Robert W. Flint, Jr. v. James Mullen, Warden, Etc.

This is an appeal by the State of Rhode Island from a decision by the district court, 372 F.Supp. 213, which granted an application for a writ of habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, on grounds that the petitioner was forced to make an unconstitutional choice between not taking the stand at his deferred sentence violation hearing, thereby sacrificing due process rights, or speaking up in his own defense and thereby risking self-incrimination in an upcoming criminal trial, based upon the same incident.1

Petitioner was on probation, pursuant to a deferred sentencing procedure authorized…