United States v. Norman Demetracakis

334 F.2d 781
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 10, 1964
Docket14366_1
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 334 F.2d 781 (United States v. Norman Demetracakis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Norman Demetracakis, 334 F.2d 781 (7th Cir. 1964).

Opinion

KNOCH, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant, Norman Deme-tracakis, was tried by the United States District Court, jury having been waived, and found guilty of mail theft in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 1708. He was sentenced to serve five years on each of two counts, the sentences to run consecutively. He has appealed to this Court asserting that his conviction was based solely on an uncorroborated, involuntary confession, obtained from him while he was illegally confined, which was erroneously received in evidence.

The government contends that as defendant has raised these points for the first time on appeal, he is deemed to have waived them, absent patent error.

*782 Defendant was represented at his trial by able and experienced Court-appointed counsel who, on offer in evidence of the several exhibits, including the allegedly stolen letters and their enclosures, together with defendant’s written statement, made no specific objection to the statement, saying merely:

* * * I would object for the record and waive any argument on my objection.”

We cannot say that the errors of which defendant now complains were made the subject of appropriate objection at the trial, as required. United States v. Jones, 7 Cir., 1953, 204 F.2d 745, 748. United States v. Bender, 7 Cir., 1955, 218 F.2d 869, 874.

Nevertheless we have studied the record to ascertain whether, as defendant contends, patent error exists here. Rule 52(b), Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Defendant was employed as an orderly at the Wrightwood Home, 504 Wrightwood Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, where living quarters were provided for him. His hours were normally 7 p. m. to 7 a. m. He also maintained rooms at 7109 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois.

On May 10, 1963, he worked from about 9 p. m. until about 8 or 9 a. m. the following morning, May 11, 1963, when he was arrested by Chicago Police officers and booked at about 10 or 10:45 a. m. on a state felony charge which was subsequently “no-billed” by the Cook County Grand Jury. During the day he remained at the police station where he was interrogated and exhibited in a line-up in connection with the state felony charge.

After defendant’s arrest, Richard Murray, another orderly at the Home, on the direction of Elna Parks, the Home’s Assistant Administrator, went to defendant’s room to pack his personal possessions.

Mr. Murray testified that when he picked up a coat on defendant’s bed, a letter fell out of it. This letter was the government’s Exhibit 2. The parties stipulated that if called as a witness, the Secretary of the State of Illinois would testify that on May 9, 1963, he caused to be mailed postage paid, Exhibit 2, addressed to Basil Mihalopoulos, 528 W. Wrightwood Avenue, Chicago. Mr. Murray showed Exhibit 2 to Mrs. Parks who then returned with him and searched defendant’s room, where she found two letters and a bank statement. One of these letters was the government’s Exhibit 1. The parties also stipulated that if called as a witness, Mrs. Gertrude Coyle would testify that on April 23, 1963, she mailed, postage paid, Exhibit 1 addressed to Mrs. T. Sorcie, 1501 W. Fargo Avenue, Chicago. The parties further stipulated that the addressees of both exhibits would testify that they maintained letter boxes for receipt of mail at their respective addresses, that they examined these boxes the day after the aforesaid mailings, that the letters were not there and that they had not seen them.

Defendant had recently completed a three-year sentence for mail theft. He testified that he had been convicted of nine or ten previous mail theft offenses, spending about twenty-five years in various federal penal institutions.

About 12:45 p. m. on May 11, 1963, Postal Inspector Culkin, who had known defendant for about seven years, was assigned to the case. He visited the Home and received the documents found by Mrs. Parks. He also searched defendant's room at the Home. He then spoke to the defendant at the police station for a few minutes, told him of his Constitutional rights to refrain from speaking and to have counsel, and cautioned him that anything he did say might be used against him. Defendant denied stealing any mail, denied that there was any mail in his room at the Home or elsewhere, and gave permission to search his rooms on Clark Street. After making that search, Inspector Culkin returned to the police station, spoke to defendant for another three to five minutes, during which he told him that the letters had been found in his room, after which de *783 fendant made a statement, which was reduced to writing, government’s Exhibit 6, in which are set out the location, the persons present, the warnings given defendant of his Constitutional rights, and in which defendant admits stealing four letters, including government’s Exhibits 1 and 2, and taking the checks contained in some of these letters, by withdrawing the envelopes from the slots in the respective mail boxes. In his own handwriting, defendant has noted “I have read this; it is true, two pages,” before his signature.

At the trial defendant denied the thefts. The Court interrogated him at some length about the statement, Exhibit 6, and the conditions under which it had been given. The defendant made it clear that no threats or promises had been made to induce his confession, or that he had otherwise been abused by either Inspector Culkin or the Chicago Police. He said he was tired at the time, about 3:20 p. m. in the afternoon of May 11, 1963. He had not slept since about 5 p. m. on May 10, 1963. He had walked to work from his Clark Street address. He was having “just a little bit of trouble” “not too serious” with sciatic neuralgia, and had worked all night. He had been questioned throughout most of the day on the state charge. He told the Trial Court that this other charge had him worried, and that he had made a remark to Inspector Culkin, who asked him which matter he would “rather have it over with first,” that:

“I would rather get this over with first, because I am pretty sure that the results of this original charge, upon which I was arrested, would show that I was telling the truth, * * *»

No question respecting the voluntary nature of the statement was raised. Defendant did say that it was not true. He now contends that the voluntary nature of the confession was put in issue by his statements concerning his fatigue and his worry about the two charges. We cannot agree. But in any event, we find no basis for holding admission of the confession in evidence to be error.

Unlike the defendant in Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 81 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
334 F.2d 781, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-norman-demetracakis-ca7-1964.