Eldridge Payton v. John P. Whitley, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary

Eldridge Payton appeals an order denying his petition for habeas corpus without an evidentiary hearing. Finding that Pay-ton failed to raise a genuine issue of fact in support of the petition, we affirm.

I

A Louisiana jury convicted Eldridge Pay-ton of attempted armed robbery in 1973. Under the Louisiana statutes then in effect, armed robbery carried a maximum sentence of 99 years imprisonment, and attempted armed robbery a maximum sentence of “one-half of the longest term of imprisonment prescribed for the offense so attempted.” See La.Rev.Stat.Ann. §§ 14:64 and 14:27. A separate statute…