Rochin v. California

[*166] Mr. Justice Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court. - Having “some information that [the petitioner here] was selling narcotics,” three deputy sheriffs of the County of Los Angeles, on the morning of July 1, 1949, made for the two-story dwelling house in which Rochin lived with his mother, commonrlaw wife, brothers and sisters. Finding,the outside door open, they entered and then forced open the door to Rochin’s room, on the second floor. Inside they found petitioner sitting partly dressed on the side of the bed, upon which his wife was lying. On a “night stand” beside the bed the deputies spied two capsules. When asked “Whose stuff is this?” Rochin seized the capsules and put them in his mouth. A struggle ensued, in the course of which the three officers “jumped upon him” and attempted to extract, the capsules. The force they applied proved unavailing against Rochin’s resistance. He was handcuffed and taken to a hospital.' At the direction of one of the officers a doctor forced an emetic solution through a tube into Rochin’s stomach against his will. This “stomach pumping” produced vomiting. In the vomited matter were found two capsules which proved to contain morphine.

Rochin was brought to trial before a California Superior Court, sitting without a jury, on the charge of possessing “a preparation of morphine” in violation of the California Health and Safety Code, 1947, § 11,500. Rochin was convicted and sentenced to sixty days’ imprisonment. The chief evidence against him was the two capsules. They were admitted over petitioner’s objection, although the means of obtaining them was frankly set forth in the testimony by one of,the deputies, substantially as here narrated.

On appeal, the District Court of Appeal affirmed the Conviction, despite the finding that the officers “were [*167] guilty of unlawfully breaking into and entering defendant’s room and were guilty of unlawfully assaulting and battering defendant while in the room,” and “were guilty of unlawfully assaulting, battering, torturing and falsely imprisoning the defendant at the alleged hospital.” 101 Cal. App. 2d 140, 143, 225 P. 2d 1, 3. One of the three judges, while finding that “the record in this case reveals a shocking series of violations of constitutional rights,” concurred only because he felt bound by decisions of his Supreme Court. These, he asserted, “have been looked upon by law enforcement officers as an encouragement, if not an invitation, to the commission of such lawless acts.” Ibid. The Supreme Court of California denied without opinion Rochin’s petition for a hearing.[1] Two justices dissented from this denial, and in doing so expressed themselves thus: “. . . a conviction which rests upon evidence of incriminating objects obtained from the body of the accused by physical abuse is as invalid as a conviction which rests upon a verbal confession extracted from him by such abuse. . . . Had the- evidence forced from the defendant’s lips consisted of an oral confession that he illegally possessed a drug ... he would have the protection of the rule of law which excludes coerced confessions from evidence. But because the evidence forced from his lips consisted of real objects the People of this state are permitted to base a conviction upon it. [We] find no valid ground of distinction between a verbal confession extracted by physical abuse and a confession wrested from defendant’s body by physical abuse.” 101 Cal. App. 2d 143, 149-150, 225 P. 2d 913, 917-918.