Stanley Carl Rhinehart v. J. B. Gunn, Warden

In 1970, Rhinehart was convicted in the California state court of two counts of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. The California Supreme Court affirmed but, consistent with court policy at that time, reduced the sentence of death to a sentence of life imprisonment. People v. Rhinehart, 9 Cal.3d 139 , 107 Cal.Rptr. 34 , 507 P.2d 642 (1973). One of the issues raised on that appeal was Rhinehart’s claim that he had improperly been denied the right to represent himself. The California Supreme Court held that there had been no abuse of discretion and rejected the claim of error.

Following the decision in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 , 95 S.Ct. 2525 , 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), Rhinehart renewed his attack by filing an application for a writ of habeas corpus, contending that his rights under Faretta had been denied. The California Supreme Court, which has consistently taken the view that Faretta is not to be applied retroactively , denied the writ without comment, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. Some months later, Rhinehart moved his attack to the United States District Court with Faretta , and its possible retroactivity, dominating the…