Frank Antonio Pavao v. Harold J. Cardwell, Warden, Arizona State Prison

Appellant, a State prisoner, was convicted in 1974 of assault with a deadly weapon. There was strong evidence that he was a passenger in a car driven by a man named Oseo, that he became angered by another motorist, and drew a gun and shot him from the ear window. The victim lived despite a gunshot wound that penetrated to within a fraction of an inch from his heart. Appellant (who had previously been convicted elsewhere of assault with a deadly weapon) was sentenced to from 20 to 25 years. His petition to the district court for a writ of habeas corpus raised a variety of claims, several of…