Harris v. Nelson

A state prisoner filed a habeas corpus petition in the Federal District Court, alleging that the admission of certain evidence at his trial was improper because the evidence had been seized incident to an arrest based upon information from an unreliable informant. The District Court ordered an evidentiary hearing and the prisoner served on respondent a series of interrogatories pursuant to Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure designed to establish the informant's unreliability. The District Court overruled respondent's objections that there was no authority fr issuance of the interrogatories. Upon respondent's petition for a writ of mandamus or prohibition the Court of Appeals vacated the District Court's order authorizing the interrogatories, on the grounds that Rule 81 (a)(2) made the discovery procedures of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure inapplicable to habeas corpus proceedings and that the statutory provision for interrogatories in habeas corpus proceedings (28 U.S.C. § 2246) did not authorize their use for discovery. Rule 81 (a)(2) at that time provided that the Rules did not apply to habeas corpus proceedings "except to the extent that the practice in such proceedings is not set forth in statutes of the United States and has heretofore conformed to the practice in actions at law or suits in equity."

Held:

1. Federal courts upon an appropriate showing must grant evidentiary hearings to petitioners for writs of habeas corpus and "the power of inquiry on federal habeas corpus is plenary." Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 312 (1963). Pp. 290-292.

2. The intended scope of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the history of habeas corpus procedure make it clear that Rule 81 (a)(2) excludes the application of Rule 33 in habeas corpus proceedings. Pp. 292-298.

3. Section 2246 of 28 U.S.C. does not authorize interrogatories in habeas corpus proceedings except in limited circumstances not applicable to this case. Pp. 290, 296.

4. A district court considering a petition for habeas corpus is free to use or authorize interrogatories or other suitable discovery procedures reasonably fashioned to elicit facts to help the court "dispose of the matter as law and justice require." 28 U.S.C. § 2243. Pp. 290, 298-300.

5. Since Congress has not specified comprehensive procedures for securing the facts which federal courts must have to dispose of habeas corpus petitions, the courts may fashion appropriate procedures for development of relevant facts, by analogy to existing rules or judicial usages. Their authority to do so is confirmed by the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651. Pp. 298-300.

378 F.2d 141, reversed and remanded.

J. Stanley Pottinger, by appointment of the Court, 393 U.S. 814, argued the cause and filed briefs for petitioner.

Derald E. Granberg, Deputy Attorney General of California, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the briefs were Thomas C. Lynch, Attorney General, Albert W. Harris, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, and Charles R.B. Kirk, Deputy Attorney General, joined in and adopted by the Attorneys General and other officials of their respective jurisdictions as follows: MacDonald Gallion of Alabama, Gary K. Nelson of Arizona, Joe Purcell of Arkansas, Duke W. Dunbar of Colorado, David P. Buckson of Delaware, Earl Faircloth of Florida, Arthur K. Bolton of Georgia, Bert T. Kobayashi of Hawaii, William G. Clark of Illinois, John J. Dillon of Indiana, Richard C. Turner of Iowa, John B. Breckinridge of Kentucky, Jack P.F. Gremillion of Louisiana, James S. Erwin of Maine, Francis B. Burch of Maryland, Elliot L. Richardson of Massachusetts, Douglas M. Head of Minnesota, Joe T. Patterson of Mississippi, Clarence A.H. Meyer of Nebraska, Harvey Dickerson of Nevada, Arthur J. Sills of New Jersey, Boston E. Witt of New Mexico, Louis J. Lefkowitz of New York, T. Wade Bruton of North Carolina, Helgi Johanneson of North Dakota, William B. Saxbe of Ohio, G.T. Blankenship of Oklahoma, William C. Sennett of Pennsylvania, Herbert F. DeSimone of Rhode Island, Daniel R. McLeod of South Carolina, George F. McCanless of Tennessee, James L. Oakes of Vermont, Robert Y. Button and Reno S. Harp III of Virginia, John J. O'Connell of Washington, Bronson C. LaFollette of Wisconsin, and Paul J. Abbate of Guam; and by the National District Attorneys' Association.

Jerome M. Feit argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging affirmance. With him on the brief were Solicitor General Griswold, Assistant Attorney General Vinson, John S. Martin, Jr., and Paul C. Summitt.

Jack Greenberg, James M. Nabrit III, Michael Meltsner, and Anthony G. Amsterdam filed a brief for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., et al. as amici curiae urging reversal.

Louis J. Lefkowitz, Attorney General of New York, Samuel A. Hirshowitz, First Assistant Attorney General, and Amy Juviler and Joel H. Sachs, Assistant Attorneys General, filed a brief for the State of New York as amicus curiae urging affirmance.