Hampson v. Smith

DENMAN, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from an order dismissing a petition for release in a habeas corpus proceeding. Appellant is serving a life sentence in the Washington state penitentiary upon conviction of murder in the first degree of a young woman, a former friend of appellant, .by the superior court of Pierce County of that state. The petition was dismissed by District Judge Schwellenbach upon the ground “that the petition presents no question of which this court might acquire jurisdiction.” We do not agree. For reasons later stated, we think the petition presented to the district…