Autar Edward Nauton v. Walter E. Craven, Warden

Appellant Nauton, a California state prisoner, petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that damaging evidence introduced at his state court trial for robbery was obtained in violation of the federal wiretap statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq. The district court summarily dismissed the petition on the ground that Nauton had not exhausted his state remedies as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (b). Nauton appeals.

In his petition, Nauton alleged that, following his arrest for two of the robberies with which he was charged, he was permitted to place a telephone call from a pay telephone in the Sacramento County Jail; that a police officer, positioned nearby behind a screen, monitored his conversation by listening in on an extension phone; that he (Nauton) made several incriminating statements during the conversation; that the officer testified to the substance of those statements at his trial; and that he (Nauton) objected to the admission of that testimony based on the constitutional right of privacy.

We conclude that the district court erred in denying the habeas petition on non-exhaustion grounds.

Although at his trial Nauton had not stated the…