United States Ex Rel. Sanders v. Rowe

460 F. Supp. 1128, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14270
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedNovember 20, 1978
Docket78 C 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 460 F. Supp. 1128 (United States Ex Rel. Sanders v. Rowe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States Ex Rel. Sanders v. Rowe, 460 F. Supp. 1128, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14270 (N.D. Ill. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

BUA, District Judge.

I.

James M. Sanders filed this petition for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge his March 21, 1977, conviction of two armed *1131 robbery charges in the Circuit Court of Winnebago County, Illinois. Petitioner claims that two confessions 1 which were admitted against him at his trial were obtained in violation of his right to counsel at interrogation sessions, and should have been suppressed pursuant to the fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution. This issue was timely raised in the trial court and on appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court and the Illinois Supreme Court. Petitioner’s conviction at a stipulated bench trial was affirmed on appeal. People v. Sanders, 55 Ill.App.3d 178, 13 Ill.Dec. 186, 370 N.E.2d 1213 (2d Dist. 1977), petition for leave to appeal denied, No. 50387 (March 30, 1978) (unpublished order). The parties agree that petitioner has exhausted all state remedies.

The case is now before the court on respondents’ motion to dismiss, and on petitioner’s cross motion for summary judgment. The court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law are based on the record of the state proceedings and the findings made by the circuit court judge. Though the state court’s record and findings are ambiguous on many points, this court relies on them here, in holding that the petitioner is entitled to summary judgment on the basis of the undisputed facts. 2 See Williams v. Brewer, 509 F.2d 227 (8th Cir. 1975) (a district court may properly rely on undisputed state court findings of fact in conducting its independent review of a habeas petitioner’s constitutional claims), aff’d, 430 U.S. 387, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 423 (1977). To the extent that there is any genuine issue of material fact herein, it has been resolved in favor of the state. Accordingly, an evidentiary hearing has not been necessary. 3 See Rule 8(a), Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, 28 U.S.C. foll. § 2254; Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63, 81-82, 97 S.Ct. 1621, 52 L.Ed.2d 136 (1977).

II.

At 1:00 a. m. on January 13,1977, Officer Charles Bishop of the Rockford Police Department observed three men struggling near the corner of State and Madison Streets in Rockford. 4 Two of the men fled as Bishop approached, and he chased them. Bishop recognized one of the men as the petitioner. While chasing the men, Bishop passed a parked patrol car containing Rockford Officers Frew and Lindstrom, and he asked them to chase the green Buick in which the pair had fled. Bishop then returned to the third man, Frank Barbero, who was lying on the ground. Barbero told Bishop that the two suspects had attempted to rob him and were armed.

After a chase, Frew and Lindstrom stopped the Buick. In the car were three men: the petitioner, Mark Manley, and Boyce Smelser. The officers searched the car and found a .32 caliber revolver, apparently stained with dried blood, and a “club-type” instrument. 5 The suspects were then advised of their rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and taken to the police station. There was conflicting testimony at the preliminary hearing as to whether petitioner was drunk at the time of his arrest. (R. 64-66, 72, 238-39).

*1132 At the station, petitioner was again advised of his Miranda rights. He signed a waiver of rights form, then gave a statement denying any participation in the offense. At about 3:00 a. m. he was taken to jail.

Six hours later, at 9:00 a. m., petitioner was interrogated by Rockford Police Detectives Bland and Fegan. 6 At 9:24, they again read the petitioner his rights and asked if he understood them. He said that he did and, according to the detectives’ testimony, said that he wished to speak to an attorney. 7 The detectives did not, however, cease their interrogation. They took no steps towards providing petitioner with a lawyer.

After petitioner requested a lawyer, the detectives told him that they had a strong case against him and that he would almost certainly be convicted and sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison. They described the substance of their case to him, including the fact that they had obtained an oral statement from Smelser and a written statement from Manley. When the petitioner asked to see Manley’s statement, the detectives refused to show it to him. They did fold the paper so he could see Manley’s signature. A few minutes later, petitioner agreed to give a statement and signed a written waiver form. 8 This statement admitted an involvement in the armed robbery of Barbero.

At some point prior to 5:00 p. m. that day, a criminal complaint charging petitioner with armed robbery in the Barbero case was sworn by Detective Bishop and filed in the Winnebago County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office. 9

During the afternoon, petitioner, still in custody, was moved to the Sheriff’s office at the Winnebago County Courthouse. At 5:40, Sergeant England and Officers Ferger and Shimaitis of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department began interrogating the petitioner about a second armed robbery. Petitioner was advised of his Miranda rights and again signed a written waiver form. 10 At about 6:00 p. m., petitioner confessed to the armed robbery of Smith T. Randol on the night of January 12, the same night as the Barbero robbery. 11

That evening, Officers Rollins and McGill of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department interviewed petitioner at the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office. At about 9:00 p. m., petitioner signed another written waiver of rights form. He then confessed to the armed robbery and aggravated battery of James Collins, also on the evening of the twelfth. 12

*1133 A preliminary hearing was held in the case on January 20, 1977, and a hearing on the motion to suppress was held on March 16, 1977. At the suppression hearing, the trial court ruled against the defendant’s motion to suppress. The judge issued no written findings. His ruling from the bench, in part, was that:

I believe they are adult young men who signed these waivers understanding^, knowingly.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
460 F. Supp. 1128, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-ex-rel-sanders-v-rowe-ilnd-1978.