Alfred Coles v. C. C. Peyton, Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary

WINTER, Circuit Judge:

Upon his claims that in his prosecution for foreiblé rape he was denied effective assistance of counsel at his trial, that the Commonwealth of Virginia unconstitutionally suppressed vital and relevant exculpatory evidence and that, under the circumstances of this case, the absence of counsel at his preliminary hearing constituted a denial of counsel, Alfred Coles (“petitioner”) appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The writ was denied, without plenary hearing, on the basis of the transcript of a state habeas corpus…