Arnold Thomas Kyle v. United States

Appellant, a federal prisoner, filed a motion in the district court “in the nature of a writ of coram nobis” to vacate and set aside the life sentence imposed upon him by the same district court on October 21, 1940, following his plea of guilty to the offense of murder in the second degree, as set forth in Section 454, Title 18, U.S.C. 1940 Ed., now Sections 1111 and 1112, Title 18 U.S.C. 1954 Ed.

The grounds of appellant’s motion are:

1. That appellant did not have the effective assistance of counsel at the time when he entered his plea of guilty, in violation of the guarantee contained in the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;

2. That the indictment was obtained by misrepresentation and fraud, thus denying to the appellant due process of law;

3. That appellant is innocent of the charge contained in the indictment; and

4. That there exists no corpus delicti of the crime charged in the indictment.

The motion of appellant was accompanied by appellant’s affidavit, and the affidavit of Leo A. Sullivan, Attorney at Law. The district judge issued an order to show cause .ordering the United States to make and file a return showing cause, if any there be, why…