United States of America Ex Rel. Gilbert Waters and Henry Waters v. Peter Bensinger, Director of Corrections

Appellants seek reversal of the district court’s denial of their petition for a writ of habeas corpus. They unsuccessfully claimed in the district court that their rights under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment were denied by the Illinois state trial court which had convicted them of armed robbery. Appellants’ principal ground for seeking reversal is that the state court refused their request to instruct the jury on their defense. Appellants’ subsidiary point is that in their case the state court changed the juducial rule with respect to alibis, and in their view this…