Robert G. Peoples v. Carl Hocker, Warden, Nevada State Prison

The appellant, Robert Peoples, was found guilty of murder in the first degree by a Nevada state jury and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on May 12, 1966. On February 28, 1967 the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed that conviction, Peoples v. State, 83 Nev. 115 , 423 P.2d 883 . On October 9, 1967 the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari ( 389 U.S. 866 , 88 S.Ct. 132 , 19 L.Ed.2d 138 ). On August 8, 1968 Peoples petitioned the United States District Court for the District of Nevada for a writ of habeas corpus. The petition was denied and Peoples appeals. We affirm.

At the hearing below, it was agreed that he relied entirely upon the record of his conviction used in his appeal to the Supreme Court of Nevada. These are the basic facts disclosed by that record: On June 10, 1965 Peoples arrived in Beatty, Nevada and was met by one Dillard R. Morton and the two children of Sharon Wilson, the decedent. Peoples was driven to the El Portal Motel where he left his luggage in the room occupied by Sharon Wilson. Peoples, Morton and the children then drove to the Oasis Bar where Sharon was employed. While Peoples was talking with her in the bar a pistol…