Johnson v. Zerbst

Petitioner, while imprisoned in a federal penitentiary, was denied habeas corpus by the District Court. 1 later, that court granted petitioner a second hearing, prompted by “the peculiar circumstances surrounding the case and the desire of the court to afford opportunity to present any additional facts and views which petitioner desired to present.” Upon consideration of the second petition, the court found that it did “not substantially differ from the” first, ‘‘and for thé reasons stated in the decision in that case” the second petition was also denied.

Petitioner is serving sentence under a…