George W. Bostick, Jr. v. Walter E. Craven, Warden

Appellant, serving a life sentence for murder following a plea of guilty, petitioned below for a writ of habeas corpus. The District Court denied relief without a hearing. We affirm.

Appellant and three accomplices were convicted, in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, of robbery-murder. The jury imposed the death penalty on appellant, and his three accomplices were given life imprisonment. Subsequently, however, the California Supreme Court reversed the convictions and remanded the cases on the basis of the United States Supreme Court decisions in Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 , 84 S.Ct. 1758 , 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (1964) and Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368 , 84 S.Ct. 1774 , 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964). Appellant’s court-appointed counsel then suggested he enter a plea of guilty because he had no defense. Counsel advised him that if the case went to trial the State intended to call the accomplices to testify against him. Counsel also warned of the probability of being convicted again and receiving the death penalty. Appellant was advised that there had been an agreement reached with the State to the effect that if he pled guilty to murder the sentence would be set at life…