Smith v. Yeager

This petition for a writ of certiorari presents the question whether petitioner’s relinquishment of an evidentiary hearing in a federal habeas corpus proceeding taking place prior to Townsend v. Sain, 372 U. S. 293, bars him from obtaining such a hearing on a subsequent application made after Townsend was decided.

In 1957, petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder in a New Jersey court, and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the conviction, State v. Smith, 27 N. J. 433, 142 A. 2d 890, and subsequently affirmed the denial of a motion for a new trial. State v.…