In re Thompson
In re Thompson
Opinion of the Court
On December 14, 1960 William G. Thompson, a prisoner of the State of New Jersey by virtue of his conviction of crime in a Court thereof, filed with the Clerk of this Court a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and deposited with said Clerk certain books and documents referred to as exhibits in the petition which has been referred to me for appropriate disposition.
The place of petitioner’s confinement is the New Jersey State Prison Farm at Rahway, New Jersey, and he is in the custody of Warren Pinto, the Superintendent of that institution.
The petition discloses that on January 23, 1957 petitioner was convicted in the Passaic County Court upon an indictment charging that on or about July 27, 1956, in the City of Paterson, New Jersey, he did maliciously and without lawful justification, with intent to cause and procure the miscarriage of a woman then pregnant with child, unlawfully use in and upon her an instrument and instruments and means unknown, as a consequence whereof the woman died. This offense is violative of the provisions of N.J.S.A. 2A:87-1. Upon this conviction petitioner was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than 12 nor more than 15 years. Subsequently the petitioner was convicted of the additional crime of conspiracy, an offense proscribed by N.J.S.A. 2A:98-1, for which he was sentenced to a term of from 2 to 3 years, to be served concurrently and retroactively with the sentence imposed upon him for the prior conviction. He has completed his service of the second sentence (from which he never appealed), but is still serving the prior sentence.
Petitioner further represents that he appealed his conviction on the abortion charge to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, which reversed the judgment of the Passaic County Court. See State v. Thompson, App. Div.1959, 56 N.J.Super. 438, 153 A.2d 364. From this appellate reversal the State appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which reversed the Appellate Division. See State v. Thompson, 1960, 31 N.J. 540, 158 A.2d 333. On March 28, 1960, the Supreme Court of New Jersey denied a rehearing. Copies of briefs and appendices in the appellate proceedings in both of the State courts have been furnished to me by the petitioner for perusal, and have been carefully examined.
On October 10, 1960 the Supreme Court of the United States denied Thompson’s petition for a writ of cer-tiorari to review the decision of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. 364 U.S. 848, 81 S.Ct. 92, 5 L.Ed.2d 72. The petitioner’s application for that writ was based upon the contention that the pro
In the present petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the exhibits referred to therein, and submitted therewith, as well as the reports of the respective decisions of the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey and the Supreme Court of New Jersey, it appears that the victim of the abortion had charged a married man with responsibility for her pregnancy and had threatened him that she would tell his wife unless he did something about the situation. There was evidence that the man in question disclosed his difficulty to Thompson, at whose suggestion a meeting was arranged with the pregnant woman, at her apartment during the nighttime, which both of the men attended, Thompson bringing with him a bag and a syringe. It further appeared that Thompson talked with the woman out of the other man’s presence, and upon rejoining the latter, told him not to worry. Both of the men then departed. During the succeeding month the woman wrote to the man whom she had accused, advising that nothing had as yet transpired. She thereafter renewed her threats to complain to the man’s wife unless something further was done. The man concerned relayed this information to Thompson, who undertook to talk with the woman again. A meeting was arranged by the accused man with Thompson and the woman, at Thompson’s apartment. After admitting her, Thompson claimed that he then left for his place of business, although it was late in the evening, and that when he returned 15 or 20 minutes later, he found the woman in the bathroom, complaining of pain in the abdominal area. Almost immediately thereafter she lost consciousness. A woman friend of Thompson’s was called to the apartment, some of the ailing woman’s clothing which had been removed was replaced, and she was then taken to the entrance of her home. Shortly afterward she was admitted to a hospital, where she expired.
The present petitioner’s defense to the indictment was based upon his contention that the woman aborted herself, and one of the critical aspects of the evidence related to the • distance, in the case of an average woman, “from the opening of the vagina to the opening of the womb.” It appeared on autopsy that there were perforations on the outside of the uterus, and it was the State’s contention that the syringe or similar instrument which caused the perforations could not have been inserted by the victim herself, because it was not long enough to reach the location of the perforations. The defendant adduced no evidence upon the trial to refute the testimony of the autopsy physician, Dr. Denson, who stated that the distance from the opening of the vagina to the opening of the womb was 12 to 13 inches. However, upon his subsequent motion for a new trial the defendant, for the first time, as allegedly newly discovered evidence, presented the opinion of another physician, Dr. Hoch-man, who estimated that the distance between the two aforementioned female organs was not 12 to 13 but 3 to 4 inches. The foundation for Dr. Hochman’s opinion was laid in the autopsy report and in an excerpt from Dr. Denson’s testi
Petitioner next impugns the testimony of the State’s witness, John P. Brady, a toxicologist, in two respects. From the fact that this witness was occasionally referred to, during the trial of the abortion indictment, as “Doctor” Brady, coupled with the fact that upon the subsequent conspiracy trial the same witness disclaimed his right to the title of “Doctor”, petitioner contends that the weight of the witness’ testimony was intentionally and unwarrantedly distorted by the State to the prejudice of the defendant. Mr. Brady is known to the writer of this opinion, as a result of his having testified in numerous cases over a span of many years, as an eminent toxicologist. His educational and professional background is impressive, and upon more than one occasion, to this writer’s knowledge, has evoked from courts, as well as from examining and cross-examining attorneys, the appellation of “Doctor”. It was disclosed to the jury on the trial of the abortion ease that Mr. Brady was a graduate chemist, and a mechanical engineer, who had pursued post-graduate studies at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, New York University, City College of New York, Columbia University, Rutgers University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon his examination as a witness, he was generally addressed as “Mister” Brady. The appellation “Doctor” was employed with respect to Mr. Brady principally during the course of examination or cross-examination of other witnesses. No prejudicial misrepresentation may be inferred from such facts, nor could such a circumstance spell out an intentional misrepresentation imputable to the State. No objection by petitioner was made to any question to a witness in which Brady was referred to as a doctor, and therefore, no reviewable error was preserved, nor is any harmful error apparent upon the record. In passing upon the present petition, this Court may not supercede the functions of an appellate tribunal.
