Johnson v. Massachusetts

In 1964 petitioner was tried and convicted in a Massa--chusetts Superior Court for murder, armed robbery, and other offenses. The conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 352 Mass. 311, 225 N. E. 2d 360. We granted certiorari because there appeared to be substantial questions concerning the voluntariness of a confession of petitioner which was admitted in evidence at his trial. After oral argument and study of the record, we have reached the conclusion that the record relevant to the constitutional claims now asserted is insufficient to…