Dale Leroy Daniels v. Louis S. Nelson, Warden

Daniels was convicted in a California state court under 5 counts of an information charging rape committed upon his daughter (2 counts), incest with his daughter (2 counts), and incest between his wife and his son under his compulsion (1 count). He now appeals from a denial of his petition to the United States District Court for a writ of ha-beas corpus. The district court denied the writ without a hearing on the ground that Daniels had not exhausted his remedies in the California courts.

In an amended petition Daniels stated eight grounds for the granting of the writ. His counsel concedes that six of them were never presented to the California courts. The facts as to the other two are these:

1. Involuntary confession. Daniels was arrested in the evening, and early the next morning he was interviewed by a police officer who gave him a full statement of his constitutional rights. Daniels declined to answer any questions. He was then told by the officer that his wife, daughter and son were in custody under possible charges of incest and that his other six minor children were being held in the juvenile hall. The officer testified that he made no promises to Daniels and that…