United States v. Tucker

328 F. Supp. 1312, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12442
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 13, 1971
DocketCiv. A. No. 2516-68; Crim. No. 1048-57
StatusPublished

This text of 328 F. Supp. 1312 (United States v. Tucker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Tucker, 328 F. Supp. 1312, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12442 (D.D.C. 1971).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

AUBREY E. ROBINSON, Jr., District Judge.

The defendant, David J. Tucker, is before the Court on a motion to vacate sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (1964). He had been convicted of first degree murder and related offenses in 1962 and sentenced to life imprisonment. This present 2255 motion is before the Court on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Tucker v. United States, 138 U.S.App.D.C. 345, 427 F.2d 615 (1970), which held that Tucker’s motion raised issues that entitled him to a hearing, reversing this Court’s initial ruling that denied the motion without a hearing. After consideration of the memoranda in support of and in opposition to Tucker’s motion as well as the testimony of the witnesses and the argument of counsel presented at the hearing on this motion, it is the conclusion of this Court that the motion should be denied.

The first issue of any substance raised by this motion is that Tucker was denied adequate representation of counsel. A close examination of the allegations of inadequate representation reveals that Tucker’s complaint is that his very capable attorneys, in exercising their professional judgment, chose a legitimate tactical defense — insanity. Defense counsels’ efforts were not directed to the issues of fact but rather to the issues of insanity. The mere fact that the professionally chosen defense was unsuccessful does not constitute the gross incompetence necessary to sustain an allegation of inadequate representation.1 Further, in this 2255 motion Tucker contends he was inadequately represented because his defense counsel did not attack the admissibility of his in-custody statements. One cannot sustain such allegations, however, on the fact that, in the exercise of their professional judgment, defense counsel did not attack the admissibility of certain statements that would play only a marginal role as to the issue of insanity. Moreover, the defense cannot be criticized for failing to raise arguments in the heat of a trial which arguments this [1314]*1314Court, after a complete hearing and consideration of extensive legal memoranda, finds to be without merit.

The remaining issues of any substance raised in the present motion revolve around the admissibility of those in-custody statements. On November 4, 1957, Tucker was indicted for murder and on November 8, 1957 a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. He remained a fugitive until his arrest in the New York City area by FBI agents on June 4, 1959. They arrested him at 2:00 p. m. at Rockaway Beach and arrived with him back at the FBI office in Manhattan by 3:10 p. m. The agents fed Tucker and then advised him that he had a right to counsel, a right to remain silent and that anything he may say could be used against him. They then told him why he was arrested and asked him if he wanted to talk about it in order to make certain that they had the right man. At that point, Tucker told the agents that he had shot at one woman and accidentally hit another, the victim. This all took place after he had eaten, between 3:35 and 4:05 p. m.

Tucker then indicated that he had an upset stomach and the agents had a nurse check him. This took approximately twenty-five minutes. Then, from 4:30 to 4:50 p. m., they processed him including fingerprinting and taking his photograph. It was then too late to present him to a commissioner; and he was therefore detained overnight in a federal jail and presented the next morning.

In his present motion, Tucker contends that that statement given to the FBI agents was inadmissible at his trial because it was taken while he was being unlawfully detained. This Court is satisfied that his arrest was lawful in that he was a known fugitive for whom there was an outstanding arrest warrant to answer a murder indictment. Further, it is clear that the delay in presenting him to a commissioner was not so unnecessary as to violate the rule of Mallory v. United States, 354 U.S. 449, 77 S.Ct. 1356, 1 L.Ed.2d 1479 (1957). The statement in question was given within two hours after his arrest, and even though his presentment was delayed for almost twenty hours, it was a necessary delay during which there was no extensive interrogation. Rather, he was transported from the scene of the arrest, fed, advised of his rights, questioned briefly, examined by the nurse, processed and locked up to ensure his presence for arraignment the next morning. The statement given to the FBI agents was not given during a period of unlawful detention.

The defendant contests the admissibility of that statement as well as a statement given to a Metropolitan Police Homicide Detective June 23, 1959 while Tucker was being held in the cell block at the United States District Court House in Washington, D. C., on two additional grounds. Those additional grounds are first, that the statements were elicited unlawfully in violation of the rule of Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964), and second, that the statements were involuntary because he lacked the mental capacity to make a voluntary statement.

As to the Massiah claim, it is clear that Tucker’s statements had been elicited from him after he was indicted but in the absence of counsel. As of this date, however, the Massiah rule excluding such statements, has not been applied retroactively to cases such as Tucker’s that had completed the appeal process before the date of the Massiah decision. Tucker urges that Massiah should be applied retroactively to his case even though the statements were made long before the Massiah decision and even though his appeal was finalized before Massiah, because, he contends, the purpose of Massiah was to protect a fundamental right the denial of which would preclude a fair trial.

This Court is not persuaded by Tucker’s argument. Rather, the Third Circuit’s opinion in United States ex rel. Allison v. New Jersey, 418 F.2d 332 [1315]*1315(1969), cert. denied 400 U.S. 850, 91 S.Ct. 68, 27 L.Ed.2d 88 (1970) is persuasive in its holding that Massiah is not retroactive. In that ease, the factors to be considered for retroactivity2 were examined thoroughly and were summarized :

a new rule should be retroactive if it strongly supports the fact-finding process, although important countervailing considerations may be decisive even in the case of rules closely identified with trial reliability.

Allison, supra at 341. The Allison Court then went on to hold that although Massiah appears to be concerned at least to some extent with protecting the effectiveness of the right to counsel, a matter closely identified with trial reliability, in substance Massiah affords limited protection to that right.

The real concern of Massiah, therefore, must be with interrogation * * *. This being so, it seems clear that Massiah

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Related

Mallory v. United States
354 U.S. 449 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Blackburn v. Alabama
361 U.S. 199 (Supreme Court, 1960)
Reck v. Pate
367 U.S. 433 (Supreme Court, 1961)
Massiah v. United States
377 U.S. 201 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Arthur Bruce v. United States
379 F.2d 113 (D.C. Circuit, 1967)
John Jerimiah Scott v. United States
427 F.2d 609 (D.C. Circuit, 1970)
David J. Tucker v. United States
427 F.2d 615 (D.C. Circuit, 1970)
United States ex rel. Allison v. New Jersey
418 F.2d 332 (Third Circuit, 1969)

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Bluebook (online)
328 F. Supp. 1312, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-tucker-dcd-1971.