Howard J. Kearns v. Harold v. Field, Warden

Kearns, petitioner, pled guilty to a charge of forgery. After being sentenced to prison, he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on the grounds that his guilty plea was made upon the promise of the district attorney to recommend probation and such recommendation was, in fact, never made.

The district court denied the petition which was appealed. The court of appeals reversed and remanded the case. The order stated: “Upon remand, the District Court will ascertain if the promised recommendation was made, and if not, it will grant habeas corpus relief unless California does, within thirty days from the issuance of this judgment, afford Kearns an opportunity to withdraw his plea of guilty.” id. at 69.

Pursuant to the mandate an eviden-tiary hearing was held. At the hearing the district attorney argued that the court must first determine whether there was an agreement between petitioner and the district attorney. The court refused to consider evidence on this subject stating that the only issue for determination was whether or not the recommendation had been made. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court found in favor of the petitioner.

Respondent has appealed to this…