The second aspect of petitioner’s criticism of the testimony of Mr. Brady is to be found in the comparison which the petitioner would have this Court draw from the record of the testimony of the witness upon the trial of the abortion indictment and that given by him during the subsequent conspiracy trial. Petitioner represents that “Brady testified that he took scrapings from the base of a piano, seeking flesh particles, hair or blood. * * * That he took fibers from a rug at the base of the piano and tested them for blood; that he tested a mattress and that he tested the bathroom. He also testified to the length and distance between two parallel cuts found on the right forehead of the victim.” Thus petitioner summarizes the Brady testimony on the abortion trial. With this he compares the testimony of the same witness upon the subsequent conspiracy trial, which he says was to the effect that Brady “did not take any scrapings from the piano; he did not take fibers from the rug at the base of the piano; he did not test the mattress and hfe did not test the bathroom, but ‘looked around for gross bleeding’, which he defined as ‘pools of blood’. He admitted that he had never seen the body of the victim, but had testified to the length and distance between the two cuts on the forehead of the victim, after seeing a photograph of the victim.” All of the activities to which Brady testified during the abortion trial were, according to the petitioner, corroborated by the testimony of Detective Sergeant Peter Ventimiglia. Because of the seriousness of the accusation of perjury made by the petitioner against Mr. Brady and Detective Sergeant Ventimiglia, we have scanned the record of the Brady testimony on both trials with great care. Brady testified on the abortion trial that he “made an examination and took scrapings from many stains that I saw on that piano, and all the fibers that I found thereon I also recovered and brought back.to the laboratory. In other parts of the house I did look to check the possibility of stains, either present or that may have been wiped and left there,
The law which I deem applicable to the present pending petition for writ of habeas corpus is clearly and comprehensively restated by Judge Barnes of the Ninth Circuit, in Muhlenbroich v. Heinze, 1960, 281 F.2d 881, at page 883, as follows:
“It is clear that a federal district judge may dismiss a habeas corpus petition of a state prisoner without hearing when, as a matter of law, the facts alleged in the petition do not constitute grounds for relief in a federal court. Brown v. Allen, 1953, 344 U.S. 443, 73 S.Ct. 397, 97 L.Ed. 469, * * * ; 28 U.S.C. § 2243. However, when it is not possible to dispose of the petition on purely legal grounds, the court must determine ‘by examination of the record whether or not a hearing would serve the ends of justice.’ Brown v. Allen, supra, * * *, 344 U.S. at page 464, 23 S.Ct. at page 411. While in general a petitioner is entitled to a hearing when issues of fact must be resolved, Walker v. Johnston, 1941, 312 U.S. 275, 61 S.Ct. 574, 85 L.Ed. 830, this is not necessary when a state court has already adjudicated the factual issue adversely to the petitioner. In such cases a federal district judge may rely on state court adjudication of fact, and, in his discretion, direct his inquiry only to whether the state court adjudication is without vital flaw. Thomas v. State of Arizona, 1958, 356 U.S. 390, 78 S.Ct. 885, 2 L.Ed.2d 863; Brown v. Allen, supra.”
Upon the petition before this Court, and the exhibits referred to therein, and submitted therewith, as well as upon the record of the prior related proceedings, I find, as a matter of law, that the facts alleged in the petition do not constitute grounds for the relief sought, and that a hearing thereon would not serve the ends of justice.
I further conclude that the State Court adjudications of fact are without vital flaw. The accusations of perjury and withholding of evidence have not been brought home to the prosecution of the criminal offenses, and the failure of
For the reasons stated, the petition for writ of habeas corpus is dismissed. It is accordingly so ordered this 24th day of February, 1961.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Petition of William G. THOMPSON for a Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published