Willie James Byrd v. Joe S. Hopper, Warden, Georgia State Prison

AINSWORTH, Circuit Judge:

Appellant, Willie James Byrd, is a Georgia state prisoner serving a sixteen-year sentence imposed by the Superior Court of Fulton County on May 30, 1973, following conviction for three counts of armed robbery. Of the numerous alleged errors he propounds as grounds for the District Court’s dismissal of his petition for habeas corpus, only one warrants discussion here: his claim that he was denied due process because he was not present at the time of his sentencing.

At the time of his original trial, Byrd was admitted to bail; he was present when his case was called and…