OWENS, Chief Judge:
Since 1867 — some one-hundred sixteen years — on account of laws passed by Congress, 28 U.S.C. § 2241, et seq., it has been the responsibility of United States District Courts to consider and decide petitions for writs of habeas corpus filed by state prisoners alleging that they are in custody because of having been tried and convicted in violation of their rights derived from the Constitution or laws of the United States. Some call the performance of this terrible duty "interference by federal courts" in the affairs of the States. Those who are better informed recognize that deciding state habeas cases is just one of many distasteful tasks that Congress has assigned to state citizens serving as United States District Judges and that must be performed by United States District Judges regardless of their personal likes or dislikes.
Pursuant to those laws passed by Congress this petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus contending that his conviction for the brutal slaying of his 15-year-old niece and the sentence of death imposed by a jury of his peers should be overturned because of constitutional deficiencies. Pursuant to those same laws passed by Congress, it is this judge's responsibility to determine whether or not petitioner has been constitutionally convicted and sentenced to die.
The Supreme Court of the United States in 1976 found that the death penalty "does not invariably violate the United States Constitution," 428 U.S. at 169, 96 S.Ct. at 2923, and that Georgia's statutory procedure for determining whether or not the death penalty should be imposed in a particular case is constitutional. Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859. In so holding, the Supreme Court, among other things, stated:
"... capital punishment is an expression of society's moral outrage at particularly offensive conduct. This function may be unappealing to many, but it is essential in an ordered society that asks its citizens to rely on legal processes rather than self-help to vindicate their wrongs.
`The instinct for retribution is part of the nature of man, and channeling that instinct in the administration of criminal justice serves an important purpose in promoting the stability of a society governed by law. When people begin to believe that organized society is unwilling or unable to impose upon criminal offenders the punishment they "deserve," then there are sown the seeds of anarchy — of self-help, vigilante justice, and lynch law.' Furman v. Georgia, supra, 408 U.S. 238 at 308, 33 L.Ed.2d 346, 92 S.Ct. 2726 2769 (Stewart, J., concurring).
`Retribution is no longer the dominant objective of the criminal law,' Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241, 248, 93, 1337, 69 S.Ct. 1079 1084 (1949), but neither is it a forbidden objective nor one inconsistent with our respect for the dignity of men. Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S., at 394-395, 33 L.Ed.2d 346, 92 S.Ct. 2726 2806 (Burger, C.J., dissenting); id., at 452-454, 33 L.Ed.2d 346, 92 S.Ct. 2726 2835-2836 (Powell, J., dissenting); Powell v. Texas, 392 U.S. 514 at 531, 535-536, 20 L.Ed.2d 1254, 88 S.Ct. 2145 2153, 2155-2156. Indeed, the decision that capital punishment may be the appropriate sanction in extreme cases is an expression of the community's belief that certain crimes are themselves so grievous an affront to humanity that the only adequate response may be the penalty of death."
Pursuant to the identical statutory procedure found to be constitutional in Gregg, petitioner was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in the Superior Court of Franklin County, Georgia. He appealed his conviction and sentence to the Supreme Court of Georgia. In affirming the conviction and sentence of death the Supreme Court of Georgia first summarized the evidence heard by petitioner's jury:
"From the evidence presented at trial, the jury was authorized to find the following facts:
"The appellant, a 56-year-old male, was the uncle of the victim's mother. He was well acquainted with the victim's family. The victim's father and the appellant had hunted and fished together often. He has socialized with the victim's family on many occasions, and had worked with the victim's brother. He had developed a close relationship with all the members of the family, including the victim, a 15 year old high school student.
"Approximately three months prior to the murder, the appellant had been told by the victim's mother to stay away from the victim. The mother testified that the appellant `seemed a little too interested in her.' The victim was also told to stay away from the appellant. In response, the appellant ceased visiting the family but continued to see the victim's father and brother at their places of employment.
"The appellant had promised to buy the victim an expensive car. They had looked at the car together. On the 14th of May, the appellant had signed a purchase order. He had asked for a delay in delivery in order to get funds from a Texas bank. It was later established at trial that the appellant did not have such an account.
"On the morning of the murder, the appellant drove the victim and her friend, Tammy Lee Dickerson, to school. He talked to the victim alone in the car for a few minutes after her friend went into the school. The victim was last seen alive leaving school at approximately 3:15 p.m.
"At approximately 4:45 p.m., the appellant came into the victim's brother's place of employment and told him he had `lost' his sister. The victim's brother noticed that appellant was frightened, nervous, and had cuts on his hands and scratches on his face.
"The appellant explained that he had picked up the victim after school, and had taken her to the courthouse to get her birth certificate, which was required to enable her to obtain a learner's driving permit. He testified that she went into the courthouse but didn't come out, and although he had looked for her, she was missing.
"The victim's brother then began to search for his sister. The appellant had the victim's brother drive him to see a classmate of the victim. Appellant asked her whether the victim was in a good mood that day. Thereafter, the appellant went to the victim's father and, in tears, told him the same story. In response the victim's father told the appellant that, `You knowed you wasn't suppose to pick her up,' and the appellant replied, `Yeah, I'll never bother her again, I'll never buy her nothing else.'
"It was established that the victim's mother had gotten the victim a birth certificate and learner's permit the day prior to the murder.
"The victim's brother accompanied by Tammy Lee Dickerson and another young female continued to search for the victim. He had gone to the appellant's house, but finding no one home had not entered. Later, the victim's brother and his companions returned to the appellant's house. He found a note on the back door which read, `Gone to Anderson. Garnett.' The victim's brother then broke into the house through the front door. He found the front room and kitchen in an unusually neat and clean condition.
"The victim's friend, Tammy Lee Dickerson, found the victim's body upon entering a bedroom. The victim had been beaten and stabbed to death. Her clothes were in disarray, so that she was partially nude. The body had been wrapped in a sheet of black plastic in such a manner that only the upper torso was exposed.
"The local authorities were immediately notified. Close examination of the crime scene revealed bloodstains on the kitchen cabinets, door and ceiling. Attempts had been made to remove them. A mop, towels and male clothing were found with bloodstains on them. The defendant's watch, with bloodstains on the band, was also found. The bloodstains were of the same international blood type as that of the victim. A metal pipe belonging to the appellant was recovered and subsequently determined to be the weapon used to beat the victim.
"The appellant was arrested that night as he drove through Hartwell, Georgia. The officers found a loaded pistol under the seat of appellant's car and the appellant later made the statement that `if he's of known that the Hartwell Police would-had've done a good job of it and shot him, that he would've pulled his pistol up.'
"The appellant testified in his defense. He repeated the statement he told the victim's brother and father. He further testified that he later returned home and found the victim lying face down and fully clothed in his kitchen; that he tried to wipe the blood from her face but became sick; that although he did not know if the victim was dead or alive he did not call anyone but instead left to go to his sister's house in Hartwell, Georgia, to tell her." Cape v. State, 246 Ga. 520, 272 S.E.2d 487 (1980).
and then proceeded, among other things, to review petitioner's sentence in the manner required by the statute found in Gregg to be constitutional. In so doing the Supreme Court of Georgia stated:
