Barber v. Gladden

332 P.2d 641, 215 Or. 129, 1958 Ore. LEXIS 357
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 3, 1958
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 332 P.2d 641 (Barber v. Gladden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barber v. Gladden, 332 P.2d 641, 215 Or. 129, 1958 Ore. LEXIS 357 (Or. 1958).

Opinions

O’CONNELL, J.

This is a habeas corpus proceeding initiated by George R. Barber on November 5, 1957 against Clarence T. Gladden, Warden of the Oregon State Penitentiary. The plaintiff appeals from an order of the Circuit Court for Marion County dismissing the action. The plaintiff was sentenced on November 20, 1953 for a term of 25 years in the State Penitentiary after a plea of guilty to a charge of burglary with explosives, in violation of ORS 164.260. He was represented by counsel at that time. No appeal was taken [131]*131from the judgment of conviction. On December 1955 the plaintiff commenced a habeas corpus proceeding in which he attacked the conviction on five grounds. He appealed from an order dismissing his action in that case. The order of dismissal was affirmed in Barber v. Gladden, 210 Or 46, 298 P2d 986, 309 P2d 192 (1957).

In the action which is now before v. the plaintiff contends that his imprisonment was invalid on five grounds enumerated in his replication in the following order:

(1) The committing magistrate acted without legal authority for the reason that ORS 51.220 is void. This section provides as follows:

“A justice of the peace in a justice district abolished by ORS 51.030 shall be the judge of the district court created by ORS 46.020 or 46.025 during the remainder of his elective term, or until his successor is elected and qualified.”

The plaintiff argues that ORS 51.220 violates the Oregon Constitution in that it is “an unlawful and unauthorized delegation of Legislative power” for the reason that it purports to create a district judgeship without election or appointment. He contends that since the section is void he was not legally committed by a magistrate and that therefore his conviction was void. He also contends that as a result of this alleged illegal procedure he was denied due process of law and equal protection of the laws under the Constitution of the United States.

(2) Oregon Laws 1949, Chapter 258 (which was applicable at the time plaintiff was prosecuted) was unconstitutional because the statute required the county court to prepare a jury list of “qualified jurors [132]*132in the county, as far as it may be able to ascertain the same from the latest tax roll and/or registration books of the county” and that this permitted “the systematic and intentional exclusion of a class of persons” by the county officials. He also charges that the method actually used in selecting the jurors who sat on the grand jury in his case was illegal and therefore he was deprived of his constitutional rights.

(3) The indictment under which he was convicted was fatally defective because it failed to allege the ownership of the building in which the crime was committed.

(4) The plaintiff’s plea of guilty was the result of coercion and duress.

(5) The plaintiff was prejudiced by the trial court’s action “in sentencing plaintiff on the basis of his [the judge’s] recital that safecrackers once shot at his father.”

The defendant demurred to allegations (1), (2), (3), and (5) contained in the plaintiff’s replication on the ground that these allegations failed to set forth facts or grounds sufficient to entitle plaintiff to relief. The demurrer was sustained. Thereafter the defendant filed its answer to the remaining allegation, and after a hearing was held the court found that the plea of guilty was voluntarily made by the plaintiff. The court then entered an order dismissing the proceedings.

This is the second habeas corpus proceeding brought by the plaintiff to test the validity of his incarceration resulting from the judgment of conviction on November 20,1953. There is nothing in the record to show that the issues presented on this appeal could not have been presented in the first habeas corpus proceeding brought by the plaintiff in December 1955. In fact some of the grounds urged as a basis for the [133]*133writ in the present case are essentially the same as those presented in the first petition. See Barber v. Gladden, snpra.

OES 34.710 provides, in part, as follows:

“* * * No question once finally determined upon a proceeding by habeas corpus shall be reexamined upon another proceeding of the same kind.”

This statute is a legislative declaration that the principle of res judicata is applicable to habeas corpus proceedings. That principle precludes the relitigation not only of matters actually determined in a prior proceeding but also matters which could properly have been determined in such earlier proceeding. Kelley et ux v. Mallory et ux, 202 Or 690, 277 P2d 767 (1954); Yuen Suey v. Fleshman, 65 Or 606, 133 P 803 (1913). Frequently res judicata is defined simply in terms of matters previously litigated as distinct from matters which could have been but were not litigated in the prior proceeding. See, for example, Black’s Law Dictionary, page 1470. However, this manner of stating the principle is not regarded as a limitation upon the principle so as to exclude its operation in those situations in which the question was not raised in the prior proceeding but could have been raised and determined. And so also where a statute speaks only in terms of questions actually determined it may be construed more broadly to cover the principle of res judicata in its broader meaning. The Florida statute, FSA 79-10 which is similar to ORS 34.710 was so construed. Eeferring to the Florida statute, the court in Durley v. Mayo, 351 US 277, 283, said:

“In its more recent cases, the Supreme Court of Florida has held that, on an original application for habeas corpus, the petitioner may not raise [134]*134issues that have been raised in prior proceedings whatever those may have been. Also, that unless he can show good reason for his failure to do so, he is precluded from raising issues which he could have raised in any such prior proceedings. Washington v. Mayo, 77 So.2d 620; Irvin v. Chapman, 75 So.2d 591; Florida ex rel. Johnson v. Mayo, 69 So.2d 307. * * *”

We interpret our own statute, OES 34.710, to mean that a denial of the writ of habeas corpus is res judicata on a subsequent application for the writ, not only upon grounds which were alleged, but also upon grounds which could have teen alleged in the prior habeas corpus proceeding.

At common law the principle of res judicata had no application to habeas corpus proceedings, and the decision on one writ was not a bar to a subsequent proceeding. Ferris, Extraordinary Legal Remedies, Section 55; Huffman v. Alexander, 197 Or 283, 330, 251 P2d 87, 253 P2d 289. The explanation for the rule at common law is well stated in Salinger v. Loisel, 265 US 224, 230 (1924) as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
332 P.2d 641, 215 Or. 129, 1958 Ore. LEXIS 357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barber-v-gladden-or-1958.