Adelson v. DiPaola

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner-appellant Leonard H. Adelson hatched a plan to film bouts between Russian and American pugilists and market the resultant videotapes to Russian television stations. The undercapitalized venture was doomed from the opening bell. In the aftermath of its collapse, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts successfully prosecuted the petitioner on charges of larceny by check. After a fruitless pursuit of appellate remedies in the state courts, the petitioner sought habeas corpus relief in a federal forum, naming a state correctional official as the respondent. In an ore…