Gerald Pate v. Ray Page, Warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary

PICKETT, Circuit Judge.

The petitioner, Gerald Pate, was convicted of murder in the State Court of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, and sentenced to death. The judgment and sentence was affirmed by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. 361 P.2d 1086, reh. denied 361 P.2d 1086. Following the affirmance, the District Court of Pittsburgh County, Oklahoma denied Pate’s application for a writ of habeas corpus. Thereafter, in a habeas corpus proceeding filed directly in the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the court considered the question of whether a confession made by the petitioner was…