Arthur Nathaniel Aiken v. James Spalding, Superintendent, Washington State Penitentiary, and Slade Gorton, Attorney General, State of Washington

Arthur Nathaniel Aiken appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. He was convicted by a jury in 1965 in a Washington State court on three counts of first degree murder. Originally sentenced to death, Aiken is now serving three consecutive life terms. He argues, among other things, that the interrogating officers violated his right to counsel, and that his confessions were involuntary.

BACKGROUND

In March and April 1965, three service station attendants were robbed and murdered in the Seattle area. Antonio Wheat, appellant’s co-defendant, was arrested on April 24, 1965, the day of the third homicide. His statements to police implicated Aiken, who was arrested at 4:19 p.m. the next day, in Blaine, Washington. Aiken was taken to the County-City Building, in Seattle, at approximately 12:15 a.m., the morning of April 26, 1965. En route, the officers informed Aiken that he was being held on a charge of homicide and robbery, and advised him of his rights. At approximately 12:20 a.m., Officers Chase and Mullen began to question Aiken regarding one of the homicides. Without the knowledge of the interrogating officers or Aiken, virtually all of the initial interrogation…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent. While I have no quarrel with the majority opinion’s exposition of the facts, I believe that the majority misconceives the central issue involved here, which is whether the expert evidence regarding the adjacent statements recorded on the tape affects the conclusiveness which must be given to the trial court’s determinations of credibility. As I do not believe that this “new” evidence undermines the credibility findings of the state court or fundamentally alters the nature of Aiken’s claim, which was fully and fairly litigated before the state court, I would affirm the denial of the writ.

I believe that the issue of exhaustion is disposed of by the Supreme Court’s opinion in Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254 , 106 S.Ct. 617 , 88 L.Ed.2d 598 (1986). In Vasquez , the respondent had presented his equal protection challenge to the selection of the grand jury at every level in the state courts. 474 U.S. at 256 , 106 S.Ct. at 620 . In response to a request from the district court, the respondent submitted three items of evidence which formed the basis for the state’s nonexhaustion claim: census data from the year 1900, three affidavits from residents…

841 F.2d 881 Arthur Nathaniel AIKEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James SPALDING, Superintendent, Washington State Penitentiary, and Slade Gorton, Attorney General, State of Washington, Defendants-Appellees. No. 85-4229. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Nov. 3, 1986. Decided Jan. 21, 1988. As Amended March 1, 1988. Zenon P. Olbertz, McCluskey, Sells, Ryan, Olbertz & Haberly, Bremerton, Wash., for plaintiff-appellant. Michael Madden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Olympia, Wash., for defendants-appellees. Before SKOPIL, FLETCHER and POOLE, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: 1 Arthur Nathaniel Aiken appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. He was convicted by a jury in 1965 in a Washington State court on three counts of first degree murder. Originally sentenced to death, Aiken is now serving three consecutive life terms. He argues, among other things, that the interrogating officers violated his right to counsel, and that his confessions were involuntary. BACKGROUND 2 In March and April 1965, three service station attendants were robbed and murdered in the Seattle area. Antonio Wheat, appellant's co-defendant, was arrested on April 24, 1965, the…