Cecil Herman Ward v. State of California

This is an application for a certificate of probable cause which is sought by the petitioner in order to permit his attempted appeal to the Court of Appeals from an order of the district court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Title 28 U.S.C.A. § 2253 .

Petitioner was found guilty of murder in the first degree in a Superior Court of the State of California and is presently under sentence of death. His offense was committed a short time prior to the enactment of § 190.1 of the California Penal Code which provided a new procedure for determining the punishment to be imposed upon a person found guilty of an offence punishable by death or imprisonment for life. He asserts that the State, in trying him and fixing the death penalty for his offence, pursuant to the new statute, has enforced a law which is ex post facto as to him contrary to the provisions of Article I, § 10 of the Constitution of the United States. He also contends that in the manner in which he was tried and evidence was received or rejected he was denied due process of law contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment.

These contentions on the part of petitioner are fully considered and dealt with in the…