Arthur B. Smith v. Lawrence E. Wilson, Warden

The appellant is a state prisoner incarcerated in a California prison under the control of the appellee Warden. He was tried in a California Superior Court, without jury, for the crime of murder in the first degree. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on January 20, 1965. He filed a motion for new trial and a notice of appeal from the judgment. His motion was denied and the judgment was affirmed by both the District Court of Appeal- and the Supreme Court of California.

On May 5, 1967, appellant filed in the federal district court a petition for the writ of habeas corpus in which he alleges that he is being held in custody unlawfully. The petition was denied but a certificate of probable cause was issued. The appellant, who appears to be a person of understanding, has filed his appeal here in propria persona.

In the petition for the writ, which is on printed form supplied by the Clerk of the District Court, appellant, in answer to Question 10: “State concisely the grounds on which you base your allegations that you are being held in custody unlawfully”, states: “(a) That petitioner was denied his constitutional right to the assistance of counsel at interrogation…