Forrest Silva Tucker v. United States

Tucker, a federal prisoner held in custody at the United States Penitentiary at Alcatraz, appeals from a judgment denying his “ ‘motion in the nature of a writ of error coram nobis’ ”. He contends that the District Court erred in denying the motion without a hearing. We agree.

On May 20, 1953, Tucker was sentenced to a 25-year term for robbery of a national bank with the use of a dangerous weapon, 18 U.S.C. § 2113 , in the Northern District of California. On August 3, 1953, Tucker was sentenced to a five-year term in the Southern District of California for a different bank robbery. He has yet to begin serving the five-year term, and it is this conviction he seeks to attack by coram nobis.

The trial in the Southern District was of Tucker and a co-defendant, one Bellew. Each defendant was appointed counsel by the court. Tucker’s motion in the nature of a writ of error coram nobis alleged first that his counsel failed to properly defend him. He asserted that the attorney had previously represented the chief Government witness, the manager of the robbed bank, in a civil matter. Desiring to stay in the good graces of a former client, the attorney made only a perfunctory investigation…