Caraway v. Beto, 27454.

Decision Date21 January 1970
Docket NumberNo. 27454.,27454.
PartiesConnie Ray CARAWAY, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Dr. George J. BETO, Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Crawford C. Martin, Atty. Gen. of Texas, Nola White, First Asst. Atty. Gen., Hawthorne Phillips, Executive Asst. Atty. Gen., W. V. Geppert, Staff Legal Asst. Atty. Gen., Robert C. Flowers, Jo Betsy Lewallen, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for respondent-appellant.

Connie Ray Caraway, pro se.

Vincent W. Perini (court-appointed), Richard S. Geiger, Dallas, Tex., for petitioner-appellee.

Before THORNBERRY, GODBOLD and MORGAN, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from a decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granting petitioner's application for writ of habeas corpus. On January 24, 1966, after a trial by jury, petitioner was found guilty of the charge of robbery with firearms and was sentenced to forty years imprisonment. On the same day, he pleaded guilty to the charge of attempt to commit robbery and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, the sentence to run concurrently with the previous conviction. The attempted robbery took place eight days after the armed robbery. After exhausting his state remedies, petitioner applied for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court. Petitioner alleged that his robbery conviction was the result of (1) illegal arrest, (2) ineffective counsel, and (3) denial of certain rights prior to and during the trial. With respect to the attempted robbery conviction, petitioner alleged that his guilty plea was coerced.

The district court found that petitioner was not coerced to plead guilty to the attempted robbery charge and denied petitioner's application for writ of habeas corpus in that cause. That decision is not before this Court. With respect to the conviction for armed robbery, the district court found that petitioner was denied effective assistance of counsel and therefore granted his application for writ of habeas corpus in that cause. The court's order directed that petitioner be released from custody on this charge unless the state afforded him a new trial within sixty days. The state appeals the court's granting of the writ of habeas corpus. We affirm.

In its findings of fact, the district court found that petitioner's appointed counsel visited petitioner only once, and that merely three days before the trial. Even then, the conference between client and attorney lasted just fifteen minutes; possible defenses were not discussed, only the advisability of pleading guilty. The court further found that counsel did not ask petitioner if he wished to subpoena any witnesses in the robbery case and did not interview any witnesses listed on the back of the indictment nor any witnesses suggested by petitioner prior to putting them on the stand. Counsel made no objection to exhibits offered by the prosecution in the robbery case, consisting of a hat, coat and gun and artices found in a car, all on the occasion of the attempted robbery. The district court found that these exhibits were irrelevant, prejudicial and improperly identified. The court also found that approximately half of the testimony introduced in the robbery case dealt with...

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43 cases
  • United States v. DeCoster
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit
    • 4 Octubre 1973
    ...180, 476 F.2d 1127, 1135 (1973). See also United States ex rel. Kent v. Maroney, 435 F.2d 1020 (3rd Cir. 1970); Caraway v. Beto, 421 F.2d 636 (5th Cir. 1970); United States ex rel. Williams v. Follette, 408 F.2d 658, 660 (2d Cir. 1969), rev'd on other grounds sub nom., McMann v. Richardson,......
  • West v. State of Louisiana
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 5 Septiembre 1973
    ...Director, argued and submitted on March 13, 1973. 9 See also Pennington v. Beto, 5 Cir. 1971, 437 F.2d 1281, 1285-1286; Caraway v. Beto, 5 Cir. 1970, 421 F.2d 636, 637; Brown v. Beto, 5 Cir. 1967, 377 F.2d 950, 957-958; cf. Williams v. United States, 5 Cir. 1971, 443 F.2d 1151; United State......
  • Washington v. Watkins
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 14 Septiembre 1981
    ...services accorded defendant was so poor that he did not have an opportunity to present his side of the story); Caraway v. Beto, 421 F.2d 636, 637 (5th Cir. 1970) (per curiam) (precise steps taken by defendant's attorney in investigating and preparing case); Washington v. Smith, 417 F.2d 301......
  • Davis v. State of Ala.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 13 Junio 1979
    ...King v. Beto, 429 F.2d 221, 224 (5th Cir. 1970), Cert. denied, 401 U.S. 936, 91 S.Ct. 921, 28 L.Ed.2d 216 (1971); Caraway v. Beto, 421 F.2d 636, 637-38 (5th Cir. 1970). Davis's attorneys made practically no efforts to develop such information. This is undisputed. Davis had relatives in Cali......
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1 books & journal articles
  • Ensuring the ethical representation of clients in the face of excessive caseloads.
    • United States
    • Missouri Law Review Vol. 75 No. 3, June 2010
    • 22 Junio 2010
    ...all circuits adopting the "farce and mockery" standard). (24.) McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771 n.14 (1970). (25.) Caraway v. Beto, 421 F.2d 636, 637 (5th Cir. 1970) (per curiam) (emphasis (26.) 487 F.2d 1197, 1202 (D.C. Cir. 1973). (27.) The Second Circuit was the last federal circu......

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