Opinion
[H.C. No. 25, October Term, 1954.]
Decided April 21, 1955.
HABEAS CORPUS — Committing Warrant — Alleged Absence of. Where petitioner for a writ of habeas corpus was sentenced in two cases to consecutive terms of six years and three years each for breaking and entering, and the trial judge who sentenced him subsequently within 90 days struck out the first sentence and imposed instead an eighteen-month sentence to begin as of the date the original sentences were imposed, there was no merit to a contention that there was no warrant committing petitioner to the House of Correction. The Warden had furnished the court below in this proceeding with a certified copy of each commitment, and the eighteen-month sentence was merely a reduction of the six-year sentence by the original trial judge, acting under the General Rules of Practice and Procedure (1953 Ed.), Part Four, I, Rule 10. There were no facts showing that petitioner was unlawfully deprived of his liberty. p. 621
J.E.B.
Decided April 21, 1955.
Habeas corpus proceeding by Roy Leon Drain against the Warden of the Maryland House of Correction. From a refusal of the writ, petitioner applied for leave to appeal.
Application denied.
Before BRUNE, C.J., and DELAPLAINE, COLLINS, HENDERSON and HAMMOND, JJ.
This is an application of Roy Leon Drain for leave to appeal from the refusal of a writ of habeas corpus.
On October 21, 1954, petitioner pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County to two charges of breaking and entering. Associate Judge Michaelson sentenced him to the Maryland House of Correction on both charges. The sentence in the first case was imprisonment for six years. The sentence in the second case was imprisonment for three years, this sentence to run consecutively with the sentence in the first case.
On January 20, 1955, petitioner asked the Court to correct the sentence of six years imposed in the first case, and thereupon Judge Michaelson struck out that sentence and sentenced him to imprisonment for the period of 18 months, the term to begin as of October 21, 1954.
Petitioner applied to Associate Judge Prescott, of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, for a writ of habeas corpus. He contended that there was no warrant committing him to the House of Correction, and hence he was imprisoned unlawfully. It appeared, however, that petitioner was mistaken. Judge Prescott, in dismissing the petition, stated that the warden of the House of Correction had furnished him a certified copy of each commitment. The sentence of January 20, 1955, was merely a reduction of the sentence of October 21, 1954. Under the criminal rules adopted by the Court of Appeals, the trial court has the right to reduce a sentence in a criminal case of this nature within 90 days after it is imposed. If a sentence is illegal, the trial court may correct it at any time. General Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 4, rule 10.
As petitioner failed to present any facts to show that he is being unlawfully deprived of his liberty, his application for leave to appeal must be denied.
Application denied, with costs.