Palakiko

We have here the same appellants who were before us at the time of our decision in Palakiko v. Territory of Hawaii, 9 Cir., 188 F.2d 54 . That was upon an appeal from the judgment of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Hawaii affirming a judgment of conviction of the appellants of murder in the first degree. After the going down of mandate from this court, the hour for execution of death sentences was fixed at 8 o’clock on the morning of September 22, 1951. On the evening of September 21, 1951, the sister of appellant Palakiko, purporting to act on behalf of the appellants, presented to one of the Justices of the Territorial Supreme Court a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The Justice denied the petition but stayed execution and referred the petition to the full court. The court issued the writ and thereafter, upon the return and traverse thereof, held an extended hearing, and thereupon entered its judgment denying relief and remanding the appellants to custody. This appeal is from that judgment.

The petition alleged that the petitioners’ conviction had been accomplished through a denial of due process of law within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment; that they had been com…