United States v. Patricia Campbell Hearst

Hearst appeals the district court’s denial, without discovery or a hearing, of her motion for “habeas corpus,” 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . We affirm in part and vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings.

I. Introduction

Hearst was arrested in September 1975 for bank robbery. Soon after, she made incriminating statements, which were captured by jail officials on the “Tobin tape,” in a jailhouse interview with her friend Tobin. F. Lee Bailey and his associate J. Albert Johnson entered the case on October 2 as Hearst’s counsel and prepared a defense based on a coercion theory. They did not move for a change of venue or for a continuance on the ground of pretrial publicity, choosing instead to rely on the voir dire of the prospective jurors. Their motion to suppress the Tobin tape was denied. Trial began in February 1976. Bailey put Hearst on the witness stand; she took the Fifth Amendment in the presence of the jury. Hearst was convicted on March 20. Her motions for a new trial were denied. She took an unsuccessful appeal, and certiorari was denied. 563 F.2d 1331 (9th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 1000 , 98 S.Ct. 1656 , 56 L.Ed.2d 90 (1978). Bailey and Johnson were fired, and…