James Wilson, Relator and Best Friend of Clifford Jefferson v. Fred Dixon, Warden of the California State Prison at San Quentin, California

Wilson, a convict confined in the Folsom State Prison at Represa, Sacramento County, California, suing as the next friend of Clifford Jefferson, a convict confined under sentence of death for a violation of § 4500 of the West’s Ann. California Penal Code in the San Quentin State Prison, Marin County, California, appeals from a denial of his application for a writ of habeas corpus seeking to set aside Jefferson’s death sentence.

On March 18, 1957, Jefferson had filed his own petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division, numbered 36282 on the files of that court. After a hearing in the case, the court denied the petition for habeas corpus on April 16, 1957. A certificate of probable cause was granted and a notice of appeal filed on April 29, 1957. After briefs were filed and the matter argued, this court on November 15, 1957, affirmed the order of the District Court. (Jefferson v. Teets, 9 Cir., 248 F.2d 955 .) A petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied on March 3, 1958. ( 355 U.S. 967 , 78 S.Ct. 559 , 2 L.Ed.2d 542 .)

Wilson’s sole pertinent contention is…