Fred B. Allen v. Robert Moore, Superintendent, Etc., Richard W. Balukonis v. Daniel A. O'brien, Superintendent, Etc.

ALDRICH, Chief Judge.

Petitioners Allen and Balukonis, after being found guilty by a jury in the Massachusetts Superior Court of armed bank robbery, had their convictions affirmed on appeal. Commonwealth v. Ba-lukonis, 1970 Mass. A.S. 1043, 260 N.E. 2d 167. A principal point raised on that appeal, and the only one advanced in their subsequent habeas petitions, was that the identifying witnesses had been so infected by improper police procedure that their testimony at the trial violated petitioners’ constitutional rights. The importance of this claim is indicated by the fact that the…