Wendell Dean Allen v. M. R. Schneckloth, Superintendent, California Conservation Center

This is an appeal from the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner was convicted of grand theft following jury trial in the California Superior Court for the County of San Francisco and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. His conviction was affirmed by the California District Court of Appeal and an application for hearing in the California Supreme Court was denied.

Petitioner then filed this petition for habeas corpus in the federal district court. It contained four allegations, as follows: (1) He was denied his right to a speedy trial under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments; (2) California Penal Code § 1387 is unconstitutional; (3) he was denied his right to a fair trial under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and (4) he was denied his Sixth and Fourteenth Amend ment right to effective representation by counsel at trial.

The district court, relying on the petition and the facts set out in it, denied it, stating as follows:

We agree with the result reached by the district court as to all of petitioner’s contentions but the third.

Petitioner alleged that he was denied due process when the trial court summarily denied his request,…