 364, 84 S.Ct. 881, 11 L.Ed.2d 777, and subsequent cases. The Preston case makes it plain that the reasonableness of a search and seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. Cooper v.

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Bluebook (online)
277 F. Supp. 550, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7489, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kimbro-v-henderson-tnwd-1967.