Manson v. Pitchess

317 F. Supp. 816, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10374
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedSeptember 2, 1970
DocketNo. 70-1504
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 317 F. Supp. 816 (Manson v. Pitchess) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Manson v. Pitchess, 317 F. Supp. 816, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10374 (C.D. Cal. 1970).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.

CRARY, District Judge.

The petitioner alleges that he is presently imprisoned in the Los Angeles County Jail in the custody of the County Sheriff, Mr. Peter J. Pitchess, on an In[818]*818dictment charging the murder of seven people. [Paragraphs III and IV, page 2, petition.] It appears from the petition and the Responses of the respondents that the trial on said Indictment commenced June 15, 1970, and is still in progress.

The grounds urged for relief by petitioner are substantially as follows:

(1) The trial court has ultimately refused to allow him to represent himself in violation of his constitutional rights under the 6th and 14th Amendments.
(2) That during the two weeks pri- or to his removal from in propria persona status he was not allowed to use the telephone, and after he was granted the right to defend pro se he was subjected to treatment as to induce him to accept the appointment of a lawyer to represent him. The alleged treatment, which he refers to as “indignities”, appears on pages 3 and 4 of the within petition.
(3) He was denied a speedy trial in that he was not brought to trial within sixty days from indictment, as required by Section 1382 of the California Penal Code, but that his trial was long and unreasonably delayed in that he was arrested in December, 1969, and the trial did not commence until June 15, 1970.

The applicable provisions of Title 28, United States Code, Section 2241, which state the power to grant the Writ of Habeas Corpus, provide that the Writ shall not extend to a' prisoner unless “(3) He is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws * * * of the United States.” As stated by the United States District Court, District of Nebraska, in Saunders v. Crouchley, 274 F. Supp. 505, 508:

“[3-5] It is established that the writ of habeas corpus may not be.used as a means of securing a judicial decision of a question which, even if determined in the petitioner’s favor, would not result in his immediate release. McNally v. Hill, 293 U.S. 131, 55 S.Ct. 24, 79 L.Ed. 238 (1934).” [Emphasis added.]

The consecutive sentence rule stated in McNally v. Hill, cited in the Saunders case, supra, which was overruled by the Supreme Court in Peyton v. Rowe, 391 U.S. 54, 88 S.Ct. 1549, 20 L. Ed.2d 426, is not here involved, since the petitioner is not in custody under a sentence but by reason of the Indictment under which he is presently on trial. There has been no conviction of, nor imposition of sentence upon petitioner, nor do we know that the pending trial will result in conviction. A determination that the petitioner is entitled to defend pro se will not at this time entitle him to release from State custody. His case being presently on trial, the petition is premature.

Surely it was never contemplated that in the exercise of a defendant’s habeas corpus rights in the federal court that he should be allowed to interrupt a criminal trial in progress in the State court at any time he wishes to assert a violation of his rights under the United States Constitution.

Having in mind the possibility that final determination, after appeal in the instant matter, of the issue of petitioner’s right to defend pro se might require this Court to rule on the said constitutional issue in this Habeas Corpus proceeding before such time as the petitioner could be said to be in custody under a conviction and sentence, the Court gives consideration to the question of whether, in the circumstances, petitioner’s constitutional rights have been violated by denial of his request to defend himself in the pending criminal litigation.

The petitioner was indicted on or about December 8, 1969, on seven counts of murder and for conspiracy to commit murder. First represented by the Public Defender, he was allowed to represent himself from about December 24, 1969, to* March 6, 1970, when counsel was appointed to represent him by Superior Court Judge William B. Keene, Los Ange[819]*819les, California. Petitioner is presently-represented in his trial and in the instant matter by Attorney I. A. Kanarek, retained by petitioner. Counsel was first appointed to represent petitioner under Section 987a on March 6, 1970, at which time Attorney Charles Hollopeter was assigned. On March 19, 1970, Attorney Ronald Hughes was substituted for Mr. Hollopeter on oral motion of petitioner. On or about April 14, 1970, Attorney Richard Walton was appointed to represent him. On June 1, 1970, Attorney I. A. Kanarek was substituted by the Court at petitioner’s request as counsel for petitioner and has represented him since that date.

On several occasions since counsel was first appointed to represent him, petitioner has sought to be reinstated as counsel for himself. He now seeks release from confinement or that he be allowed to proceed in propria persona “ * * * or as co-counsel with retained counsel * * *.” [Paragraph 4, prayer, p. 6, petition.] In his petition he says he has repeatedly stated that he does not wish to proceed with his trial without an attorney at his side as his reading and writing skills are limited because his education does not extend beyond the fifth grade. [Paragraph IV, p. 5, petition.]

In revoking petitioner’s in propria persona status on March 6, 1970, Judge Keene said:

“At the time that I permitted you to go and act as your own attorney, in pro per, I felt that I had a constitutional obligation.
DEFENDANT MANSON: You still do.
THE COURT: To permit you — I agree. I have a constitutional obligation to permit you to act as your own attorney, if I am satisfied, based upon your conduct, that you are capable of making an intelligent waiver of your right to act as an attorney, but there’s a corollary that goes with that, Mr. Manson, which I’ve always known, and that is to observe your performance prior to trial, to determine by what you’ve attempted to do in these various courtrooms to determine whether or not you are, in fact, capable of making that determination that you want to waive that constitutional right and act as your own attorney.
Now, in my review of the file and my review of your conduct since I initially permitted you to do so, I am satisfied that you cannot act as your own attorney.
I am satisfied, based upon a complete review of everything that I have seen in this file, my personal observations of you, my reading your performances in other courtrooms, that if you went to trial in a courtroom in front of a jury on charges as complex and as serious as those with which you are faced, it would be a fundamental, absolute denial of due process, and based upon what you have done as far as your attempts to act as your own lawyer, it becomes crystal clear to me and abundantly clear to me that you are incapable of acting as your own attorney.” [R.Tr. March 6, 1970, Case No. A-253 156, line 14, page 16, to line 15, page 17.]

Judge Keene goes on to say that he is not relying only on his personal views as to petitioner’s right to defend pro se but on those of Superior Court Judges Malcolm M. Lucas and George M. Dell, as well. [R.Tr. March 6, 1970, pp. 17— 18.]

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Bluebook (online)
317 F. Supp. 816, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10374, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manson-v-pitchess-cacd-1970.