Steve S. Watson v. United States

RONEY, Circuit Judge:

We hold that Peters v. Kiff, 407 U.S. 493, 92 S.Ct. 2163, 33 L.Ed.2d 83 (1972), is not to be applied retroactively. The Supreme Court there held that a white person indicted and convicted by juries from which black persons were systematically excluded is entitled to have the conviction set aside without a showing of actual bias.

Steve S. Watson, a white male, was convicted of rape on a Government reservation (18 U.S.C.A. § 457 (1940 ed.) now 18 U.S.C.A. § 2031) in 1947 and sentenced to life imprisonment. In this 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 motion to vacate his sentence and set…