Elizabeth Ann Duncan v. Iverne E. Carter, Superintendent of the California Institution for Women at Corona, California

Elizabeth Ann Duncan appeals to this court from a district court order denying her application for a writ of habeas corpus. Having been convicted of murder in the first degree in the Superior Court, Ventura County, State of California, and being under a sentence of *181 death, she is presently in the custody of the state. 1

The Superior Court judgment and sentence came before the Supreme Court of California for review and was affirmed. People v. Duncan, 53 Cal.2d 803 , 3 Cal. Rptr. 351 , 350 P.2d 103 .

Mrs. Duncan then petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. The petition was granted, limited to the two questions set out below. Baldonado v. California (Duncan v. California), 363 U.S. 840 , 80 S.Ct. 1639 , 4 L.Ed.2d 1735 . 2

On May 22, 1961, that court entered a per curiam opinion, sub nom. Baldonado v. California, 366 U.S. 417 , 81 S.Ct. 1355 , 6 L.Ed.2d 380 , reading as follows:

Mrs. Duncan thereafter filed in the district court the instant application for a writ of habeas corpus. An order to show cause was issued, in response to which the Superintendent of the California penal institution in which Mrs. Duncan is incarcerated filed a return and a…

(concurring) .

While I concur in Judge Hamley’s opinion, I think we ought to say right now that we would not ever approve of the proposed effort to impeach the jury’s verdict by testimony as to what jurors remembered or said in the room in arriving at their verdict. The foregoing opinion just does not reach the question. I do not think that anyone is justified in believing from the opinion that the matter could be framed a little differently* and then such things could be searched.

299 F.2d 179 Elizabeth Ann DUNCAN, Appellant, v. Iverne E. CARTER, Superintendent of the California Institution for Women at Corona, California, Appellee. No. 17529. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. January 22, 1962. Ward Sullivan and Arthur Warner, Beverly Hills, Cal., Frank Duncan, Leonard Nasatir, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellant. Stanley Mosk, Atty. Gen., William E. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee. Before CHAMBERS, HAMLEY and HAMLIN, Circuit Judges. HAMLEY, Circuit Judge. 1 Elizabeth Ann Duncan appeals to this court from a district court order denying her application for a writ of habeas corpus. Having been convicted of murder in the first degree in the Superior Court, Ventura County, State of California, and being under a sentence of death, she is presently in the custody of the state. 1 2 The Superior Court judgment and sentence came before the Supreme Court of California for review and was affirmed. People v. Duncan, 53 Cal.2d 803 , 3 Cal. Rptr. 351 , 350 P.2d 103 . 3 Mrs. Duncan then petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. The petition was granted, limited to the two questions set out below. Baldonado v. California (Duncan v.…