In re Lawler

In In re Lawler (1979) 23 Cal.3d 190, the California Supreme Court held that a petitioner failed to carry his burden of proving on his petition for writ of habeas corpus that a sentence enhancement was improper. In so holding, the court explained the procedure for habeas corpus proceedings, which commence with the filing of a petition and continue with an order to show cause if the facts alleged in the petition, taken as true, establish a prima facie case of relief; a return to the order to show cause filed by the respondent, which becomes like a complaint in a civil proceeding; and a traverse, by which the petitioner denies the allegations in the return, and either realleges the facts set out in the petition or by stipulation the petition is deemed a traverse. (In re Lawler , supra, 23 Cal.3d at p. 194.) The factual allegations in the return are deemed true if the petitioner fails to file a traverse. (Ibid.)