Smith v. United StatesSmith v. United States
Lead Opinion
deíivered the opinion of .the Court.
The petitioner séeks relief under
On the following day, petitioner was interviewed at length by a government agent concerning both the kidnapping offense-and-his prior record. "There was a conflict in the evidence concerning what transpired at this interview. The petitioner-testified that he was promised leniengy if he would ;plead guilty-and that he was assured
While that conference was proceeding, the government agent who had previously interviewed petitioner had a private out-of-court audience and conference with the district judge in his chambers at which, in the absence of the defendants, he discussed the contemplated proceedings with the judge and informed him about the alleged kidnapping offense and other alleged crimes of petitioner. Soon thereafter, and, in the words of the Court of Appeals, “[a]fter the judge’s mind had become thoroughly conditioned by this interview with, and the disclosures made to him by, [the government agent] regarding the defendants,” there followed in open court “a stilted and formal colloquy consisting of brief and didactic statements by the judge” that the defendants could have a lawyer if they wished and could have their cases submitted to a grand jury.
Because of these precipitous and telescoped proceedings, the case has had a long and troublesome history in the Court of Appeals fob the Fifth Circuit. It has; been three times before that court. Soon after the sentence was imposed, petitioner filed his initial ápplication under
“The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded with directions to set aside the conviction and sentence and to proceed further and not inconsistently herewith, including, if the district judge is of the opinion that the ends of justice require it, permitting the defendant to withdraw his waiver of counsel and his plea of guilty and to stand trial.”240 F. 2d 347 .
On the remanded proceedings, the District Court resentenced petitioner, but refused him permission to withdraw his waivers And guilty plea. The Court of Appeals
The precise question at issue, therefore, is whether petitioner’s alleged violation of the Kidnapping Act had to be prosecuted by indictment.' A number off statutory and constitutional provisions and the information charging petitioner are, relevant to this inquiry. The Fifth Amendment provides in-part that “[n]o person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand- Jury,” except in cases not pertinent here. But the command of the Amendment may.be waived under,certain circumstances,
“An offense which may be punished by death shall be prosecuted by indictment. An offense which may be punished by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year or at hard labor shall be prosecuted byindictment or, if indictmeñt is waived, it may be prosecuted by information. Any other offense may be prosecuted by indictment or by information. ' An information may be filed without leave of court.” (Emphasis added.)
These enactments become particularly pertinent in view of the language of
“(a) Whoever knowingly transports in inters state . . . commerce, any person who has been unlawfully . . . kidnapped . . . shall be punished (1) by death if the kidnapped person has not been liberated unharmed, and if the verdict of the jury shall so recommend, dr (2) by imprisonment for any term of years or for life, if the death; penalty is not imposed.”
The charging part of the information against petitioner stated that he “did knowingly transport in interstate commerce ... a person, to wit, Alan W. Spearman, Jr., who had been unlawfully seized, kidnapped, abducted, and carried away and held for the safe conduct-of the three defendants . . . .” The charge did not state whether Spearman was released harmed, or unharmed.
It has been held by tw;o Courts of Appeals that indictments similar in terms- to the charge here were sufficient to support capital punishments despite the absence of allegations that* the kidnapping victims were released harmed. United States v. Parrino,
The Courts of Appeals which have been concerned with the statute have uniformly construed it to create the single offense of transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines., We agree with this construction. Under the statute, that offense is punishable by death if certain proof is introduced at trial. When'an accused is charged, as here, with transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines, he is charged and will be tried for an offense which may be punished by death. Although the imposition of that penalty will depend on whéther sufficient proof of harm is introduced during the trial, that circumstance does not alter the fact that the offense itself is one which may be punished by death and thus must be prosecuted by indictment. In other words, when the offense as charged is sufficiently broad to justify a capital verdict, the trial must proceed on that basis, even though the evidence later establishes that such a verdict cannot be sustained because the victim was released unharmed. It is neither procedurally correct nor practical to await the ■ conclusion of the evidence to determine whether the accused is being prosecuted for a capital offense. For the trial judge must make informed decisions prior to trial which will depend on whether the offense may be so punished. He must decide, among other things, whether the accused has the right to obtain a list of veniremen and government witnesses,
This Court has, in recent years, upheld many convictions in the face of questions concerning the sufficiency of the charging papers. Convictions are no longer reversed because of minor and technical deficiencies which did not prejudice the accused. E. g., Hagner v. United States, 285 U. S. 427; Williams v. United States,
Under our view of
It is so ordered.
Notes
“The trial of offenses punishable with death shall be had in the county where the offense was committed, where that can be done without great inconvenience.”
“Except as otherwise permitted by statute or by these rules, the prosecution shall be had in a district in which the offense was committed, but if the district consists of two or more divisions the trial shall be had in a division in which the offense was committed.” ■
The offense of which petitioner was accused was committed inDothan, Alabama, which was within the Southern Division of the District Court. The proceedings against petitioner were held in 'Montgomery, Alabama, which is located in another county in Alabama in the Northern Division of that court.
