Richard Eugene Founts v. Edwin T. Pogue, Warden, Nevada State Prison

Appellant, convicted of robbery, attempted robbery, and kidnapping, appeals from an order denying a petition for writ of habeas corpus. This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2253 .

In April, 1968, one Keough, owner of a barber shop in Reno, Nevada, was kidnapped in a parking lot outside his shop, forced to drive to a remote location, and then robbed. In September, 1969, the same barber shop was robbed by two men. The owner and two other barbers were the victims of the September robbery.

The two incidents were severed for trial. The second (September 1969) robbery of the barber shop was tried first, in March, 1970 and appellant and his co-defendant were each convicted by jury in the Washoe County District Court of two counts of armed robbery and one count of attempted robbery.

The first robbery, including the kidnapping (April 1969), was tried second, in April, 1970, also by jury and in the same court, and appellant was convicted of one count of robbery and one count of kidnapping.

Appellant was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for each robbery count and to 7 years for the attempted robbery, the four sentences to run consecutively, and to life imprisonment…

I concur with the majority on all issues but one. I would hold that petitioner did not receive adequate assistance of counsel in the state post-conviction hearing.

At the beginning of petitioner’s direct testimony at that hearing, his attorney suggested that petitioner proceed by going through the petition for post-conviction relief himself; counsel did nothing more than assist petitioner in reading and summarizing the petition. Counsel was not prepared to do more. He had not looked at the trial transcripts prior to the hearing. He apparently did not understand the nature and purpose of the proceeding.

Although the principal purpose of the hearing was to determine if petitioner’s trial counsel rendered effective assistance, petitioner was compelled to conduct most of the cross-examination of his trial counsel without the assistance of an attorney. In consequence, the facts on this central issue were not adequately developed.

Petitioner may not have had a strong case, but he was entitled to a fair chance to present it. That he did not have.

532 F.2d 1232 Richard Eugene FOUNTS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Edwin T. POGUE, Warden, Nevada State Prison, Respondent-Appellee. No. 74-1470. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Feb. 20, 1976. 1 John D. Hickman, San Francisco, Cal., for petitioner-appellant. 2 Robert F. List, Atty. Gen., Carson City, Nev., for respondent-appellee. OPINION 3 Before BROWNING and TRASK, Circuit Judges, and SWEIGERT, * District Judge. SWEIGERT, District Judge: 4 Appellant, convicted of robbery, attempted robbery, and kidnapping, appeals from an order denying a petition for writ of habeas corpus. This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2253 . 5 In April, 1968, one Keough, owner of a barber shop in Reno, Nevada, was kidnapped in a parking lot outside his shop, forced to drive to a remote location, and then robbed. In September, 1969, the same barber shop was robbed by two men. The owner and two other barbers were the victims of the September robbery. 6 The two incidents were severed for trial. The second (September 1969) robbery of the barber shop was tried first, in March, 1970 and appellant and his co-defendant were each convicted by jury in the Washoe County District Court of two…