James Kelly McCoy v. Louie L. Wainwright, Director, Division of Corrections, State of Florida

This is an appeal from denial of habeas corpus to a Florida prisoner who was convicted on April 10, 1964 of second degree murder.

In this pre-Escobedo, pre-M i randa case, the district court, sitting in habeas corpus, held a plenary hearing on appellant’s contention that his confession was involuntary and considered, as well, his other allegations that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial on the ground that the jury saw him in handcuffs, that the trial court erred in refusing to give certain requested jury instructions and that the absence of a preliminary hearing constituted a deprivation of due process. A review of the transcript of the hearing below, and of the record as a whole, leads us to the inescapable conclusion that the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law were not clearly erroneous. Rule 52(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Affirmed.