Bell v. United States

SIBLEY, Circuit Judge.

This is another of the many post mortems stemming from the broad language used in Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461, and supported only by the prisoner’s word. It is not, however, a habeas corpus, but a prisoner in Alcatraz Penitentiary applies to the trial court in Alabama to treat as void his trial and conviction five years ago. The petition states that it is not petitioner’s aim or intention to request the court to “set him scot free”, but that all he asks is that he be afforded a fair and impartial trial, having orginally been deprived of…