United States v. Rifen

577 F.2d 1111, 42 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 78
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJune 7, 1978
DocketNo. 77-1991
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 577 F.2d 1111 (United States v. Rifen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Rifen, 577 F.2d 1111, 42 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 78 (8th Cir. 1978).

Opinion

LAY, Circuit Judge.

Gary James Collins was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape in the Iowa state court; his conviction was affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Collins, 236 N.W.2d 376 (Iowa 1975), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 948, 96 S.Ct. 3166, 49 L.Ed. 1184 (1976). He thereafter sought a writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court, alleging that the admission of a confession in his state trial was in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and resulted in a denial of his constitutional rights under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court, the Honorable William C. Stuart presiding, found that admission of the confession did not violate the Miranda rule but was a denial of due process. Collins v. Auger, 428 F.Supp. 1079 (S.D.Iowa 1977). In view of the intervening decision of Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), this court on appeal remanded the cause to the district court to certify its findings as to whether there had been a contemporaneous objection in the state trial court as to the due process issue and, if not, whether petitioner demonstrated “cause” and “prejudice” under the new standards adopted in Sykes, as originally set out in Francis v. Henderson, 425 U.S. 536, 96 S.Ct. 1708, 48 L.Ed.2d 149 (1976). Upon remand the district court vacated its prior order and denied relief. Collins v. Auger, 451 F.Supp. 22 (S.D.Iowa 1977).

Prior to his state trial petitioner filed an application for a mental evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial. The application was granted, and petitioner was interviewed a number of times by Dr. Rom-ullo Lara at the Iowa Security Medical Facility at Oakdale. During the course of the interviews, petitioner confessed to Dr. Lara that he had committed the crime for which he was charged.

At petitioner’s trial the statements made to Dr. Lara were admitted into evidence despite defense counsel’s repeated objections on the basis of physician-patient privilege, the hearsay rule, and self-incrimination. In affirming the conviction the Supreme Court of Iowa held that admission of the statements made to Dr. Lara did not violate Collins’ rights despite the absence of Miranda warnings prior to the interviews. Justice Rawlings filed a special concurring opinion in which he agreed that no Miranda violation had occurred but indicated that admission of the statements may have been a violation of due process. 236 N.W.2d at 379.

Contemporaneous Objection Rule.

The State contends that during the proceedings in the state trial court and on direct appeal, defense counsel did not specifically object to admission of the confession on due process grounds. Prior to Fran[1109]*1109cis and Sykes, counsel’s failure to object to constitutional error would not preclude habeas corpus relief in federal court unless a knowing, deliberate waiver was shown. Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963); Harris v. Brewer, 434 F.2d 166, 168 (8th Cir. 1970). Only where it could be shown that the failure to make an objection was deliberate, for reasons such as trial strategy, was the defendant held to have waived the objection. Cf. Pope v. Swenson, 395 F.2d 321, 322-23 (8th Cir. 1968). The fact that the state had a procedural forfeiture rule which required a contemporaneous objection before trial errors could be later asserted on collateral attack did not limit a petitioner’s right to assert constitutional issues in a federal habeas corpus action. See Harris v. Brewer, supra at 168.

In Francis and Sykes, the Supreme Court narrowed the application of the deliberate bypass doctrine, holding that, absent compliance with an applicable state contemporaneous objection rule, a state prisoner could assert alleged trial errors in a federal habeas corpus action only after showing “cause” for not making a contemporaneous objection and “prejudice” from the alleged error. In reaching this conclusion the Court recognized that, under principles of federalism, state procedural forfeiture rules are entitled to greater respect than that granted by the deliberate bypass rule. 433 U.S. at 88-89, 97 S.Ct. 2497.

On remand in the present case, the district court found that petitioner had failed to make an adequate contemporaneous objection to the admission of his statements to Dr. Lara and thus was required to establish both cause for his failure to object and prejudice from the erroneous admission. The court found that cause had been shown but concluded that, although admission of the testimony was not harmless error, no prejudice had been established. The district court therefore vacated its prior order and refused to grant the writ of habeas corpus. Collins v. Auger, supra. We now vacate the district court’s order and direct that the court conditionally grant a writ of habeas corpus.

Although defense counsel did not specifically challenge the admissibility of the confession in the trial court on due process grounds, the fact remains that repeated objections were made at trial to the admission of the statements. The record thus indicates that the trial court, as well as the Supreme Court of Iowa, was alerted to evidentiary and constitutional issues pertaining to the confession’s admissibility. As Judge Stuart recognized, since one member of the Supreme Court of Iowa dealt with the due process issue, it must have been brought to the state courts’ attention. We conclude that petitioner asserted an adequate contemporaneous objection in the state proceedings.1

Since we find petitioner made a sufficient objection, he is entitled to review of his constitutional claims on the merits. The district court found that admission of the statements to Dr. Lara violated petitioner’s due process rights:

[I]t is fundamentally unfair to use defendant’s incriminating admissions to a psychiatrist during a psychiatric examination as part of the prosecution’s case to establish his guilt. .

The defendant is entitled to raise his mental condition at the time of the offense as a defense. He is also entitled, under proper circumstances, to an examination to determine his competency to stand trial. Psychiatric examinations are essential to the proof of his mental condition. An indigent must seek a court order authorizing the examination and the payment of its cost. If the giving of a Miranda warning satisfied requirements of the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment and made the defendant’s incriminating admissions admissible, [1110]*1110the defendant would be placed in a situation where he must sacrifice one Constitutional right to claim another.

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

Related

United States v. Kimberly Johnson
795 F.3d 840 (Eighth Circuit, 2015)
United States v. Davis
717 F.3d 28 (First Circuit, 2013)
People v. Barker
131 Cal. Rptr. 2d 801 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
Pingel v. Troy & Nichols, Inc.
907 S.W.2d 757 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1995)
State v. Sinner
779 S.W.2d 690 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. Dale
439 N.W.2d 98 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1989)
Rothacker v. Rockwall County Central Appraisal District
703 S.W.2d 235 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Nixon v. Phillipoff
615 F. Supp. 890 (N.D. Indiana, 1985)
State v. Osborn
368 N.W.2d 68 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1985)
May v. Bailey
693 S.W.2d 246 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1985)
Herald v. State
691 P.2d 1255 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1984)
Allnutt v. State
478 A.2d 321 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1984)
Informal Opinion No.
New York Attorney General Reports, 1984
Solyom v. Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission
452 A.2d 1283 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1982)
United States v. Thomas E. Verkuilen
690 F.2d 648 (Seventh Circuit, 1982)
City of Colton v. Corbly
323 N.W.2d 138 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1982)
United States v. Timothy J. Weir
679 F.2d 769 (Eighth Circuit, 1982)
United States v. Marks
534 F. Supp. 663 (W.D. Missouri, 1982)
United States v. Gardner S. Drape
668 F.2d 22 (First Circuit, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
577 F.2d 1111, 42 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 78, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rifen-ca8-1978.