Gary D. Gardner v. Edwin Pogue, Warden, Nevada State Penitentiary

This is an appeal from a federal district court’s denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Because the district court failed to comply with the requirements of Rule 22(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure by issuing either a certificate of probable cause or a statement of its reasons for declining to grant one, we lack jurisdiction to hear the appeal. We remand the case for a determination consistent with this rule.

I.

On November 7, 1967, appellant pleaded guilty to the crime of second degree murder, and on December 20, 1967, a Nevada State District Court sentenced him to a 99-year prison term. On May 25, 1973, appellant filed a petition for post-conviction relief in the District Court of the State of Nevada. He alleged that his plea was coerced by threats to prosecute his family, that the State of Nevada obtained a confession from him by illegal interrogation methods, and that the state did not fulfill the promises it made in exchange for his guilty plea. On November 29, 1973, after a post-conviction evidentiary hearing at which petitioner was represented by counsel, the court denied his petition, and on July 10, 1975, the Supreme Court of Nevada affirmed…