John Herring v. People of the State of California

This is an appeal in propria persona from a denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by a state prisoner. No hearing was held by the district court. The record of the state trial was not an exhibit below, and is therefore not before us now.

Appellant raises some twelve substantive grounds on this appeal, at least one of which relates to a codefendant, and asks for an “advisory opinion” on another point. We do not reach the merits, but remand on procedural grounds alone.

A federal court may accept the determination of a state court as to constitutional rights, but only after reviewing the state proceedings to ascertain that all federal standards have been met. Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293 , 83 S.Ct. 745 , 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963) sets general guidelines for such a review. See also Wright v. Dickson, 336 F.2d 878, 881 (9th Cir. 1964); Pike v. Dickson, 323 F.2d 856, 859 (9th Cir. 1963).

The district court here recognized in its Memorandum of Decision that it did not consider or have available the full record of the trial in the state court.

The district court was required to examine the entire record to determine if “a full and fair state evidentiary hearing…