Eddie H. Smith v. Dr. George J. Beto, Director, Texas Department of Corrections

Fifth Circuit

Eddie H. Smith v. Dr. George J. Beto, Director, Texas Department of Corrections

453 F.2d 403, 1972 U.S. App. LEXIS 12002

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

DecidedJanuary 5, 1972

Docket71-2515

StatusPublished

This text of 453 F.2d 403 (Eddie H. Smith v. Dr. George J. Beto, Director, Texas Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Eddie H. Smith v. Dr. George J. Beto, Director, Texas Department of Corrections, 453 F.2d 403, 1972 U.S. App. LEXIS 12002 (5th Cir. 1972).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Eddie H. Smith, a prisoner of the State of Texas, has taken this appeal from the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus. Smith is confined upon authority of a twenty-year sentence for robbery by assault which he received in the 54th District Court of McLennan County, Texas, on June 11, 1970. There was no direct appeal.

Appellant has contended that (1) his confession was involuntary; and (2) he was denied confrontation of witnesses at both an examining trial and the trial on the merits.

The state trial court appointed counsel for Smith and conducted an evidentiary hearing on the merits of his habeas contentions. At that hearing Smith admitted that his plea of guilty, when he was represented by counsel, was free and voluntary. The court made findings and conclusions, later approved by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, that Smith’s plea of guilty was valid, his confession had been knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently made, and that “any rights not afforded to [Smith] were knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waived by him.”

The United States District Court denied habeas relief on grounds that the judgment and sentence are based on Smith’s valid plea of guilty, which constitutes a waiver of all non-jurisdictional defects in the proceedings. We find no error in this ruling. Chambers v. Beto, 5th Cir. 1970, 428 F.2d 791; Busby v. Holman, 5th Cir. 1966, 356 F.2d 75.

Affirmed.

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PER CURIAM:

Eddie H. Smith, a prisoner of the State of Texas, has taken this appeal from the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus. Smith is confined upon authority of a twenty-year sentence for robbery by assault which he received in the 54th District Court of McLennan County, Texas, on June 11, 1970. There was no direct appeal.

Appellant has contended that (1) his confession was involuntary; and (2) he was denied confrontation of witnesses at both an examining trial and the trial on the merits.

The state trial court appointed counsel for Smith and conducted an evidentiary hearing on the merits of his habeas contentions. At that hearing Smith admitted that his plea of guilty, when he was represented by counsel, was free and voluntary. The court made findings and conclusions, later approved by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, that Smith’s plea of guilty was valid, his confession had been knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently made, and that “any rights not afforded to [Smith] were knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waived by him.”

The United States District Court denied habeas relief on grounds that the judgment and sentence are based on Smith’s valid plea of guilty, which constitutes a waiver of all non-jurisdictional defects in the proceedings. We find no error in this ruling. Chambers v. Beto, 5th Cir. 1970, 428 F.2d 791; Busby v. Holman, 5th Cir. 1966, 356 F.2d 75.

Affirmed.

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453 F.2d 403, 1972 U.S. App. LEXIS 12002, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eddie-h-smith-v-dr-george-j-beto-director-texas-department-of-ca5-1972.

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