Collingsworth v. Mayo, 12650.
| Decision Date | 04 April 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. 12650.,12650. |
| Citation | 173 F.2d 695 |
| Parties | COLLINGSWORTH v. MAYO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
No appearance for appellant.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen. of Florida, and Reeves Bowen, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Florida, for appellee.
Before SIBLEY, McCORD and WALLER, Circuit Judges.
Collingsworth, confined in the Florida State Prison, made his petition for the writ of habeas corpus, accompanied by a sworn application to be allowed to proceed in forma pauperis, to the district judge, complaining that he was arrested on a charge of armed robbery made by an information in a Florida State court, and held incarcerated for more than a month before trial and deprived of the right to communicate with or retain counsel; that when arraigned in court he requested time to procure and consult with counsel, and told the court that he was uneducated and incapable of defending himself, and his request was denied. It is alleged that he was in fact ignorant, uneducated and incapable of defending himself, is innocent, and his trial in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. An affidavit is exhibited from an attorney in effect that he represented a codefendant in the trial, but did not receive any money from the State or Collingsworth and was not defending Collingsworth. Affidavits from four other witnesses were exhibited to the effect that they were present at the trial and heard Collingsworth request of the court time to procure and consult with counsel, and state that he had been held prisoner and prevented from procuring counsel, and was uneducated and unable to defend himself, and that the court said in effect that the codefendant was represented by counsel and Collingsworth would not need counsel. It is further alleged that all available remedy in the State court has been exhausted, his appeal to the Supreme Court of Florida having been dismissed without hearing, his petition for habeas corpus in that court having been denied by an opinion rendered Sept. 28, 1948, 37 So.2d 696, and a motion for rehearing also denied. The cases of Wade v. Mayo, 334 U.S. 672, 68 S.Ct. 1270, and Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 53 S.Ct. 55, 77 L.Ed. 158, 84 A.L.R. 527, are pleaded as authority for discharge.
The district judge granted the application to proceed in forma pauperis but refused the writ of habeas corpus, ordering the opinion of the Supreme Court of Florida referred to in the petition, but not exhibited, to be filed as a part of the petition. He held: "The court having examined and considered said petition and supporting exhibits and the opinion of the Supreme Court of Florida dated Sept. 28, 1948, and it appearing that the grounds upon which petitioner relies for a writ in this court were fully considered by the Supreme Court of Florida in its said opinion and the facts stated in said petition being at variance with the true facts as found by the Supreme Court and said petition stating no other legal grounds for the issuance of the writ," it is denied.
It thus appears that the district judge relied wholly on the opinion of the Supreme Court of Florida as foreclosing enquiry in the federal court as to the truth...
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...v. State, 133 Tex.Cr.R. 300, 110 S.W.2d 578 (1937); Ferguson v. State, 133 Tex.Cr.R. 250, 110 S.W.2d 61 (1937). Cf. Collingsworth v. Mayo, 173 F.2d 695, 697 (CA5 1949); State v. Hollingsworth, 160 La. 26, 106 So. 662 (1925). But see People v. Manske, 399 Ill. 176, 77 N.E.2d 164 (1948). Cf. ......
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