State ex rel. Cephas v. Boles, 12419
| Decision Date | 01 June 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 12419,12419 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE ex rel. Henry CEPHAS v. Otto C. BOLES, Warden, West Virginia Penitentiary. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Where the allegations of a petition in a habeas corpus proceeding are not supported by any evidence or the evidence clearly refutes the allegations, the petitioner will be remanded to the custody of the defendant.
2. A decision of the United States District Court is final and conclusive in a habeas corpus proceeding in a state court by virtue of the doctrine of res judicata, when such decision involved identical parties and determined identical questions.
Robert B. Sayre, Beckley, for relator.
C. Donald Robertson, Atty. Gen., George H. Mitchell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Charleston, for respondent.
This is an original habeas corpus proceeding instituted in this Court in January, 1965. The petitioner, Henry Cephas, who is presently confined in the state penitentiary under a life sentence imposed upon him by the Criminal Court of Raleigh County, seeks a writ to require the defendant, Otto C. Boles, Warden of the West Virginia Penitentiary, to release him from such confinement.
On January 25, 1965, this Court awarded a writ returnable February 23, 1965, at which time this proceeding was continued to April 27, 1965. Upon the latter date this matter was heard and submitted for decision upon the petition and its exhibits, the demurrer and return, with its exhibits, filed by the defendant, and upon the written briefs and oral arguments in behalf of the respective parties. Counsel was appointed by this Court to represent the petitioner in this proceeding.
Henry Cephas was indicted by the grand jury of Raleigh County during the October term, 1941, of the criminal court thereof, for the crime of statutory rape. Upon arraignment, he entered a plea of not guilty. Thereafter the petitioner was afforded a jury trial, at the conclusion of which he was found guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In this proceeding the petitioner contends that his constitutional rights have been violated and that the sentence under which he is presently confined is therefore void. Specifically, he charges that he was not afforded the assistance of counsel in his trial in Raleigh County and that the prison authorities did not permit him to pursue an appeal from his conviction.
An examination of the exhibits filed with the defendant's Return clearly reveals that the allegation of the petitioner that he was denied the assistance of counsel is entirely false and furnishes no basis for meritorious consideration hare. After numerous petitions of this petitioner were refused by this Court, he filed a like a petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. In that proceeding the judge of said court afforded the petitioner a full and complete hearing. Therein it was unequivocally proved that the petitioner, at his trial in Raleigh County, not only employed counsel but that the court appointed another attorney to assist in his defense. The petition was denied, the judge in his memorandum opinion, filed as an...
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State ex rel. Harrison v. Coiner
...judicata, when such decision involved identical parties and determined identical questions.' Point 2 Syllabus, State ex rel. Cephas v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 537 (142 S.E.2d 463). 3. 'An unreversed judgment which remands the petitioner after a hearing in a habeas corpus proceeding is conclusive u......
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Hawks v. Cox
...has been made by a federal court. State ex rel. Beckett v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 112, 138 S.E.2d 851, 857 (1964); State ex rel. Cephas v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 537, 142 S.E.2d 463 (1965). While our statute has not been directly construed, there are several cases which must be reviewed in considering ......
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Pettry v. Boles
...v. Boles, W. Va., 151 S.E.2d 110 (1966); State ex rel. Thompson v. Boles, W.Va., 151 S.E.2d 112 (1966); and State ex rel. Cephas v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 537, 142 S.E.2d 463 (1965). The failure of a criminal defendant to comply with the provisions of West Virginia Code, 1931, Section 58-5-4, as ......
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State v. Shawyer, 12814
...the judgment stands unreversed and is a Principles of res judicata are applicable to habeas corpus proceedings. State ex rel. Cephas v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 537, 142 S.E.2d 463; State ex rel. Beckett v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 112, 138 S.E.2d The trial court, in granting the second revocation of proba......