In Re Branch

This petition involves petitioner's claim of inadequacy of his representation in that his counsel failed to investigate his claim that prior to or during the trial he had told his counsel that he had information that other named convicts had committed the offense with which he was charged. Based on the entire record, we find that petitioner did not tell his counsel of these facts prior to or during the trial, and that the information given the attorney just prior to sentence was given under such circumstances that the attorney reasonably believed the testimony would be perjured. We also find that the attorney acted reasonably in not further investigating the claimed facts, and that under the record, we should not find that petitioner is innocent.

The problem arises under the following circumstances:

In August 1961, when petitioner was 18 years old, authorities found two knives in the cell in which he was imprisoned at Soledad Correctional Training Facility. On January 5, 1962, he was sentenced for violating Penal Code, section 4502 (possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner) after conviction by a jury. On February 2, 1966, this court denied a prior habeas corpus…