United States v. Hayman (342 U.S. 205)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 7, 1952 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 342 U.S. 205 · 72 S. Ct. 263
- Decided
- January 7, 1952
- Term
- October Term 1951
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. In its 19.48 revision of the Judicial Code, Congress provided that prisoners in custody under sentence of a fe'deral court may move the sentencing court ot “Vacate, set aside or correct any sentence subject to collateral attack. 28 U. S. C. (Supp. IV) § 2255. Respondent, confined, at the McNeil Island penitentiary in the Western District of Washington, invoked this new procedure by filing a motion to vacate his sentence and grant a new trial in the District Court for the Southern District of California. That court had imposed a sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment in 1947 for forging Government checks and related violations of federal law. In his motion, respondent alleged that he did not enjoy the effective assistance of counsel guaranteed defendants in federal courts by the Sixth Amendment. Specifically,' he alleged that one Juanita Jackson, a principal witness against respondent at his trial and a defendant in a related case, was represented by the same lawyer as respondent. Respondent claims that he was not told of the dual representation and that Jhe had no way of discovering the conflict until after the trial was over. It appeared from court records that Juanita Jackson testified against respondent after entering a plea of guilty but before sentence. Since a conflict in the interests of his attorney might…
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