Massey v. Moore, Warden (348 U.S. 105)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 6, 1954 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 348 U.S. 105 · 75 S. Ct. 145
- Decided
- December 6, 1954
- Term
- October Term 1954
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioner, who is in a Texas prison under a life sentence imposed by a Texas court, brought this petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Federal District Court. His claim is that he was denied the due process of law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment because he was tried and convicted of robbery at a time when he was of unsound mind and unassisted by counsel. The District Court denied the petition without a hearing. The Court of Appeals affirmed by a divided vote. 205 F. 2d 665. The case is here on certiorari. 347 U. S. 1011. Petitioner’s trial on the robbery charge started and ended the same day. He had been confined to the psychopathic hospital of the state prison for several months prior to the trial; and for part of that time he was kept in a cell block reserved for the most violent inmates. He was removed from a strait jacket March 7, 1941, and tried March 11, 1941. He stood trial without benefit of counsel, though the crime with which he was charged carried a mandatory life sentence because petitioner had suffered two prior felony convictions. See Tex. Pen. Code, Art. 63. Petitioner declined to plead guilty; hence a plea of not guilty was entered. So far as we are advised, petitioner took no part in the proceedings and made no attempt to conduct any defense. Petitioner was convicted and immediately…
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