Pierce v. Page, 8609.

Decision Date01 August 1966
Docket NumberNo. 8609.,8609.
Citation362 F.2d 534
PartiesKenneth Alvis PIERCE, Appellant, v. Ray H. PAGE, Warden, and the State of Oklahoma, Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

James R. Schmitt, Wichita, Kan., for appellant.

Charles L. Owens, Tulsa, Okl. (Charles Nesbitt, Atty. Gen. of Oklahoma, on brief), for appellees.

Before MURRAH, Chief Judge, and PHILLIPS and LEWIS, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner Pierce appeals from an order dismissing his application for writ of habeas corpus. He was tried and convicted by a jury and sentenced to ten years in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary for burglary second degree after former conviction of a felony. The conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal and two petitions for rehearing denied. Pierce v. State, Okl.Cr.App., 383 P.2d 699. After petition for writ of habeas corpus was denied in the state court, Pierce filed this application alleging that he was not afforded a constitutionally guaranteed fair trial.

Complaint is made of the exclusion from the evidence of six documents which petitioner contends went to the basic defense of insanity. He also complains of the instructions of the court on the penalty to be assessed and of numerous incidents during the trial which he says demonstrates that it was conducted in an air of prejudice and partiality. The federal trial court denied the writ without a hearing based upon a reading of the opinion of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and a review of the case-made in that court.

It seems redundant to say again that habeas corpus is not available to review errors in criminal cases. "The function of the great writ * * * `is to test by way of an original civil proceeding, independent of the normal channels of review of criminal judgments, the very gravest allegations. State prisoners are entitled to relief on federal habeas corpus only upon proving that their detention violates the fundamental liberties of the person, safeguarded against state action by the Federal Constitution.'" See Hickock v. Crouse, 10 Cir., 334 F.2d 95, 100, cert. denied 379 U.S. 982, 85 S.Ct. 689, 13 L.Ed.2d 572, reh. denied 380 U.S. 928, 85 S.Ct. 908, 13 L.Ed.2d 817, quoting Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 311-312, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770; see also Poulson v. Turner, 10 Cir., 359 F.2d 588.

It is strenuously argued on appeal, as in the trial court, that any one of the errors complained of is of sufficient gravity to deprive petiti...

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14 cases
  • Gillihan v. Rodriguez
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • February 28, 1977
    ...Oklahoma, 404 F.2d 1092, 1095 (10th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 938, 89 S.Ct. 1218, 22 L.Ed.2d 470 (1969); Pierce v. Page, 362 F.2d 534 (10th Cir. 1966) (per curiam). VII. Appellant's Claim that the Trial Court Erred in Admitting into Evidence Certain In his final contention appellan......
  • Bromley v. Crisp
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • September 2, 1977
    ...(emphasis added), and any error of State law in applying the statute would not be cognizable in a federal habeas suit. Pierce v. Page, 362 F.2d 534, 535 (10th Cir.). However, Garner's counsel points out that a State three-judge district court panel held § 1101A invalid in November 1971, pri......
  • Brinlee v. Crisp
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • November 1, 1979
    ...of the case-made cited we are convinced that appellant was not denied the rudimentary requirements of a fair trial. Pierce v. Page, 362 F.2d 534, 536 (10th Cir.). Unless they amount to constitutional violations, prejudicial comments and conduct by a judge in a criminal trial are not proper ......
  • Bradshaw v. State of Oklahoma
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Oklahoma
    • February 25, 1975
    ...of the State of Colorado, 425 F. 2d 1165 (CA10 1970). It is not available to review mere trial errors in criminal cases. Pierce v. Page, 362 F.2d 534 (CA10 1965). The petitioner's complaints lettered R, S, T, U, and V, all relate to alleged defects in the state post conviction proceedings. ......
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