United States of America, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Albert James Tweedy, Jr., Defendant-Petitioner

In 1964, Tweedy pled guilty to a charge of bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) and (d). He was sentenced to imprisonment for 15 years. In 1967, he filed a motion to set aside his conviction under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . The motion was denied without a hearing, and he appeals.

1. Was a hearing required?

Tweedy asserts that his plea was induced by the promise of an F.B.I. agent that, if he pled guilty, he would be sentenced to a term of not more than five years. He also says that nobody advised him of the allowable range of punishment, up to 25 years imprisonment.

Normally, an evidentiary hearing must be held where a § 2255 motion raises factual allegations, unless the “files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 2255 ; Machibroda v. United States, 1962, 368 U.S. 487 -495, 82 S.Ct. 510 , 7 L.Ed.2d 473 . See also, Walker v. Johnston, 1941, 312 U.S. 275 , 61 S.C.t. 574, 85 L.Ed. 830 ; Wells v. Craven, 9 Cir., 1968, 404 F.2d 745 ; Coleman v. Wilson, 9 Cir., 1968, 401 F.2d 536 ; Castro v. United States, 9 Cir., 1968, 396 F.2d 345, 348 ; Bright v. Rhay, 9 Cir., 1968, 391 F.2d 915 ; Jones v. United States, 9 Cir., 1967, 384 F.2d…