People v. Hamilton

Opinion

ROUSE, J. Defendant appeals from an order of the Superior Court of Alameda County which was rendered after an evidentiary hearing. The purpose of such hearing was to determine the voluntariness of a particular statement made by defendant.

The factual background of this appeal shows that 15 years ago, in 1960, defendant was convicted of murder in the California superior court and sentenced to death. In 1961, the conviction was reversed by the California Supreme Court on grounds which have no bearing upon the instant appeal. (People v. Hamilton (1961) 55 Cal.2d 881 [13 Cal.Rptr. 649, 362 P.2d 473].)

Defendant was retried and again convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In 1963, the California Supreme Court affirmed the conviction as to the issue of guilt, but reversed as to the issue of penalty and remanded the cause for retrial and redetermination of the question of penalty. (People v. Hamilton (1963) 60 Cal.2d 105 [32 Cal.Rptr. 4, 383 P.2d 412].) In its opinion, the Supreme Court held that the trial court had erred in admitting evidence that defendant had offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence. However, the court held that this error was harmless and did not require reversal of the conviction under article VI, section 4Vi, of the California Constitution. In December 1964, defendant was resentenced by the trial court to life imprisonment.

In 1966 and again in 1967, the California Supreme Court denied defendant’s petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Also in 1967, the United States Supreme Court denied defendant’s petition for a writ of certiorari. (Hamilton v. California (1967) 389 U.S. 921 [19 L.Ed.2d 271, 88 S.Ct. [479243]].) In 1968, the California Supreme Court denied defendant’s third petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

On April 29, 1969, defendant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court. Following the filing of an order to show cause and a traverse, an evidentiary hearing was held on September 4 and 16, 1970.

On August 2, 1971, after additional briefing by both sides, the federal district court filed a memorandum opinion and an order granting the petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Judge Zirpoli of the federal district court held that the defendant had alleged facts which, if true, would render his offer to plead guilty involuntary and that the evidence produced at the hearing was conflicting as to whether the offer was involuntary. The district court judge further held that the offer to plead guilty should have been treated as a confession and that the state trial court should have followed the procedure outlined in Jackson v. Denno (1964) 378 U.S. 368 [12 L.Ed.2d 908, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 1 A.L.R.3d 1205], and should have passed upon the voluntariness of defendant’s offer before admitting it into evidence at his second trial. The federal district court then granted defendant’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus and ordered that defendant be released from custody within 60 days unless the State of California indicated its intention to give defendant a new trial or an evidentiary hearing on the issue of voluntariness.