U.S. ex rel. Young v. Superintendent, Greenhaven Correctional Facility

416 F. Supp. 580, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14271
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 6, 1976
DocketNo. 76 Civ. 749 (CHT)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 416 F. Supp. 580 (U.S. ex rel. Young v. Superintendent, Greenhaven Correctional Facility) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
U.S. ex rel. Young v. Superintendent, Greenhaven Correctional Facility, 416 F. Supp. 580, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14271 (S.D.N.Y. 1976).

Opinion

[581]*581MEMORANDUM

TENNEY, District Judge.

Petitioner Perry Young, pro se, seeks an order of this Court granting his application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241(d) and 2254. For the reasons set forth below, the application is' denied and the writ is dismissed.

Petitioner is presently incarcerated in the Greenhaven Correctional Facility, Storm-ville, New York, serving an indeterminate sentence not to exceed three years pursuant to a judgment of conviction, after a trial by jury, of petit larceny and grand larceny in the third degree. This conviction was affirmed by the Appellate Division, Second Department, without opinion on May 30, 1975. Leave to appeal was denied by the New York State Court of Appeals on October 13, 1975.

Petitioner cites seven areas of error which he alleges rise to constitutional proportion: (1) that the complaining witness committed perjury, (2) that another witness, one Detective Maloney, also committed perjury, (3) that there was a defective identification procedure, (4) that there was no evidence of the commission of the crime, i. e., that the complainant’s pocket was picked, (5) that all material evidence was illegally obtained, (6) that there was police testimony of a modus operandi employed by petitioner, when, in fact, there was no evidence of such a modus operandi, and (7) that the complainant violated certain laws for which he was not prosecuted. The Court will consider these allegations seriatim.

Petitioner first alleges that the complaining witness committed perjury and changed his testimony many times. Petitioner’s second claim is premised upon the same alleged defect in the testimony of Detective Maloney and both of these claims can be considered together. Both of these witnesses testified at the trial and were subject to cross-examination. The issue of their credibility was for the jury and is not cognizable on federal habeas corpus. United States ex rel. Griffin v. Vincent, 359 F.Supp. 1072 (S.D.N.Y.1973); People of State of New York v. Baker, 354 F.Supp. 162 (S.D.N.Y.1973).

“Conflicts in the testimony of a witness and between the testimony of witnesses are common at trials. Petitioner disputes the word of certain of the witnesses. He gave his version at the trial. The conflicts were resolved by the jury. This court is not to be expected to retry the issues which were thus disposed of in the state court.” Collins v. Heinze, 125 F.Supp. 186, 188 (N.D.Cal.), aff’d, 217 F.2d 62 (9th Cir. 1954), cert. denied, 349 U.S. 940, 75 S.Ct. 786, 99 L.Ed. 1268 (1955).

Here, petitioner testified and the jury apparently chose to disregard his testimony and believe the testimony of the prosecution witnesses. No issue is presented for this Court. Only where the prosecution knowingly allows perjured testimony to come in will the federal court intervene on a habeas corpus petition. Burks v. Egeler, 512 F.2d 221 (6th Cir. 1975); Wild v. State of Oklahoma, 187 F.2d 409 (10th Cir. 1951); Bradshaw v. State of Oklahoma, 398 F.Supp. 838 (E.D.Okl.1975); Imbler v. Craven, 298 F.Supp. 795 (C.D.Cal.1969), aff’d, 424 F.2d 631 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 865, 91 S.Ct. 100, 27 L.Ed.2d 104 (1970). No such claim has been raised here. Also, the Court should note that there appears to have been a failure to exhaust the claim as to the testimony of Detective Maloney. Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971).

The third claim pressed by petitioner is that there was a defective identification procedure employed in that the complainant was shown only one photo of petitioner rather than a photo spread and also that an identification in the police station was improper since petitioner was not in a proper line-up. These claims were mentioned for the first time by petitioner in his reply brief on appeal, and then only with regard to another issue. Thus, there would appear to be a failure to present the issue to the courts of the state in the first instance thereby preventing this Court from [582]*582considering the issue. Picard v. Connor, supra, 404 U.S. 270, 92 S.Ct. 509, 30 L.Ed.2d 438. The claim, however, is frivolous since both identification procedures were ruled to be inadmissible and were not allowed in at the trial. Also, it was established that there was clear and convincing evidence that complainant had the ability to make an independent in-court identification of petitioner clear of the taint.

Petitioner next claims that there was no evidence that complainant’s pocket was picked. This question goes to the sufficiency of the evidence. This claim is essentially one raising questions of state law and does not rise to federal constitutional dimensions. United States ex rel. Terry v. Henderson, 462 F.2d 1125, 1131 (2d Cir. 1972). Only where a conviction was based on a record lacking any evidence of an element of the crime charged would the attack on the conviction rise to constitutional magnitude. Vachon v. New Hampshire, 414 U.S. 478, 94 S.Ct. 664, 38 L.Ed.2d 666 (1974). Such is not the case here. There was evidence that complainant had his pay envelope when he went into the room, that he did not have it when he came out, and that complainant testified that when he was pushed on to the bed by petitioner he felt his pay envelope go. Only petitioner and complainant were in the room at the time. Thus, there was some evidence of a taking from the person from which the jury could draw its own conclusion. This claim must fail.

Petitioner also claims that all material evidence against him was illegally obtained. Specifically, this claim runs to those items of evidence seized in petitioner’s apartment at the time of his arrest. These same items had been the subject of a motion to suppress prior to petitioner’s trial. A hearing was held which spanned two days and encompassed the testimony of five witnesses. Following the hearing, the trial judge issued a thorough written opinion detailing the findings of fact and conclusions of law reached by the court. In sum, it was his holding that the arrest of the petitioner was proper, based on his finding of probable cause and that the seizure of certain items of evidence was proper under the “plain view” doctrine.

The findings of the state court after a full and fair hearing are entitled to a presumption of correctness. 28 U.S.C.

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416 F. Supp. 580, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-ex-rel-young-v-superintendent-greenhaven-correctional-facility-nysd-1976.