State of Tennessee ex rel. Ollie Newsom v. C. Murray Henderson

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of Ollie Newsom's habeas corpus petition attacking his 1948 second-degree murder conviction. The court held that habeas corpus is an independent civil suit in which the trial court's record imports absolute verity, and because the minutes showed Newsom voluntarily withdrew his appeal, he could not use habeas as a substitute for a writ of error. It further held that a first-degree murder indictment encompasses the lesser offenses and gives sufficient notice, and that the notation 'Col.' on the indictment did not, per se, prejudice the petitioner or vitiate the proceedings. The court also rejected the arguments that the absence of a bill of exceptions and the failure to subpoena the 1948 trial transcript required reversal.