Court Opinion

ID: 9470001
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:54:29.149553+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:40.290625
License: Public Domain

ARNOLD, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I agree that Royal’s second, third, and fourth claims were properly dismissed with prejudice. In the circumstances of this case, I also agree that the District Court’s dismissal of the first claim without prejudice should be affirmed. My reasons differ somewhat from the Court’s, however. In my view, it was a mistake to hold that Royal had not exhausted his state remedies on his coerced-confession claim. I think this claim was presented to the state courts, and that it too should be dismissed with prejudice. But since the State has not cross-appealed from the judgment dismissing this first claim without prejudice, we may not modify the judgment by converting it into a dismissal with prejudice, because that would enlarge the relief granted to the appellee below. I write separately to explain briefly my disagreement with the District Court and with this Court on the issue of exhaustion.
Royal in fact made two motions to suppress in the state court before trial. In the first motion, by which he sought to exclude certain statements he made at the time of arrest, he alleged not only that Miranda was not followed, but also that “[l]aw enforcement officers used unnecessary force to obtain information from [him] ... immediately after his apprehension.” Motion to Suppress, quoted in Appellee’s Brief, p. 11. And in his second motion, by which he sought to exclude statements made while in jail, Royal claimed that his statements were the result of repeated harassment by policemen, and that he “was subjected to mental and physical duress prior to and during ... interrogation.” Second Motion to Suppress, quoted ibid. An evidentiary hearing was held on these motions. Sheriff Stout and Deputy Woods testified that they had not threatened, beaten, or coerced Royal in any way. Petitioner testified after the officers had left the stand. He said that at the time of his arrest his hair was pulled and a shotgun pointed at his mouth. He said nothing as to any beating, threats, or harassment while confined. The trial court excluded statements made before Royal was given a Miranda warning, and otherwise denied the motions to suppress.
After conviction Royal filed a motion for new trial. He again claimed that his statements at the time of arrest were given “after law enforcement officers used exces*528sive force,” and that his statements while in jail were involuntary because he was “subjected to mental and physical duress prior to and during interrogation.” Motion for New Trial, quoted in Appellee’s Brief, pp. 12-13. No evidence was presented to support these allegations. The motion was denied after argument of counsel. On appeal, nothing was said about physical coercion. Only the Miranda point was urged. The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the conviction, observing that the trial court had implicitly found as a fact that Royal’s “statements were voluntarily given.” State v. Royal, 610 S.W.2d 946, 948 (Mo.1981) (en banc).
I therefore respectfully disagree with this Court’s statement, ante, p. 526, that “Royal did not contend that his statements were involuntarily made and the result of police coercion until he filed this action in district court.” I think he did so contend, and that the state courts rejected his contention on its merits. It is true that he now has a story of coercion and harassment to tell that he did not reveal to the state trial court, but if that is enough to open the doors of a post-conviction hearing, very little incentive remains for a criminal defendant to present his entire case to the state trial court, which is after all supposed to be the main forum in criminal cases. It would be different if Royal had some good reason why he did not tell the state trial court what he now says is the truth about physical mistreatment at the hands of the police. He suggests no such reason, nor are we told why the state courts’ finding of voluntariness should not be given the usual presumption of correctness.
In short, if the State had cross-appealed, I would vote to modify the judgment below to dismiss all of Royal’s claims with prejudice. As it is, he will now go back to the state courts with his already-presented claim of coercion. If he again loses there, or if those courts turn him away on the (completely legitimate) procedural ground that he has shown no reason to justify a second bite at the apple of coercion, he will return to the District Court, which will then, I suppose, have to decide whether to give him another evidentiary hearing on his motions to suppress. All of this seems to me a waste of the time of lawyers and judges, and probably of Royal’s time as well, without any discernible enhancement of constitutional rights.
I therefore concur in the judgment only because the State has filed no cross-appeal. Since, in my view, the petition contained no unexhausted claims, I find it unnecessary to discuss Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982).