United States ex rel. Covington v. Coparo

EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.

The petitioner, held without bail upon an indictment returned by a New York County grand jury charging him with a triple murder in the first degree, seeks his release by way of a federal writ of habeas corpus unless reasonable bail pending trial is fixed either by the State Court or this Court. Petitioner contends he has an absolute right to bail under the Eighth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, since murder in the first degree is no longer a capital crime in New York State (with exceptions not here relevant).1 The prosecution, in resisting petitioner’s…