Ex parte Steele

These are two separate habeas corpus proceedings, instituted directly in this Court by Leo Steele and his wife, Mrs. Leo Steele, to obtain their respective liberation from alleged illegal restraint by the sheriff of Collingsworth County, Texas. The facts and record in each case are identical. We therefore dispose of both cases in one opinion.

On July 2, 1940, the State of Texas, acting through its proper officers, filed in the District Court of Collingsworth County, Texas, a petition against both of these relators. We shall not attempt to completely detail the contents of such petition. It is…