Clarence Johnson v. J. D. Middlebrooks, Warden

This is an appeal from the denial of appellant’s petition for habeas corpus after an evidentiary hearing by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. On his state court trial appellant was represented by privately retained counsel and pled not guilty to a charge of illegal possession of narcotics in violation of Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:962. He was found guilty by a jury and sentenced on January 24, 1963, to serve ten years in the state penitentiary. Appellant attacks his conviction on three grounds: (1) that there was no probable cause for his arrest and…