Eugene Silva v. Harold A. Cox, Warden of The New Mexico State Penitentiary, 351 F.2d 61, 10th Cir. (1965)

351 F.
2d 61
Eugene SILVA, Appellant,

v.
Harold A. COX, Warden of the New Mexico State Penitentiary,
Appellee.
No. 8139.
United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

September 21, 1965.
James A. Williams, Denver, Colo. (Thomas McKenna, Santa Fe, N. M.,

on the brief), for appellant.
L. D. Harris, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen. (Boston E. Witt, Atty. Gen., on the
brief), for appellee.
Before BREITENSTEIN, HILL and SETH, Circuit Judges.
HILL, Circuit Judge.
Appellant, an inmate of the New Mexico State Penitentiary, appeals from a

denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Silva was arrested by the New Mexico Highway Patrol along with two others
as suspects of an armed robbery. They were taken to Albuquerque where the
robbery had occurred and turned over to the city police. Interrogation of the
three suspects by police officers followed. Silva admitted the robbery and
signed a written confession, which expressly stated, "I have been advised of my
right to Legal Counsel. I have also been informed that I do not have to make
this or any other statement and that any statement that I shall make at this time
may be used for or against me in a Court of Law. Having read the above I
hereby make the following statement." The written confession followed, after
which the statement recited, "I have read and have had read to me the above
statement which consists of about one page, and was given freely by me
without threat, coercion, or promise of reward * * *." Silva's signature was
attached and the statement was witnessed by two police officers. However, this
statement was never used against appellant.
The record does not show that Silva was ever taken before a Justice of the
Peace or other examining magistrate for a preliminary hearing or for the waiver
of such hearing. He was charged by information in the District Court of
Bernalillo County, New Mexico, on September 25, 1956, with armed robbery.
On that date an attorney was appointed by the court to represent him. On the
following day appellant appeared in open court with his attorney and entered a
plea of guilty to the crime charged in the information. On that occasion the
Assistant District Attorney read the information to the accused, his attorney
entered a plea of guilty on his behalf and the court expressly inquired of Silva
as to how he desired to plead and Silva then entered his own plea of guilty. At
this point it is significant to recount the colloquy between the judge, the
accused and the Assistant District Attorney about the facts and details of
perpetration of the crime charged. Silva freely and without hesitation admitted
his part in the crime, discussed with the judge the amount of money taken and
the disposition of it. He also stood by and heard the prosecutor recite in detail
the facts of the crime without disputing any of them.
Imposition of sentence was deferred until a presentence report could be

