Frank George Prantil v. State of California

Frank George Prantil, a California state prisoner, appeals the district court’s summary dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

I

Prantil, formerly an attorney in California, was introduced to Daryl Bell by his client Melvin Goins. Prantil agreed to represent Bell on a criminal charge. A few weeks later a woman purporting to be Bell’s mother asked Prantil to help her negotiate an escrow check from which Prantil would receive his fee. Prantil accompanied the woman to his bank where he informed the teller that the woman was his client’s mother and that…