Younger v. Cox

323 F. Supp. 412, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14358
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedMarch 4, 1971
DocketCiv. A. No. 70-C-70
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 323 F. Supp. 412 (Younger v. Cox) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Younger v. Cox, 323 F. Supp. 412, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14358 (W.D. Va. 1971).

Opinion

OPINION

WIDENER, District Judge.

Petitioner is confined by the Commonwealth of Virginia on account of conviction of rape. He has filed, in forma pauperis, a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 2241.

On June 21, 1958, the petitioner was arrested upon a warrant issued that same date charging him with the rape of a ten year old child. On July 7, 1958, an indictment was returned on the charge and the court appointed an attorney to represent him.

On July 14, 1958, the petitioner’s counsel appeared in the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and moved for a mental examination of the petitioner to determine if the petitioner was competent to stand trial. On the same date, the court appointed three physicians to examine the petitioner as to his mental condition.

On July 19, 1958, the petitioner was examined by the court-appointed physicians and found to be “mentally competent” and “able to stand trial.”

On July 22, 1958, petitioner was sentenced to twenty-five years’ imprisonment by the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, following his plea of guilty to the charge of rape.

On August 5, 1969, the petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County, [414]*414Virginia, alleging four grounds which allegedly made his detention unlawful; they were:

1. “Appointment of counsel on trial day is illegal and grounds for release.”
2. “Evidence insufficient for conviction no proof of facts was presented.”
3. “Was not advised right to appeal.”
4. “Was ineffectively represented by counsel.”

On September 23, 1969, the petition was dismissed. In the memorandum opinion accompanying the order of dismissal, the court reviewed the record and fully discussed each ground that the petitioner raised in his petition.

On October 11, 1969, the petitioner filed, pro se, a Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia appealing from the dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County, Virginia.

On October 11, 1969, the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County, Virginia appointed an attorney to represent the petitioner in his appeal from denial of the petition for habeas corpus.

On September 4, 1970, the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia rejected Younger’s petition for writ of error and affirmed the judgment of the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County denying Younger’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

Younger then filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this court alleging the following grounds for relief:

1. “the evidence was insufficient to substantiate the conviction;”
2. “ineffectively represented by counsel;”
3. “denied the right to appeal the conviction;”
4. denied “the right to a copy of the transcript of the records;”
5. “The court denied me the right to present oral testimony at any time since being tried and convicted.”;
6. “If the child was considered to be an idiot by the Judge and the Welfare Worker, how, then, could such a child be mentally competent to testify or identify her attacker?”

Grounds one, two, three, and five were raised by the petitioner in the state trial and appellate courts. Thus, the petitioner has exhausted his state remedies on these allegations. See Grundler v. State of North Carolina, 283 F.2d 798, 800 (4th Cir. 1960).

The petitioner’s sixth ground is raised for the first time in the petition now before this court and has never been presented to the state courts of Virginia. Therefore, since petitioner has not exhausted his state remedies as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2254, this court will not consider the petitioner’s sixth ground which alleges incompetency of a minor witness.

Petitioner’s first ground, that the evidence at his trial was insufficient to substantiate his conviction, is patently frivolous. At his trial in the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County, the petitioner pleaded guilty to the charge of rape. The petitioner has never alleged that his guilty plea was not voluntarily made.

In Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), the Supreme Court of the United States stated:

“A plea of guilty is more than a confession which admits that the accused did various acts; it is itself a conviction ; nothing remains but to give judgment and determine punishment.”

Thus, petitioner’s allegation of insufficiency of evidence raises no issue since his guilty plea made unnecessary any proof of the crime. See Hunt v. United States, 237 F.2d 267 (4th Cir. 1956).

The guilty plea aside, the record shows there was sufficient evidence to sustain his conviction. The record includes the notes made by the trial judge which establish that the petitioner admitted having intercourse with the child.

[415]*415The petitioner has never challenged the voluntariness of this admission. Dr. G. V. Thompson testified that the vagina of the victim had been torn and entered. Seven photographs of the room in which the child was assaulted were introduced into evidence showing blood upon the bed and floor.

In Williams v. Peyton, 414 F.2d 776 (4th Cir. 1969), the court stated:

“When the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a state conviction is challenged by way of federal habeas corpus, the sole constitutional question is whether the conviction rests upon any evidence at all.”

The unchallenged admission of the petitioner, corroborated by the physical evidence of the crime, goes far beyond the requirement of “any evidence at all.”

In his petition before this court, Younger alleged as his second ground: “ineffectively represented by counsel.” The petitioner offered no facts to support this allegation. However, in his petition for writ of habeas corpus before the state court, Younger alleged:

“Appointment of Counsel on trial-day is illegal and unlawfully Appointed And Grounds for Release.”

Since the petitioner has exhausted his state remedies upon this ground by alleging as factual support that his counsel was appointed on the day of trial, this court will accept this allegation of fact as supporting his present petition.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
323 F. Supp. 412, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/younger-v-cox-vawd-1971.