Romine v. Duckworth

648 F. Supp. 60, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28498
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 6, 1986
DocketNo. S 85-250
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 648 F. Supp. 60 (Romine v. Duckworth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Romine v. Duckworth, 648 F. Supp. 60, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28498 (N.D. Ind. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, Chief Judge.

This petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 by Keith Romine, an inmate incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison, in Michigan City, Indiana. The matter is now before this court on respondents’ motion to dismiss, filed as part of their Return to Order to Show Cause. In accord with the dictates of Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963), the complete state court record has been filed with, and carefully examined by, this court.

A careful examination of the underlying state court record and the opinion of the Supreme Court of Indiana, Romine v. State, — Ind. —, 455 N.E.2d 911 (1983), reveals that petitioner has exhausted his available state court remedies per 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b), (c); Anderson v. Harless, 459 U.S. 4, 103 S.Ct. 276, 74 L.Ed.2d 3 (1982). Both sides having briefed their respective positions, this petition is now ripe for ruling.

Petitioner was convicted in a state court jury trial of murder for which he received a determinate sentence of fifty (50) years. This conviction was unanimously affirmed on appeal by the Supreme Court of Indiana. Petitioner now brings this petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus.

[62]*62Petitioner raises the following issues in this application for habeas relief:

(1) Petitioner was denied his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights when the trial court admitted into evidence, over objection, involuntary statements made while in custody at the time of arrest.
(2) Petitioner was denied his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights when the trial court admitted into evidence, over objection a confession taken during interrogation after petitioner requested an attorney be present.
(3) Petitioner’s constitutional rights were denied him when the trial court allowed testimony that the defendant had blood on his hand, to go to the jury;
(4) Petitioner’s constitutional rights were violated when the trial court allowed testimony of a three year old threat to be introduced as evidence.
(5) Petitioner’s constitutional rights were violated when the trial court allowed photos of the victim to be shown to the jury which had incisions made by medical persons.

I.

Justice DeBruler, writing for the Supreme Court of Indiana summarized the evidence as follows:

Appellant Romine and his wife Tammy were at R.J.’s Bar in Terre Haute at a 11:30 p.m. on February 19, 1981. They were acquainted with others there. The two argued and he left, returning an hour later. He was then seen standing near her. She then fell to the floor, and he hurriedly left. She was found to be stabbed and died shortly thereafter at the hospital.
A couple of hours later, at a 5:00 a.m., appellant appeared at the trailer of a friend. He told his friend that he had stabbed Tammy and he thought she was dead. The friend testified that appellant was not drunk and did not appear to be on drugs, and that his speech was not slurred, he did not stagger or stumble and appeared to know what he was saying. Appellant hugged his friend several times and his friend could not detect the smell of alcohol. Appellant pulled a knife out and showed it, saying that he had stabbed Tammy with it. There was blood on the knife. Appellant then called his mother on the telephone and stated that he had killed his wife and was going to kill himself rather than go to prison, and described to her the type of funeral he wanted for himself and his wife. At 6:00 or 6:30 a.m., two police officers arrived at the trailer and arrested him. They found him in a bedroom sitting on a bed in a state of suicidal depression with the knife at his own chest. One of the officers talked with him for fifteen or twenty minutes and ultimately convinced him to give him the knife. When he gave the knife over he said: “Here, this is evidence.” They moved into the kitchen of the trailer where appellant was informed of his privilege against self-incrimination and right to counsel. Appellant then said, she was up there and there was nothing he could do. Appellant testified on his suppression motion that he was then drunk, under the influence of marijuana, had not slept for two days, and had recently learned that his wife had died. The officers testified that he was sober and knew what he was doing.

By 8:30 a.m., appellant was in the station-house, and was again read his Miranda rights, and this time signed a written waiver of those rights. He then discussed the case in general form with police. At one point in the discussion appellant stated to his interrogators, “Oh, I’d better wait till I talk to an attorney.” Whereupon one of the interrogators did respond. “We told him that was his right if he wanted to stop answering. Then he started talking on it again.” That testimony continued:

“Q. Okay. Did he start up again on his own — as you recall?
A. As I remember, yeah.
Q. Did anybody — I shouldn’t say anybody — did any of the three of you attempt to contact his attorney?
[63]*63A. No.”
Appellant then engaged in giving a formal written confession in question and answer form in which it was recorded that he admitted stabbing his wife at the RJ.’s Bar.

This court adheres to the presumption of correctness afforded the factual determinations made by the state court as set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) and Sumner v. Mata, 449 U.S. 539, 101 S.Ct. 764, 66 L.Ed.2d 722 (1981), and adopts the above summary as a correct statement of the evidence after a careful review of the record before this court. Furthermore, petitioner does not dispute the facts he only disagrees with the inferences to be drawn from some of those facts.

II.

Petitioner first claims as unconstitutional the admittance of two particular statements made by the petitioner while at the trailer of his friend. The first statement petitioner asserts should not have been admitted was the statement, “Here, this is evidence,” made by the petitioner when he handed the police officer a knife with which he had been threatening suicide. This statement was made after the police had spent fifteen (15) to twenty (20) minutes talking petitioner out of committing suicide. Petitioner was then read his rights and given coffee, as earlier promised. During the time petitioner was drinking coffee he made the statement, “She was up there, and there was nothing he could do ...”. Petitioner contends that these statements were made as a result of a police interrogation while he was in custody.

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Related

Romine v. Duckworth
805 F.2d 1038 (Seventh Circuit, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
648 F. Supp. 60, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28498, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/romine-v-duckworth-innd-1986.