Lawrence E. Wilson, Warden, San Quentin Prison v. Fred R. Harris

Appellee is in state custody serving a prison sentence imposed on April 23, 1954 by the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Santa Clara, following his plea of guilty to a charge of armed robbery in violation of Section 211 of the Penal Code of the State of California, and also charging a prior felony conviction in the State of New Mexico for issuing bad checks.

Appellee did not appeal to the reviewing courts of California from the judgment of conviction but did file petitions for writs of habeas corpus in the Superior Court for the County of Marin, the District Court of Appeal for the State of California, First Appellate District, and the Supreme Court of California, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division, all of which petitions were denied. Appellee’s petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was likewise denied.

On October 16, 1964, appellee filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Southern Division. The District Court appointed counsel to represent appellee in the proceedings, and…