Golla v. Rhodes
Golla v. Rhodes
Opinion of the Court
The petitioner is before this court on his application for a writ of habeas corpus.
He avers that on February 1, 1957 he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware which was dismissed. On March 1, 1957 he appealed the dismissal to the Supreme Court of Delaware. The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court below. Golla v. State, Del., 135 A.2d 137. Subsequently, on November 29, 1957 a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States was filed and on March 3, 1958 the writ of certiorari was denied. Golla v. Rhodes, 355 U.S. 965, 78 S.Ct. 555, 2 L.Ed.2d 539.
The constitutional issue which the petitioner asserts is predicated on the fact that his conviction in the Delaware State courts was secured as a direct consequence of his removal from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in an unlawful manner without the required formalities of extradition and that accordingly, conviction, sentence and present detention, violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The respondent has answered the petition for writ of habeas corpus. The answer asserts this court lacks jurisdiction by reason of the petitioner’s failure to exhaust his State remedies
The jurisdictional issue can be resolved by reference to the opinion of the Delaware Supreme Court on the petitioner’s appeal from the dismissal by the Superior Court of his petition for writ of habeas corpus.
In order to determine whether the method employed to remove the petitioner from Pennsylvania to Delaware constitutes a denial of due process, it is only necessary to assume the facts as set forth in the petitioner’s application for writ of habeas corpus filed in this action. The facts as averred briefly are as follows: The petitioner was arrested in Wilmington, Delaware by the city police and was charged with the crime of assault with intent to rob; he was released on bail of $2,500; thereafter, the petitioner returned to his home in Reading, Pennsylvania where he was subsequently arrested by the Pennsylvania authorities for violation of a Pennsylvania parole and committed to the Berks County Prison, at Reading, Pennsylvania; the Pennsylvania authorities released the prisoner to two Wilmington police officers who returned him to Delaware for trial. Petitioner further avers he was handcuffed and forcibly returned to Delaware in spite of his most strenuous objections.
Assuming all the facts as set forth in the petitioner’s application to this court to be true, I cannot distinguish this case from Frisbie v. Collins.
“This Court has never departed from the rule announced in Ker v. [People of State of Illinois], 119 U.S. 436, 444 [7 S.Ct. 225, 229, 30 L.Ed. 421], that the power of a court to try a person for crime is not impaired by the fact that he had been brought within the court’s jurisdiction by reason of a ‘forcible abduction.’ * * *”
Mere irregularities in the manner in which a person is secured for the purpose of trial do not contravene the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and thus do not invalidate his conviction, if the elements of a fair trial in accordance with constitutional procedural safeguards are thereafter observed.
The writ should not issue.
The respondent may prepare an order in accordance herewith.
. See 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254.
. Golla v. State, Del.1957, 135 A.2d 137.
. See Concurring opinion of Mr. Justice Rutledge in Marino v. Ragen, 1947, 332 U.S. 561, 563, 68 S.Ct. 240, 92 L.Ed. 170.
. 1952, 342 U.S. 519, 72 S.Ct. 509, 96 L, Ed. 541.
. 1952, 342 U.S. 519, 522, 72 S.Ct. 509, 511, 96 L.Ed. 541.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Stephen D. GOLLA v. W. Paul RHODES, Warden, New Castle County Correctional Institution, State of Delaware
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published