United States of America Ex Rel. James Rogers v. Warden of Attica State Prison, Attica, New York

381 F.2d 209
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedJuly 10, 1967
Docket459, Docket 30874
StatusPublished
Cited by107 cases

This text of 381 F.2d 209 (United States of America Ex Rel. James Rogers v. Warden of Attica State Prison, Attica, New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States of America Ex Rel. James Rogers v. Warden of Attica State Prison, Attica, New York, 381 F.2d 209 (2d Cir. 1967).

Opinions

IRVING R. KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge:

The underlying question presented on this appeal is whether a defendant who enters a guilty plea in a New York State court, knowing that he may subsequently challenge in the state’s appellate process the denial of his pretrial motion to suppress evidence alleged to be the fruit of an illegal search and seizure, should be considered to have waived the right to raise his Fourth Amendment claims in the federal courts by way of an appli[211]*211cation for habeas corpus. We are also asked to examine the murky area of probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant.

I. The Facts

The facts in the case are not in dispute and lend themselves to simple statement. On January 12, 1963, Judge O’Grady, of the New York City Criminal Court, issued a warrant to search Rogers’ apartment which occupied the first and basement floors at 191 Quincy Street, Brooklyn. The warrant was based on the affidavit of Detective Gowski of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. He stated that he had probable cause to believe that appellant was in possession of narcotic drugs and paraphernalia which could be found in his apartment.1 2Nine days after the warrant was issued, officers of the New York City Police Department’s Narcotics Bureau searched the apartment and found narcotics, cutting implements, and a loaded .22 caliber automatic gun.

Two indictments were subsequently filed against Rogers. In one, he was charged with violation of the state’s narcotics law, while in the other he was accused of carrying a dangerous weapon and of having committed second and third degree assaults during the search of his apartment. Rogers then moved in the Kings County Supreme Court to set aside the search warrant and to suppress the evidence that had been obtained, claiming that Gowski’s affidavit was insufficient as a matter of law to create probable cause for the issuance of the warrant. When his motion was denied, Rogers pleaded guilty to one count — a reduced charge recommended by the prosecutor — carrying a dangerous weapon (N. Y. Penal Law, McKinney’s Con-sol. Laws, c. 40 § 1897), which covered all the counts of both indictments. On September 11, 1963, Judge Malbin of the Kings County Supreme Court sentenced Rogers to a term of from 2V2 to 5 years in state prison.

Appellant then pursued in the state courts his appeal from the judgment of conviction and, pursuant to section 813-c of the New York Code of Criminal Procedure, urged the reviewing court to reverse the intermediate order denying his [212]*212pre-trial suppression motion.2 The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the judgment and order in a brief memorandum opinion, stating inter alia:

The affidavit of the police officer, on the basis of which the search warrant was issued, shows that the undisclosed informant, to whom reference is made in the affidavit, was reliable and had given the police the information that defendant and others “found” in the subject premises “are selling narcotic drugs” therein. We read this to mean that the informant saw the traffic in narcotics taking place in the premises. 22 A.D.2d 902, 255 N.Y.S.2d 332-333 (1964). (Emphasis added.)

The New York Court of Appeals also rejected Rogers’ contentions, accepting the Appellate Division’s assumption that “the informer had seen narcotic drug transactions in the apartment”. 15 N.Y. 2d 422, 424, 260 N.Y.S.2d 433, 434, 208 N.E.2d 422 (1965).

Having unsuccessfully litigated his claims in the state courts, Rogers applied for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court.3 The judge did not reach the merits of appellant’s claim but, citing our decision in U. S. ex rel. Glenn v. McMann, 349 F.2d 1018 (1965), cert. denied, 383 U.S. 915, 86 S.Ct. 906, 15 L.Ed.2d 669 (1966), denied the application on the ground that appellant’s plea of guilty in the state court barred him from raising his Fourth Amendment claims in a federal habeas corpus proceeding. 255 F.Supp. 516 (N.D.N.Y. 1965). Judge Port having granted a certificate of probable cause, we now review his denial of the writ.

