William Maynard Sawyer v. Garrell S. Mullaney, Warden, Maine State Prison, and the State of Maine

Petitioner, a prisoner at the Maine State Prison, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court dismissed the petition and denied a certificate of probable cause. The case is now before us for a determination on wheth er a certificate should issue and counsel should be appointed.

Petitioner was convicted of breaking, entering and larceny in the nighttime on the uncorroborated testimony of one Doughty, who claimed to have committed the theft along with the petitioner. Petitioner’s claim is that he was denied due process of law and his Sixth Amendment right to present two…