Court Opinion

ID: 9457129
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 20:13:18.434547+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:13.776323
License: Public Domain

SIMPSON, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
With deference to the views of my colleagues, I dissent.
Although there are of course slight differences in the facts between this case and Turner1 I find none of these to be significant. For instance, in Turner the trial lasted three days, here it lasted one. In Turner the jury was attended by two deputy sheriffs, here it was attended by the Sheriff, an elected official. It may be argued pro and con as to whether the jury would be more likely to be influenced by the attendance of the Sheriff than by the attendance of deputies as in Turner, but equally as with Turner this petitioner’s “fate depended upon how much confidence the jury placed in” the Sheriff. As emphasized by Mr. Justice Clark’s dissent in Turner (379 U.S. at 474, 85 S.Ct. at 550) actual prejudice was not demonstrated in Turner, so that the failure to demonstrate prejudice should not be controlling here. In this case, as shown by the trial court’s findings, Sheriff May-field acted as jury bailiff, he was the key prosecution witness in that he took the stand and laid the predicate for the submission of the petitioner’s confession, he took the jury to lunch and ate with them, he talked with the jurors during lunch and during the jury’s deliberation he took soft drinks into the jury room at the jury’s request. To me the twin tests of Turner were met: (1) the jury custodian’s testimony was central to the development of the prosecution’s case, and (2) his contact with the jury was continual and intimate. In Jackson v. Beto, 5 Cir. 1968, 388 F.2d 409, vacated and remanded on other grounds 392 U.S. 649, 88 S.Ct. 2290, 20 L.Ed.2d 1350 (1968), we distinguished Turner by saying that the Sheriff there was neither a principal witness nor did he have any contact with the jury other than in the courtroom. In this case, to the contrary, the Sheriff was the state’s key witness and his contact was continual and intimate throughout the trial and considerably more extensive than simply in the courtroom. He took the jury to lunch, he ate lunch with them and visited with them and returned them to the courthouse from lunch. He was in the jury room briefly delivering soft drinks during actual deliberation of the jury. I would not hesitate to hold that the Turner rule is applicable here.
*1207Since Turner was decided January 18, 1965, and the present trial was on April 12, 1961, the question of whether Turner should be retroactively applied arises. The Supreme Court in Linkletter v. Walker, 1965, 381 U.S. 618, 85 S.Ct. 1731, 14 L.Ed. 601, fixed the standards for determination of retroactive application by setting forth three tests: the purpose of the new decision or standard, the extent of reliance on the old standard, and the effect of retroactivity on the administration of justice. Concern was indicated at anything which might affect the “fundamental fairness of the fact-finding process”. Certainly the fundamental fairness of the fact-finding process is directly involved here.
With respect to the Linkletter standards I would say that the Turner rule was adopted to meet the minimal requirements of Due Process of Law, that the extent of reliance on the old rule would be minimal and that the effect of retroactivity on the administration of justice would likewise be minimal. The latter statement is based upon two considerations: (1) the practice indulged in here is now forbidden by statute in Texas, Vernon’s Ann.Tex.C.C.P. Art. 36.-24, effective January 1, 1966, and (2) the fact that since Turner was decided in 1965 this Court has been called on to decide Turner-type questions in only three cases: Bowles v. Texas, 5 Cir. 1966, 366 F.2d 734, Crawford v. Beto, 5 Cir. 1967, 385 F.2d 156, and Jackson v. Beto, 5 Cir. 1968, 388 F.2d 409.
To recapitulate, I would hold Turner applicable to the facts in this case and would hold that Turner should be given retroactive application so as to reach this case under Linkletter standards. These considerations impel my dissent.
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING
PER CURIAM:
It is ordered that the petition for rehearing filed in the above entitled and numbered cause be and the same is hereby denied.

. Turner v. Louisiana, 1965, 379 U.S. 466, 85 S.Ct. 546,13 L.Ed.2d 424.