McFarland v. Wilson

266 F. Supp. 576, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7273
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMarch 30, 1966
DocketNo. 43436
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 266 F. Supp. 576 (McFarland v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McFarland v. Wilson, 266 F. Supp. 576, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7273 (N.D. Cal. 1966).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

ZIRPOLI, District Judge.

William McFarland, a state prisoner confined at San Quentin prison, petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus, in which he alleges that his conviction was secured in violation of the United States Constitution. The Court ordered [577]*577an evidentiary hearing, at which the facts hereinafter set forth were established.

Petitioner was convicted by the Superior Court of Los Angeles County of violating California Penal Code § 187 (murder in the first degree), California Penal Code § 211 on three separate counts (robbery), and California Penal Code § 664 (attempted robbery). The judgment of conviction was entered on September 28, 1958. Petitioner did not perfect an appeal from this judgment and now alleges that “petitioner did not know of his constitutional and statutory right to appeal”. State habeas corpus remedies have been exhausted.

The uncontradicted portions of the record establish the following:

Petitioner was arrested by the Los Angeles Police on Saturday afternoon, May 10, 1958, and detained at a local substation pending transfer to the city jail. On Saturday evening he was moved to the city jail and remained there until Tuesday afternoon, May 13, 1958. Throughout his detention petitioner was treated as an ordinary prisoner. He received meals at the regular hours and participated in the normal routine of the city prison.

On Tuesday morning, March 13, at approximately 10 or 11 a. m., he was taken from his cell and given a polygraphic examination. At the conclusion of this test he was immediately taken to an interrogation room by the investigating officers. During this interrogation, which lasted for approximately two hours, he confessed his active participation in the crimes for which he was ultimately convicted. It is asserted that the entire conversation was recorded. Petitioner alleges that the transcript of this recording does not reflect all that occurred, but he does not dispute the accuracy of the alleged partial transcription that was accepted in evidence at his trial, over ,the timely objection of counsel.

Petitioner was returned to the Newton Street substation later on the same afternoon. During this transfer he was taken to the vicinity of the crime and asked to identify the store in which the murder had occurred. Petitioner complied with the officers’ request and identified the correct location. On arriving at the substation petitioner was again subjected to a question and answer interrogation wherein he rendered a second confession. This interrogation was transcribed by a stenographer and signed by petitioner.

Petitioner was not advised of his constitutional right to remain silent nor his right to obtain counsel. He had not been arraigned nor taken before a magistrate prior to volunteering his confession, although he had been in custody for three full days. At the time of his arrest petitioner was nineteen years of age and had only a junior high school education. After leaving school he had served two years in the military and his only prior experience with law enforcement (officials resulted from two convictions for larceny while in the armed services.

The petition filed in this Court alleges that the incriminating statements introduced into evidence at petitioner’s trial were obtained in violation of the fourteenth amendment.

Petitioner was convicted on September 26, 1958. That conviction had become final long prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977. This Court has recently held that the rule announced in the Escobedo case, supra, may not be applied retroactively to affect convictions which were final prior to its decision. Carrizosa v. Wilson, D.C., 244 F.Supp. 120.

It remains to be considered whether the incriminating statement in this case was properly admitted into evidence under the standards long required by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Although it may now be assumed that the test of “voluntariness” has been fundamentally altered by the decision in Escobedo v. State of Illinois, supra, this Court cannot escape the difficult task of analyzing the circumstances surrounding this confession in accord with the stand[578]*578ards enunciated in a long line of Supreme Court cases first made applicable to the states in Ashcraft v. State of Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 64 S.Ct. 921, 88 L.Ed. 1192.

The decisions of the Supreme Court have articulated a number of relevant factors which bear on the ultimate question of whether a confession was “made freely, voluntarily and without compulsion or inducement of any sort”. Wilson v. United States, 162 U.S. 613, 16 S.Ct. 895, 40 L.Ed. 1090. Yet the Court is ever aware of Justice Douglas’ admonition that “there is no guide to the decision of cases such as this except the totality of circumstances * * as they relate to the procedural and substantive purposes which underlie the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Gallegos v. State of Colorado, 370 U.S. 49, 55, 82 S.Ct. 1209, 1213, 8 L.Ed.2d 325.

In addition to the uncontested facts previously discussed, there are a number of relevant factual allegations upon which the respondent joined issue.

During the course of his testimony at the evidentiary hearing, petitioner alluded to instances of physical mistreatment at the hands of the investigating officers. This physical abuse allegedly occurred during the course of the original interrogation and during transportation to the Newton Street substation after his initial confession. In substance these allegations are identical to petitioner’s testimony on this issue at his original trial. Officers Williams and Seiger, who were the only officers implicated, appeared at the hearing held in this Court. Their testimony specifically contradicted all of petitioner’s allegations of physical brutality. This testimony was both persuasive and detailed and was at least partially corroborated by the transcribed portion of the interrogation. Although the Court is well aware of the possibility that this transcription may not have covered all that occurred, its tenor reflects a relationship between the officers and the suspect that would have been impossible if petitioner had been subjected to any physical abuse. The Court finds that petitioner was not subjected to any physical brutality.

Petitioner had been held in police custody for three full days prior to his initial confession. It is conceded that he had not been arraigned nor informed of his rights to remain silent or to obtain counsel. Prolonged periods of incarceration under such circumstances are inherently coercive. See Gallegos v. State of Colorado, 370 U.S. 49, 82 S.Ct. 1209; Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
266 F. Supp. 576, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcfarland-v-wilson-cand-1966.