II. Waiver

At the threshold we must decide whether, in light of the procedures provided by New York in section 813-c, Rogers’ plea of guilty in the state courts foreclosed him from challenging the validity of the search warrant in the federal courts.4 The general rule, well established in this and other Circuits, is that a “voluntary guilty plea entered on advice of counsel is a waiver of all non-jurisdictional defects in any prior stage [213]*213of the proceedings against him.” U. S. ex rel. Glenn v. McMann, 349 F.2d at 1019. See U. S. ex rel. Boucher v. Reincke, 341 F.2d 977 (2d Cir. 1965); Wallace v. Heinze, 351 F.2d 39 (9th Cir. 1965), cert, denied, sub nom. Wallace v. Oliver, 384 U.S. 954, 86 S.Ct. 954 (1966); Alexander v. United States, 290 F.2d 252 (5th Cir.) cert, denied, 368 U.S. 891, 82 S.Ct. 144, 7 L.Ed. 89 (1961). The rationale behind this doctrine is not difficult to discover. It is reasonable to conclude that when a defendant knowingly enters a guilty plea, it is an independent admission of the facts charged; thus, it becomes unnecessary for the prosecution to offer any evidence. And, since the conviction is based solely on the plea of guilty or admission of the facts charged, no purpose would be served in permitting a defendant to argue ab initio on appeal that there had been an illgal search and seizure. See U. S. ex rel. Vaughn v. LaVallee, 318 F.2d 499 (2d Cir. 1963). Therefore, in the greater number of state courts a guilty plea bars a defendant from raising his Fourth Amendment claims in a subsequent appeal. And, since the defendant is presumed to be aware of this consequence, the federal courts have properly concluded that his plea constitutes an “intentional relinquishment or abandonment” (Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938)) of his Fourth Amendment claims. It follows, therefore, that one who knowingly fails to raise his constitutional arguments via the appropriate and reasonable state procedures that have been provided waives his right to raise these same claims before a federal court in an application for a writ of habeas corpus. See Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 438, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963).5

But while there is merit to the general rule that a guilty plea in a state court waives a defendant’s right to raise in the federal courts alleged non-jurisdictional defects, we must be wary of blindly applying this doctrine to every case involving such a plea. There is nothing inherent in the nature of a plea of guilty which ipso facto renders it a waiver of a defendant’s constitutional claims.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Seifert v. Rivera
933 F. Supp. 2d 307 (D. Connecticut, 2013)
People v. Neuhaus
240 P.3d 391 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2009)
People v. McMurtry
122 P.3d 237 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2005)
Van Haele v. State
2004 WY 59 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2004)
Brown v. State, No. Cv 00 009 53 94 (Feb. 26, 2003)
2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 2695 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2003)
Nixon v. State
2002 WY 118 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2002)
State v. Gilnite
496 A.2d 525 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1985)
State v. Martin
495 A.2d 1028 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1985)
United States v. Martinez-Torres
556 F. Supp. 1236 (S.D. New York, 1982)
Drayton v. New York
556 F.2d 644 (Second Circuit, 1977)
Santiago v. Supreme Court
411 F. Supp. 73 (E.D. New York, 1976)
United States v. Townsend
394 F. Supp. 736 (E.D. Michigan, 1975)
United States v. Consiglio
391 F. Supp. 564 (D. Connecticut, 1975)
Lefkowitz v. Newsome
420 U.S. 283 (Supreme Court, 1975)
United States ex rel. Rosner v. Warden
378 F. Supp. 1064 (S.D. New York, 1974)
United States ex rel. Terraciano v. Montanye
493 F.2d 682 (Second Circuit, 1974)
United States ex rel. Newsome v. Malcolm
492 F.2d 1166 (Second Circuit, 1974)
Torres v. United States
370 F. Supp. 1348 (E.D. New York, 1974)
United States Ex Rel. Irving v. Henderson
371 F. Supp. 1266 (S.D. New York, 1974)
United States v. Melvin Richard Mizell
488 F.2d 97 (Fifth Circuit, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
381 F.2d 209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-of-america-ex-rel-james-rogers-v-warden-of-attica-state-ca2-1967.