John Wellington Johnson v. Walter E. Craven, Warden

Petitioner, a state prisoner, was convicted in 1963 of two counts of unlawful sale of heroin. The California Supreme Court vacated the judgment and sentence as to count two on the ground that petitioner’s conduct constituted a single offense. In re Johnson, 65 Cal.2d 393 , 54 Cal.Rptr. 873 , 420 P.2d 393 (1966). In 1967 he filed the petition for a writ of habeas corpus (which we now have) in the Eastern District of California. The district court held a lengthy evidentiary hearing and then denied petitioner’s application for relief.

The record of the state court proceedings shows that petitioner was arrested after making a heroin sale to an undercover narcotics agent. Following interrogation at the police station, he was taken to the motel where he and his wife were staying. He consented to having his room searched and during this search the petitioner’s wife accompanied the police to his car and gave her consent to a search of the car. In this search the police discovered a piece of paper toweling similar to that in which the heroin had been wrapped.

At his state trial the petitioner testified. He denied that he sold the heroin to the undercover agent. According to his version…