Thomas

Thomas seeks my order certifying that he has probable cause for an appeal from (a) the denial of his application to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for a writ of habeas corpus to the above Warden, and (b) the denial of a stay of the execution of a death sentence of the Superior Court of the State of California, Siskiyou County.

The death sentence was ordered to be executed before 12 o’clock noon of August 31, 1951, and the Warden had fixed the hour and prepared the gas chamber for the execution at 10 o’clock a. m. It was not until 9:15 a. m., before the hour so fixed, that Thomas’ petition to me was served. At 9:30 a. m. I stayed the execution until 11 a. m. for time to give consideration to his application.

Thomas, a Negro, is not a lawyer and claims he has had no prior experience in criminal litigation. He had no attorney in his proceedings below nor in the Supreme Court of California where he filed his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which was denied him. People v. Thomas, Cal.Sup., 230 P.2d 351 . His application to the court below incorporated his petition for the writ to the Californiá Supreme Court and made its allegations the…