Bruce E. Ellis v. Amos E. Reed, Secretary of Corrections, and the Attorney General of the State of North Carolina

*1196WALTER E. HOFFMAN, District Judge:

Appellant stands convicted in the North Carolina state court of embezzling $18,-799.50 from a finance company. On direct appeal to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the court found no error in the trial. State v. Ellis, 33 N.C.App. 667, 236 S.E.2d 299 (1977). Discretionary review was denied by the Supreme Court of North Carolina. The district court denied appellant’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus by order entered on March 21, 1978.

The issues in this case arise from questions and instructions put to the jury by the trial judge after the jury had…