United States of America Ex Rel. Calvin Manning v. Joseph R. Brierley, Superintendent

OPINION OF THE COURT

Appellant, an indigent state prisoner, was sentenced by a Pennsylvania court to a 10-20 year term after pleading guilty to an indictment charging him with the murder of a fellow inmate. He was represented by counsel. He is now serving that sentence. He appeals from a judgment of the district court denying him a writ of habeas corpus after the court held a full evidentiary hearing and after it considered the state court record.

The district court filed an elaborate opinion carefully analyzing the law and the evidence pertinent to two of appellant’s claims:(1) that a…