Wilmer W. Evans v. State of Arizona
Opinion
Opinion
Byrne, J.
Appellant was convicted by a jury of having committed murder in the first degree by drowning his wife in an automobile which he contrived to have plunge into San Carlos Lake at Coolidge Dam, Arizona. On June 26, 1958, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
His conviction was affirmed by the Arizona Supreme Court. In an effort to have his conviction set aside he has filed numerous applications for writs in the State courts of Arizona and the Federal courts including the Supreme Court. All of these efforts were unsuccessful until he finally met with a modicum of success in an appeal to this Court.
On July 13, 1966, this Court reversed an order of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, denying without a hearing an application for a writ of habeas corpus. Evans v. Ey~ man, 363 F.2d 540 (9 Cir. 1966).
The original petition for the writ set forth nine asserted grounds for relief. Of the nine grounds, this Court held that only one presented a question cognizable in a federal habeas corpus proceeding by a state prisoner, and remanded the case to the District Court for a hearing on that ground. It was stated in the petition as follows: