Darling v. Fenton

The defendant Leon Darling was charged and convicted, in the district court for Lincoln county, of having committed murder in the first degree and, upon his plea of guilty, he was sentenced by the trial judge to serve a term of 99 years in the penitentiary. He has filed this application for a writ of habeas corpus to obtain release from the penitentiary, where he has been confined ever since March 24, 1920. As grounds for his release, the defendant contends, first, that his plea of guilty was induced by fear of mob violence at the time of his arrest, and, second, that he was denied a jury…