Merlin C. Long v. State of Iowa

ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

This is a petition for habeas corpus brought by Merlin C. Long, a prisoner in state custody. He is serving a sentence of life imprisonment as a consequence of his conviction, on a plea of guilty, to first-degree murder in 1964. This is Long’s second federal habeas petition. We considered and rejected his first petition in Long v. Brewer, 667 F.2d 742 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 883, 103 S.Ct. 189, 74 L.Ed.2d 153 (1982). See also, Long v. Brewer, 253 N.W.2d 549 (Iowa 1977) (denial of state post-conviction relief).

In this case Long contends that he was under the…