McParlin v. Langlois

244 A.2d 251, 104 R.I. 310, 1968 R.I. LEXIS 649
Supreme Court of Rhode Island·Decided July 16, 1968·No. 208-M. P·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinions

Roberts, C. J.

This petition for habeas corpus was brought to obtain the discharge of the petitioner from the allegedly unlawful custody of the respondent warden, to which he was committed after a life sentence was imposed subsequent to his conviction for murder in the first degree [311] on February 10, 1961. The record discloses that the petitioner prosecuted a bill of exceptions to this court subsequent to his conviction in the superior court and that all of such exceptions were overruled by this court in our opinion in State v. McParlin, 101 R. I. 265, 221 A.2d 790. The court in that opinion set forth a comprehensive statement of the facts and circumstances surrounding the murder of one Leo Hallal on January 7, 1960, and of the involvement of the petitioner in that crime. Because of this we deem it unnecessary to extend this opinion by any repetition thereof.

In September 1966, this petitioner in the superior court sought release from such custody on habeas corpus. The petition filed therein alleges some eight grounds relied upon by him to establish violations of his constitutional rights and, in particular, that certain admissions in writing by him made to the state police were obtained by coercion and were involuntary. This petition was heard by a justice of the court who subsequently, on January 20, 1967, filed a decision denying the petition on the ground that the confession was voluntary and admissible.

The court, however, in so ruling, did find afiirmatively on two of the eight grounds set forth as establishing violations of his constitutional rights, namely, that “* * * petitioner was denied counsel during the interrogation” and that petitioner “* * * was interrogated by 'teams’ of State Policemen but not for prolonged periods of time.” The court concluded, however, that the evidence of circumstances under which the admissions were obtained was insufficient to establish ''* * * a totality of circumstances evidencing an involuntary written admission of guilt” within the purview of Haynes v. Washington, 373 U. S. 503, 514, 83 S. Ct. 1336, 1343, 10 L. Ed. 2d 513, 521, and Spano v. New York, 360 U. S. 315, 79 S. Ct. 1202, 3 L. Ed. 2d 1265. The court then denied the petition, and thereafter petitioner brought the instant petition in this court, again relying [312] apparently upon the same eight grounds to establish violations of his constitutional rights.

The petitioner, as we understand him, does not dispute that under the rule laid down in State v. Gannites, 101 R. I. 216, 221 A.2d 620, the right to counsel and to be advised of the right to remain silent propounded in Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U. S. 478, 84 S. Ct. 1768, 12 L. Ed. 2d 977, and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, is not available to him. What he is urging is that the question as to the voluntariness of his confession may be raised at any time and that the constitutional rights declared in those cases are relevant upon the question of voluntariness. He then appears to be urging that his sporadic interrogation extending over a period of some 46 hours, coupled with his deprivation of his right to the assistance of counsel, warrant this court in holding that under the doctrine of totality of circumstances his admissions subsequently admitted into evidence at the trial were invalid as involuntary. Haynes v. Washington, supra; Darwin v. Connecticut, 390 U. S. 346, 88 S. Ct. 1488, 20 L. Ed. 2d 630.

We are of the opinion, however, that the state has raised a question antecedent to that of whether the doctrine of totality of circumstances should be applied in the instant ■case. It argues that petitioner’s counsel at trial expressly consented to the admission into evidence of the alleged confessions and, therefore, waived any right that petitioner might have to now question their admission.

The record discloses that two documents were introduced into evidence at trial with the express consent of counsel for petitioner. One of these, a statement in the handwriting of petitioner, purported to be an account of how Leo Hallal came to his death. The other, signed by petitioner later in his interrogation, was a series of questions put to him by state police and his answers thereto, which, in substance, did not differ materially from that contained in his [313] written statement. In State v. McParlin, supra, 101 R. I. at 272, 273, 221 A.2d at 793, Mr. Justice Powers, speaking for this court, said, referring to the hand written statement, “This statement was admitted into evidence as state’s exhibit 57 with the expressed consent of defendant” and, referring to the questions and answers, said: “This second statement, marked state’s exhibit 58, was also received in evidence with the expressed consent of defendant. It should be noted that these statements differed sharply with defendant’s testimony.”

It is clear then that at the trial petitioner’s counsel consented expressly to the admission into evidence of the two alleged confessions that petitioner now claims were obtained in violation of his constitutional rights. The effect of such a concession on the part of counsel with respect to the admission of incriminatory statements was considered by this court in State v. Mendes, 99 R. I. 606, 210 A.2d 50. There we held that even where counsel expressly states that there is no objection to the admission of a purported confession, absent a showing that the defendant participated in the decision not to object to the admission of such confession, the constitutional right of the defendant is not waived.

There is, however, in our opinion, a significant difference between the. fact situation in Mendes and that with which we are confronted in the instant case. In Mendes the record disclosed nothing that would tend to establish that the defendant had participated in counsel’s decision to consent to the admission into evidence of the purported confession, and, it is important to note, the defendant did not testify in that case.1

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

McParlin v. Langlois, 244 A.2d 251, 104 R.I. 310, 1968 R.I. LEXIS 649 (R.I. 1968).

244 A.2d 251 (McParlin v. Langlois) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Mastracchio v. Houle
416 A.2d 116 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1980)
Andrews v. Langlois
252 A.2d 450 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1969)
McParlin v. Langlois
298 F. Supp. 369 (D. Rhode Island, 1969)
McParlin v. Langlois
244 A.2d 251 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1968)