Kenneth Robert Scarborough v. State of Arizona

Petitioner Kenneth Robert Scarborough was charged in the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona, with the offenses of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. He was convicted by a jury of both crimes and was sentenced to not less than eighteen or more than twenty-five years in the Arizona State Prison on the robbery charge and not less than five or more than ten years on the assault with a deadly weapon charge, both counts to run concurrently. On appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the petitioner’s conviction for robbery and reversed the conviction for assault with a deadly weapon. Two members of the five-judge Arizona court dissented, contending that Scarborough’s conviction for robbery should also be reversed. See State v. Scarborough, 110 Ariz. 1 , 514 P.2d 997 (1973). Thereupon, petitioner petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a Writ of Certiorari, which was subsequently denied without opinion. See Scarborough v. Arizona, 415 U.S. 1000 , 94 S.Ct. 1598 , 39 L.Ed.2d 892 (1974).

In June, 1974, petitioner then filed a petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Federal District Court. On August 15, 1974, the District Judge granted the relief requested…