Clyde S. Tannahill v. State of Arizona, Frank A. Eyman, Warden, Arizona State Penitentiary

The appellant, Frank A. Eyman, Warden, Arizona State Penitentiary, appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, granting appellee Clyde S. Tannahill’s petition for habeas corpus, which stated that execution of the writ was stayed for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days from date of the order, and ordered that the case be remanded to the jurisdiction of the State of Arizona for a new trial within said period, or until the further order of the court.

The history of prior proceedings in this case in the courts of Arizona may be briefly stated. On October 15, 1963, Tannahill was convicted, after trial to a jury, of the crimes of incest and attempted incest. Tannahill appealed from the judgment of conviction to the Court of Appeals of Arizona on the ground that the confession received in evidence during the trial was involuntary. The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had not made a preliminary finding of voluntariness as required in Jackson v. Denno (1964) 378 U.S. 368 , 84 S.Ct. 1774 , 12 L.Ed.2d 908 , and remanded the case to the trial court with instructions to hold a voluntariness hearing. State of Arizona v. Tannahill,…