Marvin John Piche v. B. J. Rhay, as Superintendent of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla, Washington

This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court dismissing an action brought by Marvin John Piche, an inmate of the Washington State Penitentiary, to secure a writ of habeas corpus.

Piche based his claim for relief upon the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments, made applicable to States by the Fourteenth. In his complaint he alleged eight instances which he contended constitutional violations of rights guaranteed him by those amendments. The district court, although recognizing that some of the contentions rested upon unresolved factual premises, did not issue an order to show cause; neither did it call for nor have before it any state court record. Instead, the district court proceeded to determine and dispose of Piche’s entire claim, largely on the basis of the Washington Supreme Court’s opinion affirming Piche’s criminal conviction. State v. Piche, 71 Wash.2d 583 , 430 P.2d 522 (1967). That opinion did not purport to detail the underlying evidence but was limited essentially to statements of ultimate facts and conclusions. The district court erred in relying upon it [People of the United States ex rel. Jennings v. Ragen, 358 U.S. 276 , 79 S.Ct. 321 , 3 L.Ed.2d 296…