Daniel L. Ames, Sr. v. Roger v. Endell, Commissioner of Corrections for the State of Alaska
Opinion
Opinion
Noonan, J.
Daniel L. Ames, Sr. brought a habeas corpus petition seeking release from confinement by the State of Alaska on the grounds that he had been denied effective assistance of counsel at his trial and on appeal. The district court gave judgment for the state. Ames appeals. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
On October 30, 1981 Ames drove 140 miles from Anchorage to Talkeetna to pick up his boss, James Boyle, and Boyle’s wife, Joanne, and return with them to Anchorage. Ames was driving a pickup truck that belonged to James Boyle. He frequently used the truck because Boyle had eye problems and did not drive himself.
Later in the day Ames and Boyle went into Talkeetna and by chance met a stranger, Rodney Hardy. The three men spent several hours together driving around town locating firewood and loading it into the pickup, which Ames continued to drive. All three men were drinking peppermint schnapps.
When they were ready to return to Anchorage, Ames drove to the cabin where Boyle and his wife had been staying. Ames and Boyle loaded the pickup. Hardy talked with a man named Clifford Tollef-sen. Tollefsen noticed the Boyles getting into the pickup on the passenger side with Rodney Hardy in the…