Habeas Corpus - The Fifth Circuit Considers the Effects of Waiver on Habeas Corpus Availability - Winters v. Cook, 489 F.2d 174 (5th Cir. 1973)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION|The purpose of habeas corpus is to afford relief from imprisonment that is the result of a denial of due process of law. An impediment to establishing a right to habeas corpus relief is the possibility that the rights a petitioner claims have been violated were waived at some stage in the judicial process. The seminal standard for determining the validity of a waiver was presented in the United States Supreme Court decision, Fay I v. Noia: The classic definition of waiver enunciated in Johnson v. Zerbst [citation omitted]-"an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege"- furnishes the controlling standard. At all events we wish it clearly understood that the standard here put forth depends on the considered choice of the petitioner. [Footnote omitted.] The recent Fifth Circuit case Winters v. Cook applied two separate qualifications to the Fay-Zerbst general rule of general waiver: waiver by counsel and waiver by guilty plea. This case note will examine the application of these two qualifications and their effect on the availability of habeas corpus relief...