RATCLIFF v. ESTELLE

No. 78-1870.

597 F.2d 474 (1979)

Elijah W. RATCLIFF, Petitioner-Appellant, v. W. J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

June 20, 1979.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Elijah W. Ratcliff, pro se.

John L. Hill, Atty. Gen., David M. Kendall, 1st Asst. Atty. Gen., Joe B. Dibrell, Jr., William L. Sessions, Asst. Attys. Gen., Austin, Tex., for respondent-appellee.

Before THORNBERRY, CLARK and RONEY, Circuit Judges.


RONEY, Circuit Judge:

If a state court finds that a procedural default forecloses a convicted defendant's right to challenge collaterally the composition of the grand jury which indicted him, but then proceeds to consider and deny the challenge on the merits, must a federal court deny habeas corpus relief under the contemporaneous objection rule, without reaching the merits of the constitutional attack? We agree with the...

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