Case Name: James P. COLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. W. J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1976-06-07
Citations: 532 F.2d 1039
Docket Number: No. 75-2258
Parties: James P. COLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. W. J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before GOLDBERG, DYER and SIMPSON, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 532
Pages: 1039–1040

Head Matter:
James P. COLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. W. J. ESTELLE, Jr., Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 75-2258.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
June 7, 1976.
Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied July 20, 1976.
Toby Goldsmith, Fort Worth, Tex. (Court-appointed), for petitioner-appellant.
John L. Hill, Atty. Gen., Patrick P. Rogers, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for respondent-appellee.
Before GOLDBERG, DYER and SIMPSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Cole was tried in a Texas State Court before a jury in jail garb for armed robbery. His defense was alibi. The jury found Cole guilty and hé was subsequently sentenced to twenty years in the penitentiary. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. After exhausting state post-conviction relief remedies he sought habeas relief in the district court. The writ was denied. We affirm.
Cole was not compelled to stand trial in jail garb, nor did he raise the issue before or at trial. "Accordingly, although the State cannot, consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment, compel an accused to stand trial before a jury while dressed in identifiable prison clothes, the failure to make an objection to the court as to being tried in such clothes, for whatever reason, is sufficient to negate the presence of compulsion necessary to establish a constitutional violation." Estelle v. Williams, 1976, - U.S. -, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 [No. 74-676, 44 L.W. 4609, May 3, 1976],
AFFIRMED.