Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/396/282/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 10:37:19+00:00

Document:
Petitioner and a codefendant were convicted of murder and given life sentences. Petitioner's codefendant received a free copy of the transcript for preparing his appeal, but, contrary to California court rules, would not share it with petitioner, who was then loaned a copy by the State for preparing his appeal. The convictions were affirmed. Several years later petitioner, having fruitlessly sought the transcript from his codefendant, and having been denied a free copy of his own by the California courts in connection with collateral proceedings in the state courts, brought this habeas corpus proceeding alleging his indigency and contending that California's failure to provide him a free transcript violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The District Court granted the writ. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the trial court failed to find that petitioner claimed error in the proceedings leading to his conviction that warranted post-conviction relief and that petitioner was not entitled to a transcript "to enable him to comb the record in the hope of discovering some flaw."
1. Petitioner may not attack the state court rules, which concern only the furnishing of transcripts for purposes of direct appeal, since petitioner had the transcript for that purpose and did not complain that his having it only on loan impaired its use on appeal. Pp. 396 U. S. 285-286.
2. This Court need not decide whether the Constitution requires a State to furnish indigent prisoners with free copies of trial transcripts to aid in preparing petitions for collateral relief unless and until it appears that petitioner cannot again borrow a copy from the State, or procure one from his codefendant or other custodian; or show that it would be significantly more advantageous for him to own, rather than borrow a copy. Pp. 396 U. S. 286-287.
District Court judgment and 390 F.2d 632, vacated and remanded.
In 1961, petitioner and one Pollard appealed to the California District Court of Appeal from murder convictions upon which the California Superior Court had sentenced each of them to life imprisonment. California Rules of Court 35(c) and 10(c) required that the appellants be furnished with one free copy of the trial transcript to be shared by them for the purposes of the appeal. Pollard received the free copy, but would not share it with petitioner. However, the State Attorney General loaned petitioner's appellate counsel his copy. The District Court of Appeal affirmed the convictions, 194 Cal.App.2d 830, 15 Cal.Rptr. 214 (1961).
Court of Appeal, which motion was denied on the ground that the Court of Appeal had only the original, and was not equipped to duplicate copies. He next filed a proceeding in the California Supreme Court and was advised by the clerk of that court that he must proceed in "the court possessed of the original record." [Footnote 1] He renewed his application to the District Court of Appeal, which again denied it on the ground that that court had "no facility for reproducing records"; but this time, petitioner was advised that the original record would be made available for copying at his expense. Petitioner then abandoned further efforts in the California courts.
"although there is no square holding on the precise question of the right to a transcript in preparing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, rather than an appeal, the logic of the Supreme Court holdings compels a finding that such a right exists. [Footnote 2]"
"the trial court failed to find that Wade was claiming that there was any error which occurred in the proceedings which led to his conviction which would warrant the granting of post-conviction relief. . . . Wade was not entitled to demand a transcript merely to enable him to comb the record in the hope of discovering some flaw."
390 F.2d 632, 634 (1968). We granted certiorari. 393 U.S. 1079 (1969).
distinction made by the Rules, without more, establishes that California has denied him equal protection of the laws. But petitioner will not be heard to attack the Rules, since they concern only the furnishing of transcripts for purposes of direct appeal and he and his appellate counsel, in fact, had the use on his direct appeal of the transcript borrowed from the State Attorney General, and did not complain that the terms on which it was made available in any way impaired its effective use on the appeal. See United States v. Raines, 362 U. S. 17, 362 U. S. 21-22 (1960).
be significantly more advantageous than obtaining the use of someone else's copy, the District Court should not have reached the merits of petitioner's claim. We think, however, that the case should be retained on the District Court's docket pending petitioner's efforts to obtain access to the original or a copy. Upon being advised by the parties that petitioner has been provided such access, the court should dismiss the action. We vacate the judgments of both the Court of Appeals and the District Court and remand to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Petitioner styled his application to the Supreme Court of California "A Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus," but the only relief he requested was issuance of the record in his case or an order to the District Court of Appeal to furnish him with the record. He did not request an order releasing him from custody.
The District Court cited Smith v. Bennett, 365 U. S. 708 (1961) (habeas corpus filing fee); Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U. S. 12 (1956) (transcript on direct appeal); Lane v. Brown, 372 U. S. 477 (1963) (transcript on post-conviction appeal); Long v. District Court, 385 U. S. 192 (1966) (transcript on post-conviction appeal). See also Roberts v. LaVallee, 389 U. S. 40 (1967); Gardner v. California, 393 U. S. 367 (1969).
"As soon as both the clerk's and reporter's transcripts are completed, the clerk shall deliver one copy to the defendant or his attorney and one copy to the district attorney. . . . When there are two or more appealing defendants in a case in which a judgment of death has been rendered against one or more of the defendants, the clerk shall deliver a copy of both transcripts to each such defendant or his attorney. . . . Where there are two or more appealing defendants represented by separate counsel in a case in which judgment of death has not been rendered against any defendant, the appellant's copy shall be made available for the use of the appellants in the manner provided in Rule 10."
"The additional copy of the record required by these rules shall be made available for the use of the parties to the appeal in such manner as the judge, or the clerk under his direction, shall prescribe; provided that the parties may stipulate to its use, and in such event only the original need be filed with the clerk of the superior court."
Petitioner and one Joe Pollard were convicted of murder in 1960 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Pollard received a trial transcript, and when he refused to turn it over to petitioner for his use in preparing an appeal, the State Attorney General's Office loaned a copy to petitioner's appellate counsel. The California District Court of Appeal affirmed in 1961. 194 Cal.App.2d 830, 15 Cal.Rptr. 214. Five years later, in 1966, petitioner tried in the state courts to obtain a trial transcript. Failing there, he filed a petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in 1967 asking to be released because of the State's refusal to provide him a copy of the transcript. The United States District Court held petitioner was entitled to a copy of the trial record, but the United States Court of Appeals reversed, holding that, since petitioner did not allege any trial error which might warrant post-conviction relief, he was "not entitled to demand a transcript merely to enable him to comb the record in the hope of discovering some flaw." 390 F.2d 632, 634 (1968).
"whether there are circumstances in which the Constitution requires that a State furnish an indigent state prisoner free of cost a trial transcript to aid him to prepare a petition for collateral relief."
Ante at 396 U. S. 286. It may be conceivable that the Constitution would, under certain special circumstances, impose this duty on the State when it has such a record in its possession, but I cannot agree that anything shown in this record presents those special circumstances.
most he has asserted a desire to review the record to find some technical legal point which he can argue to a court as a basis for release from confinement. He has already had one chance to make such arguments on direct appeal, and he lost that battle. I do not think he needs a transcript to know whether he was convicted erroneously or whether some new circumstances have arisen that now show a fatal constitutional error in the prior proceedings. In any event, he has not yet based his request for a transcript on any indication of such a need. In such circumstances, I see no reason whatsoever for the State tc have to obtain a copy for him. This case is but another of the multitudinous instances in which courts are asked interminably to hash and rehash points that have already been determined after full deliberation and review. One considered appeal is enough, in the absence of factors which show a possibility that a substantial injustice has been inflicted on the defendant.
Nothing in this petitioner's application for certiorari or his briefs and arguments gave any indication that he might be entitled to post-conviction relief, and there is thus no reason why this Court should even have reviewed his case. I would dismiss this writ as being improvidently granted.

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