Simmons v. Bomar

224 F. Supp. 633, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6867
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 7, 1964
DocketCiv. A. No. 3600
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 224 F. Supp. 633 (Simmons v. Bomar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simmons v. Bomar, 224 F. Supp. 633, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6867 (M.D. Tenn. 1964).

Opinion

WILLIAM E. MILLER, Chief Judge.

Petitioner initiated these proceedings by mailing to this Court a letter which was filed as a petition for writ of habeas corpus in forma pauperis. The attorney appointed to represent the petitioner has filed an amended petition on behalf of the petitioner, stating that petitioner was convicted in the Criminal Court of Davidson County, Tennessee, in November 1961, on several counts of burglary and sentenced to a total of twelve years. The amended petition presents only one substantial ground for relief 1 — that petitioner was deprived of due process of law by the introduction of evidence which had been procured through an unlawful search and seizure by the arresting officers, thereby violating his rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Objection was made to the introduction of this evidence and an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of Tennessee asserting error in the admission of the evidence. Petitioner’s claim of violation of a federal constitutional right has been finally disposed of adversely to him by the highest court of this state.2 ******8

Thereafter petitioner sought habeas corpus in this court. He has not sought certiorari in the United States [634]*634Supreme Court,3 nor has he undertaken a collateral attack in the state courts. The issue is thus raised: Where petitioner has had an adjudication of his federal constitutional claim on direct review by the highest state court, must he also pursue a post-conviction remedy, such as habeas corpus, in the state courts on the same ground before he will be deemed to have “exhausted his available state remedies” within the meaning of 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254?4

The respondent has filed a motion to dismiss for the reason that it does not appear that petitioner has exhausted the remedies available to him in the courts of the state. In an order entered October 14, 1963, this Court directed attention to this question and asked that counsel submit briefs and make oral argument on the issue. Upon consideration of the arguments of counsel and authorities cited, the Court is of the opinion that petitioner has exhausted his state remedies within the meaning of 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254; that this Court has jurisdiction to entertain the petition; and that respondent’s motion to dismiss must be denied.

For the proposition that the petitioner must first initiate collateral review, respondent relies on Wooten v. Bomar, 267 F.2d 900 (6th Cir. 1959). In that case the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said:

“The petitioner exhausted his remedy on appeal in the State courts of Tennessee, but he did not exhaust', the alternative remedy of habeas-corpus in those courts. * * * It is a well established rule of federal practice that such remedy must be exhausted as a prerequisite to the jurisdiction of the federal courts.”

Upon this ground the Court affirmed the-District Court’s dismissal of the writ. On its face this statement supports respondent’s contention, but taken literally it would appear to be an overstatement of what the Wooten case actually holds. A reading of the reported decision of the Tennessee Supreme Court in Wooten v. State, 203 Tenn. 473, 314 S. W.2d 1 (1958), reveals that the federal constitutional claim sought to be raised by the petitioner in federal court was-not discussed or decided by the state-Supreme Court, and the inference is-clear that such claim was not raised by petitioner or presented to that court for-decision. Consequently, the Wooten decision on its facts actually rules that habeas corpus must still be sought in the state courts after final decision by the highest court of the state if the federal-constitutional claim had not been presented to that court for decision. The-Court of Appeals in Wooten had no occasion to determine that application for-state habeas corpus would have been-necessary had the federal claim been, adjudicated adversely to petitioner by the state Supreme Court.

[635]*635Respondent relies upon a number of other authorities which on examination only sustain the narrow holding of the Wooten case — that habeas corpus will not lie in federal court if the constitutional claim relied upon by the petitioner had not been raised in the highest state court. In Porch v. Cagle, 199 F.2d 865, 867 (5th Cir. 1952), the Court said that “in this case it does not appear that the Federal constitutional question has ever been presented to the State Court.” And in Turner v. Eidson, 215 F.2d 728, 730 (8th Cir. 1954) the Court said:

“[I]n none of the proceedings in which appellant has engaged in the Missouri courts has he urged these grounds as a basis of attack upon his incarceration, and in none of the denials of relief made by the Missouri courts can those courts be said to have acted in relation to them.”

In Pappas v. Buchkoe, 156 F.Supp. 492 (W.D.Mich.1957), where the petitioner sought habeas corpus on the theory of diversity jurisdiction and had not sought state review, the District Court said “[T]he Supreme Court of Michigan has had no opportunity to pass upon these issues.” In Smith v. Hixon, 142 F.Supp. 302 (S.D.Ala.1956), the Alabama Supreme Court had likewise not ruled on the constitutional issue, although petitioner had fallen victim to numerous procedural pitfalls in his attempt to obtain such a ruling.

One case cited by the respondent actually supports, in a dictum, the petitioner’s position. Alcorn v. Gladden, 286 F.2d 689 (9th Cir. 1961). There the petitioner had not pursued any state remedy properly available to him, thus the action of the district court in denying the application was affirmed, but the Court said:

“Section 2254 does not require that every possible method of obtaining state court relief be pursued to ultimate conclusion. Where, for example, the highest court of a state has held against a defendant on an appeal from his conviction and cer-tiorari has been denied, section 2254 does not make it necessary for him to thereafter seek collateral relief in the state courts with respect to the same alleged errors.” At page 691 of 286 F.2d.

To require the petitioner to go back to the state courts for a second determination of the same issue already decided by the state’s highest tribunal would appear to be an unreasonable burden to impose in the name of comity. It may be that in some instances there could be reason to believe that a second decision would differ from the first, as where there has been a substantial lapse of time since the last appellate review or where the state court has subsequently rendered a conflicting decision. These factors are not present in this case and their effect insofar as federal jurisdiction is concerned need not be discussed.

The rule which is applicable here was first stated in Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443, 73 S.Ct. 397, 97 L.Ed. 469 (1952):

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Related

Simmons v. Bomar
230 F. Supp. 226 (M.D. Tennessee, 1964)

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Bluebook (online)
224 F. Supp. 633, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6867, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simmons-v-bomar-tnmd-1964.