MacEo Hutcherson v. United States

351 F.2d 748
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJune 16, 1965
Docket18747_1
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 351 F.2d 748 (MacEo Hutcherson v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MacEo Hutcherson v. United States, 351 F.2d 748 (D.C. Cir. 1965).

Opinions

FAHY, Circuit Judge:

Appellant was indicted for soliciting and accepting a bribe at a time when he was an officer of the Metropolitan Police Department. The count charging solicitation rests upon 18 U.S.C. § 201 (Supp. V, 1959-63), the count charging acceptance upon 22 D.C.Code § 704. Appellant was sentenced to one to three years imprisonment, but the court committed him for only six months, suspended execution of the remainder of the sentence and placed him on probation for three years.

He contends that a detailed written confession used in evidence was obtained in violation of Rule 5(a), Fed. R.Crim.P., and should have been excluded under Mallory v. United States, 354 U.S. 449, 77 S.Ct. 1356, 1 L.Ed.2d 1479. I do not agree, for the confession was made prior to arrest. Neither Rule 5(a) nor Mallory applies. The circumstances are that when appellant’s superiors in the Police Department became concerned that he may have engaged in the conduct which subsequently led to the indictment he was ordered to come to Police Headquarters in the Municipal Building for questioning. He was escorted there by another officer. During the questioning he was under restraint to the extent that he was not free to go his own way without consequence to his status as a policeman; that is, the testimony indicates that had he declined to remain and assist in the investigation he probably would have been suspended then and there. When the investigation at headquarters was concluded and the confession placed in writing and signed, appellant resigned from the police force and actually left the building without being arrested.1 He was not indicted on the criminal charges until January 10, 1964, about a month after the investigatory session above described. The conduct of appellant’s superior officers in pursuing inquiries about his possible improprieties in the course of his duties as a member of the Police Department fell short of an arrest. See Scarbeck v. United States, 115 U.S.App.D.C. 135, 317 F.2d 546, cert. denied, 374 U.S. 856, 83 S.Ct. 1897, 10 L.Ed.2d 1077, rehearing denied, 375 U.S. 874, 84 S.Ct. 856, 10 L.Ed.2d 1077; Seals v. United States, is not to the contrary, 117 U.S.App.D.C. 79, 82, 325 F.2d 1006, 1009, note 6, cert. denied 376 U.S. 964, 84 S.Ct. 1123, 11 L.Ed.2d 982.

I consider now the contention that the confession should have been excluded because made when appellant was without counsel or the advice of counsel. As the law on this subject has evolved thus far in the decisions of the Supreme Court the answer must turn in each ease upon its facts. It would not be wise, even if it were possible, to formulate now a standard for uniform application to all cases. But it is clear that the lack of counsel does not in and of itself preclude the use of self-incriminating evidence obtained during such lack. We may not here decide the question in isolation from the facts bearing upon the individual personality involved. These and all surrounding circumstances existing when the deprivation is claimed to have occurred must be considered.

There had been no indictment here as in Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246. No criminal charge was pending against appellant. He had not been arrested. While it is true the investigation was focused upon him, its purpose appears to have been principally to obtain his resignation rather than to lead to a criminal charge. And among other significant differences between this case and Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. [751]*751478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977, the appellant here, unlike Escobedo, was a mature police officer being investigated by his superiors.

It is also true that the admission in evidence of a confession made before trial is likely to insure a verdict of guilty on the basis of such extrajudicial statement, whereas guilt is a matter to be determined at a public judicial proceeding with the assistance of counsel, unless the right to counsel is waived. See Massiah v. United States, supra, at 377 U.S. 204, 84 S.Ct. 1199; Escobedo v. Illinois, supra at 487-488, 84 S.Ct. 1758. For this reason a confession made and repudiated before trial is suspect. Yet the law does not preclude its use if voluntary, unless obtained as the result of a violation of some evidentiary rule or constitutional right. The courts must determine in each ease whether such a rule or right has been violated. Appellant’s confession was not the result of a violation of the Mallory rule; and his constitutional right to enjoy the assistance of counsel had not been denied when he made the confession.

He contends that in any event the confession was involuntary and should have been excluded on that ground. From the transcript of the pre-trial hearing on the admissibility of the confession it appears that the officer conducting the inquiry which led to the confession read to appellant 1 D.C.Code § 319. It provides that an officer or employee of the District of Columbia who refuses to testify to matters relating to his office or employment in any proceeding wherein he is a defendant or called as a witness on the ground that his answer may tend to incriminate him “shall forfeit his office or employment” and the benefits arising therefrom. The Government concedes that this provision had no application to the investigation being conducted. Also read to appellant was 4 D.C.Code § 175 which makes it a crime for a police officer to compromise a felony or any other unlawful act by “failing to give known facts or reasonable causes of suspicion, or withholding any information * * * from the proper judicial authorities * * Reading these statutes to appellant undoubtedly put pressure upon him. Were he not a mature and knowledgeable person who had been a police officer for five years, no doubt we would hold as matter of law that the confession was involuntary. But on the whole record, including appellant’s age, experience and position, we think the issue of volun-tariness was a factual one which, had it been decided in the proper manner, would not necessarily have resulted in its exclusion as evidence. The decision was reached, however, in a manner which was constitutionally defective as now explained.

In Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 953, the Court, reasserting the position adopted in Rogers v. Richmond, 365 U.S. 534, 81 S.Ct. 735, 5 L.Ed.2d 760, referred to the defendant’s constitutional right at some stage in the proceedings to object to the use of a confession and to have a fair hearing and a reliable determination on the issue of voluntariness, uninfluenced by the truth or falsity of the confession. The case arose in the state courts of New York where the issue of voluntariness had been submitted to the jury. The Supreme Court said:

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Bluebook (online)
351 F.2d 748, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maceo-hutcherson-v-united-states-cadc-1965.