Porter D. White v. Dorothy Hegerhorst and John Doe Hegerhorst

Porter D. White, appellant herein, was convicted of violations of state narcotics statutes after a jury trial in a California state court in May of 1966. His conviction was affirmed on appeal and habeas corpus relief has been denied. In March, 1968, appellant filed the instant action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging in eonclusory terms a conspiracy to violate his constitutional rights to a fair and impartial trial and denial of liberty without due process of law in contravention of various civil rights laws. The complaint centers around the fact that appellee Dorothy Hegerhorst was a juror in appellant’s criminal trial and her brother-in-law Emmet Hegerhorst was court bailiff in the same case. It was further alleged that appellee Emmet Hegerhorst and the deputy district attorney and the deputy public defender representing appellant in the criminal trial entered the jury room during deliberations, thereby denying appellant his right to a fair and impartial trial. Appellant sought several million dollars actual and punitive damages. Defendant Emmet Hegerhorst filed a written motion to dismiss or for summary judgment. On the…