Harrison v. Skeen, 430-F.
| Decision Date | 22 November 1954 |
| Docket Number | No. 430-F.,430-F. |
| Citation | 125 F. Supp. 547 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of West Virginia |
| Parties | Oscar A. HARRISON, Petitioner, v. Orel J. SKEEN, Warden, West Virginia Penitentiary, Respondent. |
Russell L. Furbee, Fairmont, W. Va., for plaintiff.
John G. Fox, Atty. Gen., and Harry A. Bangert, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant.
This is the second petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed in this court by the petitioner, a state prisoner who is serving a life sentence in the West Virginia Penitentiary for murder, which sentence was imposed by the Circuit Court of Wayne County, West Virginia, on December 31, 1947. At his trial in the state court he was represented by two attorneys. In this proceeding he has asked the court to appoint counsel for him, which request has been granted. The respondent filed an answer to the petition, and a hearing was had upon the issues raised by the petition and answer.
The first petition filed by petitioner in this court was dismissed on August 10, 1953, because petitioner failed to show that he had exhausted the remedies available to him in the state courts. Harrison v. Skeen, D.C.N.D.W.Va., 114 F.Supp. 695. On August 18, 1953, petitioner filed his petition for a certificate of probable cause, which was denied. Harrison v. Skeen, D.C.N.D.W.Va., 114 F.Supp. 696. No appeal was taken. He has now filed this second petition alleging the same grounds, but in addition has alleged some new assignments of error in his trial in the state court.
The petitioner has filed with his present petition a certified copy of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. An examination of those two petitions shows that the same grounds urged in the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia are now relied upon here. However, there is no allegation that petitioner has ever sought a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court from the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, and it appears from the record in the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia that no such application for certiorari was made.
The petition must be dismissed for the following reasons:
1. Petitioner has failed to show that he has exhausted remedies available to him in the state court. In order to exhaust his state remedies the petitioner must have applied to the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to the decision of the state court. Darr v. Burford, 339 U.S. 200, 70 S.Ct. 587, 94 L.Ed. 761; Bradley v. Skeen, D.C. N.D.W.Va., 114 F.Supp. 697. The petition under consideration...
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Harrison v. Boles
...thereafter applied to the Supreme Court of the United States for writ of certiorari. The District Court dismissed the writ on November 22, 1954 (125 F.Supp. 547) on the ground that the prisoner had not exhausted his state remedies and also on the ground that the errors of which he complaine......
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United States v. Skeen, Civ. A. No. 741.
...Court of the United States for writ of certiorari where the Supreme Court of the state has denied his petition. Harrison v. Skeen, D.C.N.D.W.Va.1954, 125 F. Supp. 547, appeal dismissed 4 Cir., 1955, 226 F.2d 217; Bradley v. Skeen, D.C. N.D.W.Va.1954, 125 F.Supp. 844, appeal dismissed 4 Cir.......
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Black v. Ellis, 18161.
...of the Court of Criminal Appeals on February 12, 1959, and, therefore, he has not exhausted his state remedies. See Harrison v. Skeer (Skeen), D.C. W.Va.1954, 125 F.Supp. 547, appeal dismissed 4 Cir., 226 F.2d 217; Johnson v. Dye, D.C.Pa.1950, 94 F. Supp. A painstaking examination of this c......