Samuel H. Sheppard, on April 11, 1963, was granted leave to file his Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in forma pauperis. At the time of hearing Sheppard\u27s application for leave to file in forma pauperis, counsel for the petitioner propounded that the discretion which formerly reposed in Federal District Courts as to whether a writ of habeas corpus should or should not be granted no longer exists and that the writ must issue. Cases cited in support of this position were decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on March 18, 1963: Townsend v. Sain, No. 8, October Term, 1962, and Fay v. Noia, No. 84, October Term, 1962. This Court has directed that briefs be submitted dealing only with the question of whether it may exercise its discretion with respect to whether a writ of habeas corpus shall or shall not be issued.
The Attorney General stated that these decisions had no application to the question at hand and did not in any way deny to the District Courts their long standing power to exercise sound judicial discretion; it merely elaborated certain rules which will be applied to the exercise of such discretion
