Supreme Court of the United States December 9, 1997, 96-7901 (Trest v. Cain)

Justice Breyer

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The petitioner in this case, Richard Trest, seeks a writ of habeas corpus, which would vacate a long sentence that he is serving in a Louisiana prison for armed robbery. The District Court refused to issue the writ. Trest appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled against him on the ground of “procedural default.”

Trest

v.