Title: State Ex Rel. Richmond v. Henderson

State: tennessee

Issuer: Tennessee Supreme Court

Document:

439 S.W.2d 263 (1969) STATE of Tennessee ex rel. Robert E. RICHMOND, Petitioner, v. C. Murray HENDERSON, Warden, Respondent. Supreme Court of Tennessee. March 26, 1969. George W. McHenry, Jr., Murfreesboro, for petitioner. George F. McCanless, Atty. Gen., and Thomas E. Fox, Deputy Atty. Gen., Nashville, and Harry C. Templeton, Winchester, Dist. Atty. Gen., for respondent. HUMPHREYS, Justice. Richmond petitioned the Circuit Court Judge of Franklin County for the writ of habeas corpus on the ground his pleas of guilty in two cases of burglary were induced by improper advice given him by privately retained counsel, and upon other grounds. The petition was summarily dismissed by that court on the ground the facts stated would not void the judgments under either the State or Federal Constitution. State ex rel. Reed v. Heer, 218 Tenn. 338, 403 S.W.2d 310. On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed, holding the allegations raised a substantial constitutional question: whether or not the facts alleged made a case of denial of the benefit of counsel by reason of petitioner's counsel affirmatively misleading him into making pleas of guilty on false representations of fact. We granted certiorari because of the importance of the question: just what character of conduct by retained counsel in advising and counseling a plea of guilty would result in a void judgment. *264 Petitioner's rights, if any, flow from the federal constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel. Avery v. Alabama, 308 U.S. 444, 60 S. Ct. 321, 84 L. Ed. 377 (1940). So, while an allegation of affirmative misconduct superficially excites more judicial interest and investigation, still, the question remains whether under the facts there has been a denial of federal due process by ineffective representation; representation of the kind resulting in a void judgment. The standard applied by the overwhelming majority of federal courts in considering this question is stated as follows: Representative recent cases listed by circuits approving and adopting this test are: United States ex rel. Machado v. Wilkins, 351 F.2d 892 (2d Cir.1965); United States ex rel. Boucher v. Reincke, 341 F.2d 977 (2d Cir.1965); United States ex rel. Cooper v. Reincke, 333 F.2d 608 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 909, 85 S. Ct. 205, 13 L. Ed. 2d 181 (1964); United States v. Gonzalez, 321 F.2d 638 (2d Cir.1963); United States v. Wight, 176 F.2d 376 (2d Cir.1949), cert. denied, 338 U.S. 950, 70 S. Ct. 478, 94 L. Ed. 586 (1950); In re Ernst's Petition, 294 F.2d 556 (3d Cir.) cert. denied, 368 U.S. 917, 82 S. Ct. 198, 7 L. Ed. 2d 132 (1961); James v. Boles, 339 F.2d 431 (4th Cir.1964); Snider v. Cunningham, 292 F.2d 683 (4th Cir.1961), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 889, 84 S. Ct. 154, 11 L. Ed. 2d 119 (1963); Snead v. Smyth, 273 F.2d 838 (4th Cir.1959); Lotz v. Sacks, 292 F.2d 657 (6th Cir.1961); O'Malley v. United States, 285 F.2d 733 (6th Cir.1961); Lunce v. Overlade, 244 F.2d 108, 74 A.L.R.2d. 1384 (7th Cir.1957); United States ex rel. Feeley v. Ragen, 166 F.2d 976 (7th Cir.1948); Mitchell v. Stephens, 353 F.2d 129 (8th Cir.1965); Audett v. United States, 265 F.2d 837 (9th Cir.1959), cert. denied, 361 U.S. 815, 80 S. Ct. 54, 4 L. Ed. 2d 62 (1959); Cofield v. United States, 263 F.2d 686 (9th Cir.1959); Application of Hodge, 262 F.2d 778 (9th Cir.1958); Taylor v. United States, 238 F.2d 409 (9th Cir.1956), cert. denied, 353 U.S. 938, 77 S. Ct. 817, 1 L. Ed. 2d 761 (1957); Latimer v. Cranor, 214 F.2d 926 (9th Cir.1954); Mitchell v. United States, 104 U.S. App.D.C. 57, 259 F.2d 787, cert. denied, 358 U.S. 850, 79 S. Ct. 81, 3 L. Ed. 2d 86 (1958); Jones v. Huff, 80 U.S.App.D.C. 254, 152 F.2d 14 (1945); Diggs v. Welch, 80 U.S.App.D.C. 5, 148 F.2d 667, cert. denied, 325 U.S. 889, 65 S. Ct. 1576, 89 L. Ed. 2002 (1945). This rule has been applied to any number of situations arising in a criminal case, including that situation involving the advice or urging of defense counsel for the defendant to enter a plea of guilty. In cases in which this exercise of judgment by counsel (that of urging a defendant to enter a plea of guilty) has been attacked, it has uniformly been held that this is not a ground for invalidating the judgment. Davis v. Bomar, 344 F.2d 84 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 883, 86 S. Ct. 177, 15 L. Ed. 2d 124 (1965); Application of Hodge, 262 F.2d 778 (9th Cir.1958); Shepherd v. Hunter, 163 F.2d 872 (10th Cir.1947); Crum v. Hunter, 151 F.2d 359 (10th Cir.1945), cert. denied, 328 U.S. 850, 66 S. Ct. 1117, 90 L. Ed. 1623; Diggs c. Welch, 80 U.S.App.D.C. 5, 148 F.2d 667, cert. denied, 325 U.S. 889, 65 S. Ct. 1567, 89 L. Ed. 2002. In United States of America ex rel. Wilkins v. Banmiller, Warden, State Correctional Institution, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 205 F. Supp. 123 (D.C. 1962), involving a petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus by a state prisoner, it was alleged among other things that the state conviction was void because relator's counsel coerced and fraudulently induced the plea of guilty upon a misrepresentation that a deal had been made. Concerning this, that court said: This is also the rule in the Sixth Circuit. In Davis v. Bomar, 344 F.2d 84, C.C.A.6, 1965, that court said: In the light of these authorities the allegations in the habeas corpus petition presented no grounds for voiding the judgments entered on the pleas of guilty.[1] The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is set aside, and the judgment of the Circuit Court of Franklin County is affirmed. BURNETT, C. J., and DYER, CHATTIN and CRESON, JJ., concur. [1] "* * * this petitioner's attorney request (sic) petitioner to sign some papers, telling this petitioner that, should he go to trial, instead of submitting a plea of guilty to each of the two charges of burglary, that the jury `would convict him' and he (petitioner) would receive ten (10) years imprisonment instead of the two sentences of three (3) years of which the State's Attorney was offering to let him off with, in exchange for a submission on each of the two charges. And, through informing this petitioner that this (pleading guilty) was the only way to help his wife, the counsel of record misled this petitioner to believe that, if he pleaded guilty, that his wife would not be further prosecuted on the State's alleged charges of receiving and concealing stolen property. Whereupon, this petitioner signed a so called waiver to a jury trial, and a waiver of his right to appeal, all at the same time, before court commenced, and, with the understanding that his wife would not be further prosecuted. At which time the court commenced, and petitioner's trial proceedings took place, the petitioner's attorney informed the court that this petitioner was submitting to the State's charges against him. Thereupon, the judge proceeded to announce sentences, to be served concurrent, sentencing the petitioner to serve two; (3) years on each of the two (2) offenses, to run concurrently. Thus causing this petitioner to be sentenced to serve a total term of three (3) years imprisonment, in the Tennessee State Penitentiary."