Patrick J. Mullen v. Frank Blackburn, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary and William J. Guste, Attorney General of Louisiana

Appellant Patrick Mullen concedes that he was apprehended while committing armed robbery in a drugstore in Covington, Louisiana, as a result of which he was convicted by a jury of armed robbery and sentenced to 99 years imprisonment. His direct appeal was unsuccessful, and he filed two unsuccessful state habeas petitions raising the same grounds asserted in his federal petition. The state concedes exhaustion.

Mullen filed the present petition in July 1985. The district court denied it and Mullen filed timely notice of appeal. The trial court granted certificate of probable cause and permission…