Application of Eugene Burwell, for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. Application of James A. Rogers, for a Writ of Habeas Corpus

Burwell and Rogers have each presented petitions for certificate of probable cause pursuant to Title 28 U.S.C.A. § 2253 , to permit them to appeal from an order of the District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division, denying their separate petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Both petitioners were convicted of first degree murder in a California Superior Court and sentenced to death. Upon their automatic appeals to the Supreme Court of California the judgments were affirmed. People v. Burwell, 44 Cal.2d 16 , 279 P.2d 744 . Certiorari to review that decision was denied by the United States Supreme Court. 349 U.S. 936 , 75 S.Ct. 788 , 99 L.Ed. 1265 .

In May, 1955, when they made their applications for writs of habeas corpus, petitioners obtained from the district court a stay of execution for a period of time sufficient to permit the district court to hear such applications. After an extended hearing, that court denied the petitions for writs of habeas corpus and denied certificates of probable cause.. They then sought certificates of probable cause from this court which denied them because the petitions were addressed to the court rather than to an…