Marion James Linden v. Fred R. Dickson, Warden, California State Prison, San Quentin

Appellant, Marion James Linden, applied to the District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division, on August 5, 1959, for a writ of habeas corpus. The petition for the writ alleged that the judgment and commitment under which the petitioner was being held were void. The petition alleged that on his trial, while being represented by court-appointed counsel, he requested that such counsel be removed and that he be allowed to conduct his own defense. The petition further alleged that the trial court granted his request and then alleged that at the time of his trial appellant was, by reason of insanity, incompetent to waive counsel, and that consequently he was deprived of his liberty without due process.

The petition further showed that appellant had been convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death, the execution being scheduled for 10 a. m., August 7,1959. It also appeared that appellant’s conviction had been affirmed by the Supreme Court of California and that his petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States had been denied, and that appellant had exhausted his state remedies. It was stipulated by counsel at the time…