Balkcom v. Turner

Ghice, Justice.

Asserting that he had been denied the right of legal counsel, and that he had not in fact pleaded guilty to an indictment for forgery and passing a forged check, Benjamin F. Turner filed a habeas corpus petition in the City Court of Reidsville against the warden of the Georgia State Prison, where he was confined.

The respondent warden filed an answer denying the essential allegations of the petition. Upon a hearing, at which oral and documentary evidence was introduced, the trial judge entered a judgment making the writ of habeas corpus absolute. Declaring that all proceedings…