This left petitioner with a substantial sentence still pending in Florida under the charge for which he was-in custody when he escaped. In addition, petitioner \$ras' apparently still in jeopardy of state prosecution for escaping.
The Court of Appeals stated, at
“When it comes to the controlling question, however, which the motion presents, whether under the undisputed facts the defendant was denied due process in the taking of waivers and plea, and the imposition of sentence the matter stands quite differently, and because it is clear that it was not accorded to him, the judgment appealed from must be reversed.
. “This is so, because, considering the inordinate speed, the incontinent haste, with which the defendants were brought up for hearing and the trial moved on apace, the fact that the government prosecuting agent and the district judge, before the defendant had made any waivers or pleaded in the cause, conferred privately in chambers with regard to defendants’ guilt and the punishment to be imposed therefor, in connection with feffth what was said and done and what was left unsaid and undone by the judge in taking the waivers and the plea and sentencing the defendant, we are left in no doubt that the movant was not accorded, but was denied, due process, and that the judgment against, 'and sentence imposed unpn him may not stand.”
Barkman v. Sanford,
Concurrence Opinion
Johnny Ray Smith, presently an inmate of Alcatraz, began his career of crime as a juvenile. Soon -thereafter' he escaped from the Federal Correctional Institution at Tallahassee, Florida. At age 26 he had twice been convicted of violations of the Dyer Act,
“Well, your Honor, I would like for you to take under consideration that there was no viciousness in connection with- this abduction of -this boy. We were nice to him and did not harm him any way and we wanted transportation and did not harm him any at all.” '
Smith received a 30-year sentence; the juveniles 15 years each. ' .He was sent to Alcatraz and from there has prosecuted a series of motións under
In attempting to do what it believes to be a great right the Court in reality does a great wrong to the administration of justice. The most serious result is that the Court’s procedure allows the United States Attorney to secure an indictment for a capital offense without the grand jury’s knowing that he is doing so. This deprives kidnaping defendants of the very protection of the Fifth Amendment that the Court professes to be enforcing. The Court also- clouds the meaning of
Both the Fifth Amendment and
Moreover, as the Court says, “[i]t is neither procedurally correct nor practical to await the conclusion of the evidence to determine whether the accused is being prosecuted for a capital offense.” Despite this language, the opinion requires just that since it does not compel the indictment to charge “a capital offense.” I would require capital kidnaping cases to be prosecuted by indictment charging specifically that the kidnaped person was not liberated unharmed.
Turning to. the procedural point under
The Court, however:! superimposes a- new rule in kidnaping cases by requiring that they pe beg^n only-by indictment. This deprives siich defendants riot only of the , beneficent provisions of Rule '.7(b) but subjects them, to greater jeopardy in that the United States Attorney may insist on the death penalty at trial. 'This leaves open fof play all of the.evils that flesh is heir to, including the ambitions or disfavor of the prosecutor, the animosity of the victim or his malingerings from thé kidnaping as well as other postindictment speculations! In rural districts where the grand jury orily meets twice a year it would also place' considerable hardship on a
It is true that three Courts of Appeals'have passed on this statute. However, none of those cases is dispositive of the issije here. In Robinson v. United States,
This brings me to the second contention. I shall discuss the facts briefly. The “inordinate speed” which the Court says was present here was not generated by the Government but by the petitioner himself. The record clearly shows his anxiety to have the case concluded and . fails to indicate any objection on his part to the immediate imposition of sentence. The disposition óf cases on information and plea in four to five days, as occurred here, is normal in the federal system. I therefore put no credence in this claim. However, the record does indicate that at the instance of an Assistant United States Attorney a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation called upon the trial judge in his chambers and talked at some length about Smith’s background as well as his connection with the kidnaping. This was before Smith had signed any waivers or entered any plea. Neither Smith nor any one representing him was present at the interview. The record shows this contact not to have been covertly made, for at the time of sentence the trial judge in open court told Smith that it had occurred. I do not reach the due process contention, for it appears to me that our duty of supervision over the administration of justice in the federal courts, McNabb v. United States,
For these reasons I would reverse the judgment with instructipns that Smith be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea' and stand trial, on the information.
The Court says that “a defendant may, under appropriate cir-eumstances, invoke the protection of the Sixth Amendment” where “arrest and incarceration are followed by inordinate delay prior to indictment ...” Such has never been the- case heretofore where capital cases are held awaiting the statutory meeting of the next grand jury.' This strange doctrine can only cause additional confusion in the effective enforcement of the kidnaping statute. '
The Court in holding that proceeding by information. “Would deprive defendants of the protection of a grand jury indictment as required by the Constitution and
“(c) Presentence Investigation
“(1) When Made. The probation service of the court shall make a presentence investigation and report to the court before the imposition of sentence or the granting of probation unless the court otherwise directs. The report shall not be submitted to the court or its contents disclosed to anyone unless the defendant has pleaded guilty or has been found' guilty.”