In re Johnson

Ove Johnson, an inmate of Folsom State Prison, seeks habeas corpus, alleging constitutional defects in the 1953 proceeding leading to his plea of guilty and conviction on two counts of armed robbery. This is one of several cases in which we issued an order to show cause on the petitioner’s claim that he had made a judicial confession of guilt in the course of his preliminary examination without a prior waiver of counsel. (In re Van Brunt, 242 Cal.App.2d 96 [ 51 Cal.Rptr. 136 ]; In re Grayson, 242 Cal.App.2d 110 [ 51 Cal.Rptr. 145 ] ; In re Kelly, 242 Cal.App.2d 115 [ 51 Cal.Rptr. 148 ].)

Before his present application, petitioner sought habeas corpus in the Sacramento Superior Court in September 1964 and February 1965. Both petitions were rejected. He now alleges that in the preliminary proceedings in the Justice Court of the Walnut Creek Judicial District, Contra Costa County, he was not informed of his right to legal counsel, did not waive it and was induced by the prosecutor’s threats and promises to confess guilt at his preliminary examination; that his superior court plea of guilty, in turn, was the product of the invalid confession at his preliminary examination.

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