In the Matter of the Application of Walter Thomas Byrd, for a Certificate of Probable Cause

This is a petition for certificate of probable cause for an appeal from denial of petitioner’s application for a writ of habeas corpus to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division.

Byrd was convicted of murder in the first degree in the Superior Court of Ventura County, California. His conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court of California on February 4, 1954, and a rehearing there denied March 3, 1954. People v. Byrd, 42 Cal.2d 200 , 266 P.2d. 505 . Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States was denied October 14, 1954, 348 U.S. 848 , 75 S.Ct. 73 . Now, more than three months later, and on the day set for his execution he seeks a writ of habeas corpus in the District Court and upon its denial and the denial of a certificate of probable cause there, asks for a certificate of probable cause and a stay of execution to permit an appeal to this court.

The grounds set out in his petition present no federal question. He does assert that certain tape recordings of a statement made by him to the District Attorney were improperly read in evidence at his trial without prior proof that the confession made therein was given…