In re Sousie
In re Sousie
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus which alleged that a demand for extradition by the State of Massachusetts did not comply with the requirements of 13 V.S.A. § 4943. We reverse.
13 V.S.A. § 4943 requires that a demand for extradition be accompanied by a “copy of a judgment of conviction or of a sentence imposed in execution thereof,” where the person to be extradited has already been convicted but has escaped from confinement or broken the terms of bail, probation or parole. The documents sent by Massachusetts included copies of: the jury indictment charging petitioner with armed robbery; the certificate of parole; a signed statement by the acting chairman of the Massachusetts parole board indicating that the petitioner had been convicted, sentenced, released on parole and had violated parole; the parole violation report; petitioner’s fingerprints and mug shot; a document entitled “warrant”; a governor’s authorization to convey the petitioner back to Massachusetts as a parole violator; and
In a similar case, a certificate of conviction signed by a court clerk was held to be insufficient. Britton v. State, 447 So. 2d 458, 459 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1984). We agree with that court’s reasoning:
If the legislature intended that something less than the document representing the official court action of conviction or sentence would be sufficient and that the risk, however small, of a mistake . . . was acceptable, we must presume [the statute] would have said so. The law commonly requires actual documents, as opposed to conclusory statements concerning those documents, and we see no justification for requiring less in an extradition proceeding involving the deprivation of liberty when the statutory requirement is explicit.
Although the documents in this case are numerous and state that a sentence had been imposed, still they do not comply with § 4943(a). Our “review of extradition process relates to the validity of the demanding warrant and the procedural compliance with the requirements for rendition.” In re Everett, 139 Vt. 317, 319, 427 A.2d 349, 350 (1981). The failure of the State of Massachusetts to comply with the provisions of the Extradition Act, as adopted in 13 V.S.A. § 4943, is fatal to its request. Deyo v. Snelling, 139 Vt. 341, 343, 428 A.2d 1117, 1119 (1981).
Reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re Steven Sousie
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published