Irvin Russell Jones v. H. C. Cupp, Warden, Oregon State Penitentiary

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court denying petitioner’s application for a writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner contends that the district court should have granted the writ because (1) his guilty plea to second-degree murder was induced by an allegedly coerced confession, (2) the plea was induced by a promise of leniency, and (3) the State of Oregon has arbitrarily refused to apply a 1963 reduction in the penalty for second-degree murder to his 1941 conviction. We affirm.

The murder which gave rise to the conviction occurred on the night of July 17, 1941, in The Dalles, Oregon. Petitioner was arrested two days later at his parents’ home in Canby. Following a police interrogation which lasted approximately nine hours, petitioner gave a complete confession to the crime.

He was charged with first-degree murder, a charge which, at that time, carried a death penalty unless the jury recommended life imprisonment. On September 4, 1941, after petitioner had not heard from his retained counsel, the state trial court appointed counsel to represent him. Two weeks later petitioner and his appointed counsel appeared in court and tendered a plea of guilty to…