Calvin Sellars v. W. J. Estelle, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections

The petitioner, Calvin Sellars, was convicted of robbery with firearms in the state courts of Texas on charges of participating in a robbery which involved serious mistreatment and torture of male and female victims. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. Sellars has filed numerous unsuccessful proceedings in state and federal courts seeking release.

The District Court for the Southern District of Texas conducted a hearing December 7, 1977, on a petition by Sellars for a writ of habeas corpus. In Sellars’ merits trial the state had introduced his…