Tom C. Clark

“ To my mind it is preposterous to think that the prosecutor would make the trade alleged when before any promises were allegedly made not only had petitioner waived indictment on the Waterville robbery, which was the more serious of the two charges, but his attorney in his presence had mentioned to the judge in open court the 'possibility of another information being filed' and had indicated a clear intention to waive indictment on 'both informations' and to plead guilty to at least one. Moreover, experienced criminals such as petitioner know that judges, not prosecutors, control sentences. ”

“ As pointed out by the Government, to require a hearing in this case means 'that the number of hearings held on motions under Section 2255 would be limited only by the imagination and ingenuity of the prisoners involved.' An ingenious prisoner can deliberately bait his application with claims beyond independent proof or disproof and then demand that he be brought to court to tell the story known only to him, no matter how inconsistent and incredible it may be in light of the files and records. ”

“ The Court awards petitioner, a bank robber serving sentences in Alcatraz, a hearing on a § 2255 petition which it admits is 'not far from the line' marking those applications the trial judge may ordinarily deny. If this be true, the doubt should be resolved in support of the decision below, not in the destruction of it. The experienced trial judge, who had been with this case from the very beginning, found the files and records conclusively show to be false petitioner's contention that his pleas of guilty were induced by promises of leniency. ”