James Lee Marion v. Dr. George J. Beto, Director, Texas Department of Corrections

*30SIMPSON, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal from the denial, after hearing, of a Texas state prisoner’s application for writ of habeas corpus.1 A prior appeal to this Court from a district court denial of habeas relief is reported as Marion v. Harrist, 5 Cir. 1966, 363 F.2d 139, cert. denied 386 U.S. 934, 87 S.Ct. 960, 17 L.Ed.2d 807. Both petitions stem from the petitioner’s conviction for murder and resulting death sentence.

At the outset we may quickly dispose of Marion’s allegations that (1) the trial court erroneously failed to make an independent determination of the voluntariness of his…