Boles v. Stevenson

The respondent, Stevenson, was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death in the Common Pleas Court of Cabell County, West Virginia. The conviction was affirmed on appeal by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. State v. Stevenson, 147 W. Va. 211, 127 S. E. 2d 638. Certiorari was denied here. 372 U. S. 938. He then filed a petition for habeas corpus in the United States District Court. Stevenson v. Boles, 221 F. Supp. 411. That court issued the writ on the ground that the State Supreme Court of Appeals used an erroneous standard for determining voluntariness and that…