Wright v. Mayo
Wright v. Mayo
Opinion of the Court
Petitioner in this habeas corpus proceeding alleges that the sentences which he is serving were improperly entered. On October 16, 1930, he was adjudged guilty, in thirteen separate cases, of breaking and entering a building with intent to commit a felony. These cases were numbered 497, 498, 499, 501, 502, 505, 506, 508, 509, 511, 513, 522 and 523. In each case he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. In the first case, number 497, petitioner was sentenced to be “confined in the said state penitentiary at hard labor for the period of three years, from the date of your incarceration therein.” In case number 498 the sentence was stated to be “for the period of three years, from the date of your incarceration therein, and after the expiration of your sentence in number 497 of this term." Each subsequent sentence used the same language as that in case number 498, but referred to the case number preceding. In spite of the use of the language “from the date of your incarceration therein” in case number 498 et seq., we think it was plainly the intention of the court that the sentences should run consecutively, each sentence commencing with the expiration of the sentence in the previous case. Petitioner, however, contends that the sentences were so vague and indefinite as to commencement date that only the first three-year sentence was lawful. He has twice escaped from the penitentiary but has served seven and one half years under these sentences. If his contention is correct, therefore, he is unlawfully held.
Petitioner relies on Gillman v. Chapman, 150 Fla. 724, 8 So.2d 653; Lake v.
In the case at bar we do not have the same situation. Case number 497 herein resulted in a single sentence of three years. The three-year sentence in case number 498 was intended to commence at the expiration of the single sentence given in case number 497. The sentence in each subsequent case was intended to start when the sentence in its predecessor case had expired. We therefore cannot say as we did in the Gillman case [150 Fla. 724, 8 So.2d 654] that the sentences, or any of them, are “so vague and uncertain as to be of no force and effect * *
It follows that the writ of habeas corpus heretofore issued in this case must be, and the same is hereby, quashed, and the petitioner remanded to the custody of respondent.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Fred WRIGHT v. Nathan MAYO, as Custodian of the Florida State Prison
- Status
- Published