Francis R. Vickers v. Lloyd E. Haynes, Warden of Huttonsville Correctional Center

Vickers was convicted of first-degree murder by the Intermediate Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia, and is now serving a life sentence in the West Virginia State Penitentiary. The jury verdict carried a recommendation of mercy, and thus Vickers is eligible for parole during the term of his sentence. Having exhausted all post-conviction state remedies, Vickers petitioned for federal habeas corpus relief. In an opinion dated April 11,1975, the district court denied Vickers-relief, and on April 16, 1975, denied Vickers’ application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal.

In the…