procured. On October 5 appellant again appeared with his court appointed
counsel. Before sentence Silva was given the right of allocution and made the
following statement:
"Well, what we done is done, we just wanted to get up to Texas where we were
going to work at his uncle's place, we ran out of money here and we stopped
here, we couldn't get out there and I guess that it is a mistake, so whatever we
get, I guess that if we have done anything wrong, I haven't done anything
wrong in four or five years probation and now I do, that is all that I have got to
say."
His appointed attorney at this time spoke in his behalf, recalling the fact that
Silva had cooperated with the law enforcement officers and giving the age of
the accused.
Appellant urges here: (1) That the representation by his appointed counsel was
inadequate and ineffective; (2) that he was denied due process because he was
not afforded a preliminary hearing and was not furnished a copy of the
information; and (3) by the totality of circumstances he was denied due
process.
Appellant supports his first contention by the brief lapse of time between the
appointment of counsel and his appearance in court with counsel to enter a plea
of guilty. To us, under all of the circumstances of the case, this fact has very
little significance. Silva had previously freely admitted his guilt of the crime
charged and had no reason to deny his guilt in conferring with his attorney.
After such an admission to his attorney, there were no witnesses to interview or
any other preparation necessary for trial. All that was left for the attorney to do
was to take the accused into court, enter his plea of guilty and throw him upon
the mercy of the court. In connection with this point appellant urges that he did
not have adequate representation by counsel but fails to specifically point out
anything that the counsel could or should have done to make his assistance
more effective. This court has held that effective representation of counsel does
not necessarily mean a satisfactory result for the accused1 and that the
competence of counsel cannot be determined solely on the basis of the amount
of time he spent interviewing his client. 2 Again we say, that under the
circumstances of the case we know nothing more that counsel could have done
that would have helped appellant.
9
10
The second point urged has given us some concern. The Constitution of the
State of New Mexico provides that every person accused of a felony by
information under the laws of that state shall have the benefit of a preliminary
examination or hearing before an examining magistrate.3 The New Mexico
Supreme Court has held that this state constitutional guarantee of a preliminary
hearing may be waived before a magistrate if the accused acknowledges his
guilt of the offense charged.4 That court, in a line of decisions has also held that
a plea of guilty or not guilty to an information filed in a district court, in which
case no preliminary hearing has been held, also constitutes a waiver of the
constitutional right to a preliminary examination.5 The right to a preliminary
hearing in the State of New Mexico is one guaranteed by the state constitution
and only becomes a Federal Constitutional guarantee by the equal protection
clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it is a part of the due process of
the state. As a general rule, the interpretation of state constitutions and state
laws is a matter to be left to the state courts.6 In this regard the Federal
Constitution does not require that the Federal Courts make their separate
interpretation of state constitutions and statutes but the Federal Courts must
accept such state court interpretation unless it be inconsistent with the
fundamental principles of liberty and justice.7 We agree with Judge Miller in
Dillard v. Bomar, 6th Cir., 342 F.2d 789, 790, in which he said, "We do not
find that the Supreme Court has ever held that an accused has a constitutional
right to a preliminary hearing." Therefore, we are constrained to accept the
New Mexico Supreme Court's decisions on waiver of the right to a preliminary
hearing in criminal cases arising under the law of that state.
As a part of appellant's argument on denial of due process, he points to the fact
10
that the record fails to show that he was served with a copy of the information.
From the record we agree with the trial court's finding that the accused knew
exactly what crime he was pleading to and that his plea of guilty was knowingly
and understandingly made after consultation with his court appointed attorney.
We believe that this procedural defect was likewise waived by knowingly and
understandingly entering the plea of guilty.8
11
The court appointed counsel for appellant has ingeniously raised the third point
and we do not propose to treat it lightly. As a result we have carefully read and
considered the entire record before us in an effort to completely satisfy
ourselves that no injustice has been done to appellant from a constitutional
standpoint. In considering the entire record in the case, we have kept in mind
the Supreme Court's definition of due process in Lisenba v. People of State of
California, 314 U.S. 219, 236, 62 S.Ct. 280, 290, 86 L.Ed. 166, in which it said:
"* * * denial of due process is the failure to observe that fundamental fairness
essential to the very concept of justice." We must conclude that after
considering all of the facts and circumstances, there has been no denial of due
process, nor has appellant suffered any prejudice by reason of the admitted
procedural defects.
12
Affirmed.
Notes:
1
Lucero v. United States, 10 Cir., 335 F. 2d 912, and the cases cited therein on
this point
Goforth v. United States, 10 Cir., 314 F.2d 868, cert. denied, 374 U.S. 812, 83
S.Ct. 1703, 10 L.Ed.2d 1035
Art. II 14, Constitution of New Mexico
State v. Alaniz, 55 N.M. 312, 232 P.2d 982
Sanders v. Cox, 74 N.M. 525, 395 P.2d 353, cert. denied, 379 U.S. 978, 85
S.Ct. 680, 13 L.Ed.2d 569; State v. Jones, 73 N.M. 459, 389 P.2d 398. See also
State v. Vaughn, 74 N.M. 365, 393 P.2d 711
Hebert v. State of Louisiana, 272 U.S. 312, 316, 47 S.Ct. 103, 71 L.Ed. 270
Bute v. People of State of Illinois, 333 U.S. 640, 648, 68 S.Ct. 763, 92 L.Ed.
986
Mahler v. United States, 10 Cir., 333 F. 2d 472, cert. denied 379 U.S. 993, 85
S. Ct. 709, 13 L.Ed.2d 613

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351 F.

Eugene SILVA, Appellant,

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

James A. Williams, Denver, Colo. (Thomas McKenna, Santa Fe, N. M.,

Appellant, an inmate of the New Mexico State Penitentiary, appeals from a

Imposition of sentence was deferred until a presentence report could be

Art. II 14, Constitution of New Mexico

State v. Alaniz, 55 N.M. 312, 232 P.2d 982

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