Steve Minor v. Hoyt C. Cupp, Warden, Oregon State Penitentiary

Steve Minor, a prisoner of the state of Oregon, filed this application for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court denied the application on the ground that Minor had deliberately bypassed his state remedies. On appeal Minor argues that, under the circumstances, he was justified in bypassing his state remedies. We hold this argument to be without merit, and affirm.

An Oregon court convicted Minor of second degree murder on December 2, 1948, and the trial judge sentenced him to life imprisonment. The Oregon parole board released Minor on parole on December 30, 1955. About a year later another Oregon court convicted him of rape, committed while on parole, and that trial judge sentenced him to ten years imprisonment. The state parole board thereupon revoked the parole.

In March, 1962, Minor filed a petition under the Oregon Post-Conviction Relief Act, challenging his rape conviction. There was an unconscionable delay in the disposition of this proceeding, for which the state is largely responsible. In September, 1966, a state court dismissed that proceeding, without prejudice, for lack of prosecution. Shortly thereafter, Minor petitioned an Oregon state court for relief under…