Anthony (Tony) Fernandez v. Raymond W. Meier, Warden

The appellant here was convicted under various counts of two indictments charging interstate frauds in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 . His conviction was affirmed, Fernandez v. United States, 329 F.2d 899 . He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment which he is now serving in a federal penitentiary. Thereafter he filed in the court below, which is the court in which he was originally convicted, two petitions to set aside and nullify his sentence. These petitions were by him denominated “Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus.” The petitions were joined together and heard by a Judge sitting in that court and denied. Obviously, since appellant is a federal prisoner, his application for post-conviction remedy should have been founded upon the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , but inasmuch as the court below passed upon these petitions on the merits, and in the same manner as it would have done had they been denominated petitions under the last named section, we think it is appropriate that we should disregard the misnomer used by the appellant and consider the appeal upon the merits.

Appellant’s main contention is that the grand and petit juries, which indicted and convicted him in…