Thomasson v. Slayton

340 F. Supp. 597, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14354
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedApril 4, 1972
DocketCiv. A. No. 71-C-52-D
StatusPublished

This text of 340 F. Supp. 597 (Thomasson v. Slayton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thomasson v. Slayton, 340 F. Supp. 597, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14354 (W.D. Va. 1972).

Opinion

WIDENER, Chief Judge.

Petitioner seeks relief here by way of habeas corpus from a conviction in the courts of Virginia.

Thomasson was convicted by a jury in the Martinsville Corporation Court of feloniously breaking and entering the Martinsville Elks Lodge No. 1752 on April 4, 1967 and of feloniously taking and carrying away therefrom goods and chattels valued at $200.00. The jury fixed his punishment at three years and five years, respectively, on each charge.

On January 19, 1971, the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed the conviction and sentence of Thomasson. The grounds of appeal were:

1. That the defendant did not have faith in his court-appointed attorney ;
2. That the defendant was not tried in the requisite term of court and was denied a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment.
3. That an involuntary confession had been erroneously introduced in the trial court;
4. That the jury verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence.

On June 10, 1971, Thomasson filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Martinsville Corporation Court. The petition, which was dismissed on July 30, 1971, essentially alleged that he had been denied his right to effective counsel. He did not appeal this denial.

The present petition alleges three grounds for relief:

1. Denial of a fast and speedy trial.
2. Denial of due process of law.
3. Ineffective assistance of counsel.

Under each of these main grounds for relief, Thomasson has listed numerous questions, the answers to which supposedly would entitle him to relief. In view of the fact that Thomasson’s petition was filed by himself, the court will avoid any technicalities in the petition and consider that Thomasson has exhausted his state remedies as to the following grounds which have been considered by the Supreme Court of Virginia:

1. Denial of a speedy trial.
2. Insufficient evidence to support conviction.
[599]*5993. Admission of involuntary confession.
4. Ineffective assistance of counsel.

The petitioner was convicted by a jury, February 20, 1970, of breaking and entering and grand larceny at the Elks Club in Martinsville, which crime occurred April 4, 1967. A warrant was issued September 28, 1967 for petititioner, who was at that time in state custody on other charges and who remained in state custody on other charges until his trial. A detainer was filed to hold petitioner for the Martinsville charges, apparently in July, 1969, and shortly thereafter petitioner requested a speedy trial. The record shows that the Chief of Police in Martinsville, on July 24, 1969, advised the petitioner that the petition for a speedy trial had been received. The matter was brought to the attention of the trial judge and Thomas-son was returned to Martinsville in January, 1970. Following a preliminary hearing, February 6, 1970, he was indicted February 9, 1970, and the trial, as before mentioned, was held on February 20, 1970.

Petitioner claims that the delay between his request of July, 1969 and his return to Martinsville in January, 1970, and indictment and trial in February, 1970 constitutes a denial of his right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment. No due process issue is raised because of the time lapse between September, 1967 and July, 1969, and the reason for this is clear. Referring to other proceedings brought by petitioner in this court, Thomasson v. Slayton, No. 71-C-50-D, Thomasson v. Slayton, No. 71-C-51-D, and Thomasson v. Prosecuting Attorney, No. 70-C-42-D, it is seen that most of that time was bound to have been spent being prosecuted for various offenses committed by petitioner throughout southside Virginia. Between March, 1968 and January, 1970, he had been involved in several state court proceedings. In September, 1967, eight felony warrants were sworn out against him in the Circuit Court of Henry County and detainers issued. In March, 1968, he was convicted of five counts of statutory burglary in the Corporation Court of the City of Danville. On November 15, 1967, he was convicted of statutory burglary in the Circuit Court of Mecklenburg County. In January, 1968, he was convicted of statutory burglary in the Circuit Court of Halifax County.

The defendant’s attorney filed a motion in the criminal proceeding to dismiss the charges because they were not tried within the requisite terms of court as required by § 19.1-191 of the Code of Virginia and also because the delay following July, 1969 was in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The trial court heard the motion to dismiss the day before the trial and overruled the motion. The hearing showed that the defendant had all the witnesses present for the trial that he wanted present; that there was no evidence that could have been presented in July, 1969 that could not have been presented in February, 1970; and indeed the defense attorney as much as acknowledged that she had in no way been prejudiced by the delay.

Nothing in the petition or in the record indicates any prejudice caused by the delay, if indeed there was such, as no actual prejudice is either alleged or proven. The defense attorney was given the opportunity to present evidence of prejudice and produced none, so the only fair assumption which can be made is that no such evidence existed. In United States v. Banks, 370 F.2d 141 (4th Cir. 1966), a Sixth Amendment case, a ten-month delay following an indictment was held not so long as to make a prima facie showing of prejudice, and the court recited that there was no loss of witnesses and that the defendant suffered no detriment from the delay. In United States v. Baker, 424 F.2d 968 (4th Cir. 1970), a Fifth Amendment case, the court held that prejudice will not be presumed from mere delay (prior to indictment), and that a defendant [600]*600must bear the burden of proving prejudice by pre-indictment delay. This case cannot be compared with Pitts v. North Carolina, 395 F.2d 182 (4th Cir. 1968), in which a delay of sixteen years was held to be a long enough period for the burden to shift to the prosecution to show that no prejudice existed from a delay in indictment. Smith v. Hooey, 393 U.S. 374, 89 S.Ct. 575, 21 L.Ed.2d 607, set out three demands of the Sixth Amendment as: Preventing undue and oppressive incarceration, minimizing anxiety and concern accompanying public accusation, and limiting the possibility of a lessened ability of an accused to defend himself. None of these basic demands have been violated in this case. Although the record does not show the dates of terms of court in the City of Martinsville, it may be inferred from the record that the defendant was tried at either the first or second term following his request. The record shows affirmatively that no prejudice existed from the delay, and no attempt was made to show any prejudice in fact.

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Related

Townsend v. Sain
372 U.S. 293 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Smith v. Hooey
393 U.S. 374 (Supreme Court, 1969)
United States v. Berry Banks
370 F.2d 141 (Fourth Circuit, 1966)
Robert James Pitts v. State of North Carolina
395 F.2d 182 (Fourth Circuit, 1968)
United States v. Rudolph D. Baker and Otis Baker
424 F.2d 968 (Fourth Circuit, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
340 F. Supp. 597, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomasson-v-slayton-vawd-1972.