Orricer v. State

181 N.W.2d 461, 85 S.D. 293, 1970 S.D. LEXIS 124
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 4, 1970
DocketFile 10799
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 181 N.W.2d 461 (Orricer v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Orricer v. State, 181 N.W.2d 461, 85 S.D. 293, 1970 S.D. LEXIS 124 (S.D. 1970).

Opinion

RENTTO, Judge.

Petitioner was found guilty of burglary in the second degree and sentenced to 15 years in the penitentiary. Although at the trial he was represented by two experienced criminal lawyers whom he had engaged, he filed, pro se, a motion for a new trial. Counsel was then appointed to represent him as an indigent defendant. This counsel promptly filed a supplement to his motion for a new trial. The new trial having been denied an appeal from the judgment was prosecuted.

Our opinion affirming the judgment appealed from is reported in 80 S.D. 126, 120 N.W.2d 528. Since it relates the factual background of the litigation there is no need to detail the facts here. To do so would unnecessarily add to the bulk of our reports.

His appointed counsel then filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to SDCL 23-52. It was entitled in his name as petitioner against the warden of our penitentiary. This does not conform to the entitlement directions announced in McMullen v. State, 84 S.D. 583, 173 N.W.2d 499, handed down after this proceeding was commenced. In compliance with such directive we have entitled the proceeding by him as petitioner against the stqjte of South Dakota, as respondent.

After an evidentiary hearing at which he and other witnesses testified, some for him and some for the state, the post-conviction court made findings of fact adverse to him and entered an order denying his petition. This appeal, by the same appointed counsel, is from that action.

*296 The petition alleged at length 11 grounds for the relief requested. Only the following seven are presented here:

1. Evidence obtained by an illegal search.
2. Failure to appoint an expert witness for him.
3. Illegally drawn jury panel.
4. Denial of right to effective counsel.
5. Lack of jurisdiction.
6. Conviction based on perjured testimony.
7. Evidence insufficient to warrant conviction.

Since this type of postconviction proceeding is relatively new, it is proper to briefly refer to the reason for its adoption. This has some bearing on the intent of the legislature in promulgating the act.

The postconviction jurisdiction of the federal trial courts permitted state prisoners to challenge their convictions on the ground that their rights under the United States Constitution had been violated and afforded an evidentiary hearing for that purpose. Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837; Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770; and Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 10 L.Ed.2d 148. This was not permitted in many state jurisdictions. To avoid or at least minimize this conflict between the state and federal jurisdictions, numerous states adopted procedures under which a state prisoner could be heard and have determined whether his conviction was secured in violation of such rights; in other words, allowing them to proceed in state courts as they were then permitted to do in the federal court. See Case v. State of Nebraska, 381 U. S. 336, 85 S.Ct. 1486, 14 L.Ed.2d 422. Our procedure came into being as Ch. 121, Laws of 1966.

Our new postconviction proceeding is not a substitute for the remedy of direct appeal. State v. Roth, 84 S.D. 44, 166 N.W.2d 564. Nor was it intended to secure routine review for any defendant dissatisfied with his sentence. Rather, in such proceeding his proof must establish, as we said in Fanning v. State, 85 S.D. 246, 180 N.W.2d 853, that:

*297 “they must be such violations as are denials of due process which, in a criminal case, undermine the jurisdiction of the court whereby the c'ourt loses jurisdiction or similar constitutional violations in the field of search and seizure, confessions, right to counsel and other such errors by which the court loses jurisdiction.”

When a defendant has taken an appeal from his conviction our postconviction statute cannot be used to secure a second review of issues finally decided on the appeal. State v. Roth, supra. Otherwise, there would be no end to the litigation of an issue.

The burglary involved occurred in Vermillion, Clay County, South Dakota. It was first noticed by the city police about 3:40 a.m. About 40 or 50 minutes later that morning petitioner was seen by two police officers on patrol, searching for persons who might have been involved in it, driving a South Dakota licensed motor vehicle on the streets of Vermillion. It later proved to be his codefendant’s car. The police started their flashing red signal light. 1 The officers did nothing further to apprehend him. Nevertheless,, he stopped the car and got out of it. He was then at a dead end street.

After visiting with him a short time the officers put him in their car and took him to police headquarters. The sheriff of Clay County who arrived at the scene about the time petitioner was apprehended looked into the car he had been driving and saw a pair of gloves lying on the front seat. He examined the gloves and put them back where he had first seen them. The car was then driven to the police station and locked. Later that day the sheriff unlocked the car and re *298 moved the gloves. These were put into evidence as Exhibit 26 over objection of the defendant. It is petitioner’s contention that these were secured by an unlawful search. We do not agree.

The officers did not have a warrant to search the car. Nor did they have petitioner’s or the car owner’s consent to do so. The postconviction court found that these gloves were observed by the sheriff from outside the automobile. Petitioner does not seem to question the propriety of this finding. To the contrary his petition concedes that the officers “Looking into the car they saw a pair of gloves lying on the seat.” On this basis the court held that since the gloves were in open view no search was involved. This was a proper conclusion. State v. Hermandson, 84 S.D. 208, 169 N.W.2d 255. Consequently, the constitutional provisions against unreasonable search and seizure are not involved.

Concerning his second ground of complaint he claims that the court should have appointed an expert witness for him to examine the various exhibits which tended to prove that the burglars had made preparations to open the safe involved by the use of explosives.

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

Related

Jill S. N. Schaffer v. Bryan Beringer
842 F.3d 585 (Eighth Circuit, 2016)
State v. Manke
361 N.W.2d 247 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1985)
Coleman v. State
633 P.2d 624 (Montana Supreme Court, 1981)
Stumes v. Solem
511 F. Supp. 1312 (D. South Dakota, 1981)
United States Ex Rel. Means v. Solem
480 F. Supp. 128 (D. South Dakota, 1979)
State v. Reiman
284 N.W.2d 860 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1979)
Havens v. Solem
455 F. Supp. 1132 (D. South Dakota, 1978)
Parker v. Solem
450 F. Supp. 1150 (D. South Dakota, 1978)
Zemina v. Solem
438 F. Supp. 455 (D. South Dakota, 1977)
State v. Strickland
211 N.W.2d 575 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1973)
Harrell v. State
1972 OK CR 27 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1972)
Orricer v. Erickson
329 F. Supp. 360 (D. South Dakota, 1971)
Geelan v. State
182 N.W.2d 311 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
181 N.W.2d 461, 85 S.D. 293, 1970 S.D. LEXIS 124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orricer-v-state-sd-1970.