Sears v. Sigler

298 F. Supp. 1318, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9051
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nebraska
DecidedApril 24, 1969
DocketCiv. 1434L
StatusPublished

This text of 298 F. Supp. 1318 (Sears v. Sigler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nebraska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sears v. Sigler, 298 F. Supp. 1318, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9051 (D. Neb. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VAN PELT, District Judge.

The petitioner has applied to this court for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner was tried and convicted of burglary and subsequently sentenced to a term of ten years imprisonment as a habitual criminal. The conviction was affirmed on appeal by the Nebraska Supreme Court, State v. Sears, 182 Neb. 384, 155 N.W.2d 332 (1967), and he has thus exhausted his state court remedies. He is presently serving his sentence at the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex. This court appointed counsel for the petitioner, a hearing was had, and upon oral argument, the case was submitted to this court. It now stands ready for decision.

The parties have entered into a stipulation of the questions before the court (filing No. 8) and they may be summarized as follows:

1) Whether the petitioner was denied his right to counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, his right to invoke his privilege against self-incrimination as provided by the Fifth Amendment, and his right to due process of law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment when he was taken before witnesses to a crime, at the scene of the crime, without being provided the assistance of counsel.

2) Whether he was deprived of constitutional rights when the police failed to inform him of his constitutional rights, privileges, and guarantees.

3) Whether the petitioner was denied his right to a fair trial when the prosecution made reference to the statements of two girls who were unavailable to testify, which had been taken by the police.

4) Whether the petitioner waived his right to collaterally attack the issue of the taking of the statement of the two girls when he failed to object to the introduction of the testimony at the trial.

This court is of the opinion that only one serious question is before it. Consequently, the issues numbered 2, 3, and 4 above will be disposed of without a lengthy discussion. The petitioner contends that he is entitled to the writ because the police did not inform him of his constitutional rights when he was arrested. This contention is without merit. The petitioner made no statement that was damaging to him, so the warning that anything he said could be used against him and his right to remain silent are not brought into play. Quite obviously there is no prejudice to the petitioner. See, Homan v. Sigler, 278 F.Supp. 201, 203 (D.Neb.1967); Sheldon v. Nebraska, Civ. 1196L, filed on October 23, 1967. In regard to the failure of the police to inform the petitioner that he was entitled to counsel, it must first be stated that the petitioner was well aware of his right to counsel, at least at some stage of the proceedings, because he testified in this court that after his arrest he repeatedly requested that he be taken to the police station where he could call counsel. In addition, prior to United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926,18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967) it was not thought necessary to have counsel present at pretrial confrontations for identification. See, Stovall v. Denno, 388 [1320]*1320U.S. 293, 299-300, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 (1967). The writ cannot issue on any of these grounds.

The petitioner also contends that the prosecutor introduced evidence in an attempt to prejudice the petitioner without the petitioner being able to counteract the evidence because the witnesses were unavailable. A deputy sheriff testified that he had received subpoenas for Diane John and Vicky John at 4807 Saratoga Street, but that the subpoenas could not be served at that address and had not been served. Captain Shears, another sheriff’s officer, testified that he had interviewed Diane John and Vicky John and obtained statements from them as part of his investigation. The petitioner argues that the inference is that the two girls implicated the petitioner. The Nebraska Supreme Court held that the argument was speculative, and, though the evidence may have been irrelevant, the admission was not prejudicial. That court also noted that the petitioner had failed to preserve the error. This court is of the opinion that the error was harmless, Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967), and can assert such beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, we need not decide whether the petitioner waived his right to assert the claim here.

So far as the questions raised under the issue numbered one are concerned, two of them can be disposed of by citation of recent United States Supreme Court decisions. On the basis of Wade, supra, 388 U.S. at page 222, 87 S.Ct. at page 1930, this court holds that the petitioner was not deprived of his right to assert his privilege against self-incrimination. The Court stated:

“We have no doubt that' compelling the accused merely to exhibit his person for observation by a prosecution witness prior to trial involves no compulsion of the accused to give evidence having testimonial significance. It is compulsion of the accused to exhibit his physical characteristics, not compulsion to disclose any knowledge he might have. It is no different from compelling Schmerber to provide a blood sample or Holt to wear the blouse, and, as in those instances, is not within the cover of the privilege.”

It is true that in the same case the Court held that the right to counsel extends to any critical confrontation by the prosecution where the results might well determine the outcome of the trial and derogate from the defendant’s right to a fair trial; but in a decision handed down on the same day, Stovall v. Denno, supra, 388 U.S. at page 300, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199 the Court held that Wade is not to be applied retroactively. The operative date is June 12, 1967. Petitioner was tried and convicted prior to that date. Nor does it matter that his case had not become final until after the decision in Wade, for the Court held in Stovall that it was not distinguishing between cases final at the time of the Wade decision and cases at “various stages of trial and direct review.” Consequently, the petitioner herein was not denied counsel at a critical stage and the writ cannot issue on this ground.

The last question raised by the petitioner is more serious. In effect, he raises the same issue that was raised in Stovall, supra, 388 U.S. at pages 301-302, 87 S.Ct. at page 1972, and that is:

“[Wjhether petitioner, although not entitled to the application of Wade * * * is entitled to relief on his claim that in any event the confrontation conducted in this case was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that he was denied due process of law.”

The Court stated that this inquiry was a recognized ground of attack upon a conviction independent of any right to counsel claim. The Court continued to say that, “a claimed violation of due process of law in the conduct of a confrontation depends on the totality of the circumstances surrounding it”, and in that case excused the confrontation between the witness and the petitioner standing alone as being imperative under [1321]*1321the circumstances.

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Related

Chapman v. California
386 U.S. 18 (Supreme Court, 1967)
United States v. Wade
388 U.S. 218 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Stovall v. Denno
388 U.S. 293 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Biggers v. Tennessee
390 U.S. 404 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Foster v. California
394 U.S. 440 (Supreme Court, 1969)
State v. Sears
155 N.W.2d 332 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1967)
Homan v. Sigler
278 F. Supp. 201 (D. Nebraska, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
298 F. Supp. 1318, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9051, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sears-v-sigler-ned-1969.