United States v. Springfield

178 F. Supp. 347, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2518
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 6, 1959
DocketNo. 35854
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 178 F. Supp. 347 (United States v. Springfield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Springfield, 178 F. Supp. 347, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2518 (N.D. Cal. 1959).

Opinion

OLIVER J. CARTER, District Judge.

The defendants have filed a motion to vacate and set aside judgment under the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 2255, an affidavit and motion to proceed in forma pauperis, a motion for the appointment of counsel, and a notice of intent to appeal.

The motion to vacate and set aside judgment sets forth the grounds upon which the defendants seek to have their sentences set aside, and upon which all of the other motions and papers in this proceeding depend. In sum and substance, the motion sets forth two grounds: (1) the defendants were found guilty of a conspiracy to violate the narcotic laws, and that they were convicted upon evidence which was obtained by unlawful search and seizure, and (2) the defendants were denied the assistance of counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment in that their retained counsel gave them ineffective representation due to the fact that he failed to make a motion to suppress evidence prior to the trial under Rule 41(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A., and, in lieu of this, objected to the admissibility of the evidence at the time of the trial.

The records of this Court show that the case was tried before the Court without a jury, that the defendants were represented by retained counsel, and that no appeal was taken from the judgment of conviction.

As to the first ground, the case falls squarely within the rule laid down in the recent case of Eberhart v. United States, 9 Cir., 1958, 262 F.2d 421, in which the court said:

“Petitioner presents three contentions in the present proceedings. The first one is that the Government used evidence (the narcotics and money) obtained by an illegal search and seizure.
“Assuming for the moment, that the money or the narcotics used as evidence was obtained illegally, this contention should have been urged at the trial and on appeal and cannot be used in a habeas corpus or § 2255 proceeding. Price v. Johnston, 9 Cir., 125 F.2d 806, certiorari denied 316 U.S. 677, 62 S.Ct. 1106, 86 L.Ed. 1750; Barber v. United States, 10 Cir., 197 F.2d 815; United States v. Scales, 7 Cir., 249 F.2d 368. The reception of illegally obtained evidence would be trial error which should be challenged on appeal if known by the defendant during the trial.” (262 F.2d at page 422)

The records of the case show that a motion to suppress the challenged evidence was made at the time of trial and denied, and there is nothing in part (1) of the proposed motion to vacate which was not raised at the trial. As to this ground, it is obvious that the defendants are seeking to substitute a proceeding under § 2255 for the appellate process. This they cannot do.

Defendant Frank W. Lawrence filed a motion to vacate and set aside sentence under the provisions of § 2255 on January 19, 1959. The essence of this prior [349]*349motion to vacate and set aside sentence was that defendant was convicted upon evidence which was obtained by unlawful search and seizure, i. e. the same ground as the first ground alleged in the present petition on behalf of both Springfield and Lawrence. On January 22, 1959 the district court dismissed the motion to vacate and set aside sentence. He appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (Undocketed Misc. 844) The appeal was ordered dismissed as frivolous on May 4, 1959.

As the second ground for their motion to vacate and set aside judgment, the defendants are in substance alleging that they did not have the assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, in that they had ineffective representation by counsel. It is their contention that they did not have effective assistance of counsel because their counsel was in collusion with the prosecuting attorney and “did not want to protect the rights of his clients.” They allege that his failure to make a motion to suppress evidence prior to the trial under Rule 41(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure denied them the effective assistance of counsel. The basic problem before the Court in this regard is the question of whether or not there is such a genuine issue of material fact raised that it cannot be resolved without a hearing, followed by findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Court will first consider the cases concerned with the law in regard to effective assistance of counsel. Next in order, it will consider the cases dealing with the requirement of a hearing in connection with this issue.

In United States v. Butler, D.C., 167 F.Supp. 102, 105 (affirmed by the Fourth Circuit in 1958 in 260 F.2d 574), Judge Hoffman set forth the law regarding Rule 41(e) as follows:

“While it may be the better practice for counsel to avail themselves of opportunities afforded by an advance motion to suppress evidence where a jury is hearing the case, the failure to do so cannot be asserted as grounds for relying upon ineffective representation of counsel * * *. Perhaps an abler attorney would have raised the point at an earlier stage of the testimony, but if there is merit to petitioner’s contention on this point, it would open the avenue of freedom to all defendants in criminal cases who have been subjected to evidence being introduced and thereafter excluded by instructions of the court. It would, in effect, preclude action by a court in excluding improperly admitted evidence.”

At page 106 of 167 F.Supp. he further stated:

“In a proceeding to vacate a sentence under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255, the petitioner must carry the burden of proof. By alleging ineffective representation of counsel, it is incumbent upon petitioner to show not only the type of representation, but also at which point such representation violated the provisions of the Constitution. The Sixth Amendment requiring that the accused shall have assistance of counsel does not mean that constitutional rights of an accused are impaired by mistakes of counsel, and petitioner must show that the proceedings were, in substance, a farce and a mockery of justice. (Citing cases) Undoubtedly there must be ‘effective’ representation and negligence of an attorney may be one factor pointing to the violation of constitutional rights, but in the instant proceeding there exists, at the most, a lack of judgment in not registering a more timely objection. The attorney employed by petitioner has had fourteen years of experience in the field of criminal law. Unless his conduct during the trial was such as to impose a duty upon the Court to intercede in petitioner’s behalf under the belief that the proceedings were being converted into a mock[350]*350ery of justice, the petitioner cannot complain that his constitutional rights have been violated.”

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

Related

Russell T. Halliday v. United States
380 F.2d 270 (First Circuit, 1967)
Scherk v. United States
242 F. Supp. 445 (N.D. California, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
178 F. Supp. 347, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-springfield-cand-1959.