Rudy Terrones Ruiz v. Walter E. Craven, Warden, Folsom State Prison

Ruiz appeals from a federal district court order denying, without an evidentiary hearing, his petition for a writ of habeas corpus to obtain his release from a California penitentiary to which he has been confined since his 1964 conviction for possessing heroin for sale (Cal.Health & Safety Code § 11500.5). Ruiz’ conviction followed the denial of his motion to suppress the heroin as the product of an illegal search and his submission thereafter of the cause on the transcript of his preliminary hearing.

The relevant facts can be briefly summarized.

On January 17, 1964, two Los Angeles police officers arrested Ruiz who was then standing about 15 feet from his house. The officers did not have an arrest warrant in hand,! but they had been informed through official channels that Ruiz was wanted on an outstanding federal warrant. Following the arrest, the officers searched Ruiz and found in his shirt pocket a small quantity of powder later identified as heroin. The officers thereupon proceeded to search Ruiz’ house without a search warrant and found in a bedroom two kilos of heroin. When the officers interrogated Ruiz about the large quantity of heroin, he indicated that he had bought…