Dail Ray Stewart v. State Utah

Stewart was charged with second degree homicide in the stabbing death of a fellow prison inmate pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-203 (Supp. 1985). He appealed his conviction on the basis of insufficient evidence and the supreme court affirmed in State v. Stewart, 729 P.2d 610 (Utah 1986). In confirming Stewarts conviction, the supreme court relied on testimony that Stewart was the only one possessing a weapon which could have inflicted the deadly wounds. Stewart then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 64B, asserting that he had been denied due process of law.