Ex Parte Barnes

1939 OK CR 109, 93 P.2d 765, 67 Okla. Crim. 235, 1939 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 135
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 1, 1939
DocketNo. A-9551.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1939 OK CR 109 (Ex Parte Barnes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex Parte Barnes, 1939 OK CR 109, 93 P.2d 765, 67 Okla. Crim. 235, 1939 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 135 (Okla. Ct. App. 1939).

Opinion

BAREFOOT, J.

A petition for writ of habeas corpus has been filed by petitioner alleging that he is being unlawfully restrained of his liberty by John Williams, *236 sheriff of Bryan county. It is alleged that on October 13, 1937, petitioner was convicted in the district court of Bryan county, of the crime of manslaughter in the second degree, and his punishment was assessed at a fine of $1,000 and one year in the county jail. That he has served the one year jail sentence in the manner provided by law, and is being held by the sheriff for the reason that he has not paid the $1,000 fine. That he is a poor person and is unable to pay the same. That the verdict of the jury made no requirement that the fine of $1,000 be served in the county jail if the petitioner was unable to pay said fine, and that the order and decree of the court, as shown by the minute book, did not specify that defendant must serve the $1,000 fine by imprisonment in the event he was unable to pay said fine, and that the sheriff of Bryan county received no commitment showing that he was to hold petitioner in the event said fine was not paid.

The respondent admits the facts set forth in the petition, but further shows that, thereafter, and on the 24th day of August, 1938, there was filed in the district court of Bryan county an application for an order nunc pro tunc to correct the judgment and sentence entered on the 25th day of October, 1937, so that the same would speak the truth with reference to the judgment and sentence against petitioner. Notice of the application was duly served upon petitioner and his attorney of record. This application was heard by the district judge who presided at the trial of petitioner, and after said hearing, at which the county attorney of Bryan county and attorney for petitioner were present, and entered into an agreed statement of facts. The only fact to which there was no agreement was “that the state contended that the court had duly and legally sentenced the said W. B. Barnes to serve a term of one year in the county jail and to pay a fine of $1,000, and in default of payment of said fine, that the said petitioner be required to *237 serve out said fine and costs in the county jail of Bryan county, at the rate of $1 per day.”

The trial court, who had originally heard the case and entered the judgment then granted, made the order permitting the nunc pro tunc order to be entered, stating that he remembered having sentenced petitioner, and that he knew that the latter part of the judgment and sentence had been pronounced by him, and that he always, in sentencing persons, required them to serve out the fine and costs in jail in default of payment. This nunc pro tunc order corrected the judgment and sentence and provided that if the fine was not- paid that petitioner should be held in the manner provided by law.

It is earnestly contended by petitioner that the court did not have the right to enter the nunc pro tunc order, as above outlined, for the reasons: (a) That the order was not based on any evidence, (b) That petitioner was not present at the time the order was made, (c) That petitioner having served the jail sentence prior to the entering of the order that the court could not alter or set it aside, (d) That to permit the defendant to be so held by the sheriff constitutes double jeopardy.

The first contention is untenable for the reason that, according to the record and pleadings, there was an agreed statement of facts which is the same as the offering of evidence in a hearing of this character. In addition to this, the judge who tried the case heard the application, and had the right to use the knowledge which he had from a trial of the original case. Co-WokOchee v. Chapman, 76 Okla. 1, 183 P. 610. The court also had before it for consideration the record and the minutes of the court which were entered at the time of the original trial. Cornelson v. State, 37 Okla. Cr. 338, 257 P. 1109.

The fact that petitioner was not present is also untenable. Notice was served by the county attorney person *238 ally upon petitioner and his attorney of record, and his attorney was present and took part in the proceedings upon the application for the order. 16 C. J., sec, 3106, p. 1317; People v. Lenon, 79 Cal. 625, 631, 21 P. 967.

The contention that petitioner had already served the jail sentence, and that the court could not thereafter change the sentence, cannot be sustained for the reason that there was only one judgment against the defendant, and the same had not been served until the fine was paid. The authorities cited by petitioner have no application to the facts in this case. A careful reading of the case of Ex parte Lang, 18 Wall. 163, 21 L. Ed. 872, will bear this out.

The contention of petitioner that the action of the court was in effect placing him twice in jeopardy cannot be sustained. The entering of the nunc pro tunc order was not a changing of the judgment. It was only making the record speak the truth as it should have done originally. The courts of Oklahoma have been very liberal in permitting the court dockets to be corrected by an order nunc pro tunc, and the strict rule of construction has not been followed in this state. Courtney v. Barnett, 65 Okla. 189, 166 P. 207; Ex parte Howland, 3 Okla. Cr. 142, 104 P. 927, Ann. Cas. 1912A, 840; Ex parte Riggert, 33 Okla. 303, 125 P. 485; Petition of Breeding et al., 75 Okla. 169, 182 P. 899; Dunn v. State, 18 Okla. Cr. 493, 196 P. 739. The fact that a commitment was not issued would be no cause for discharge upon habeas corpus. People v. Wignall, 56 Cal. App. 423, 205 P. 881; Howard v. United States, 6 Cir., 75 F. 986, 21 C. C. A. 586, 34 L. R. A. 509.

The authorities cited by petitioner, and especially the case of Ex parte Myers, 12 Okla. Cr. 575, 160 P. 939, construed the old statute, which was section 6917, Snyder’s Annotated Statutes 1909; Section 5958, Rev. Laws 1910, which provided:

*239 “A judgment that the defendant pay a fine may also direct that he be imprisoned until the fine is satisfied, specifying the extent of the imprisonment.”

The cases cited by petitioner are cases which construe the statute above quoted. The statute now in force is Oklahoma Statutes 1931, section 3166; Oklahoma Statutes Annotated, title 28, section 101, which provides:

“The fees herein provided for the clerk of the district court, the clerk of the superior court, the clerk of the county court, the sheriff, the county attorney, the constable, and the justice of the peace, as provided in this act, and all costs in the prosecution of all criminal actions shall in case of conviction of the defendant be adjudged a part of the penalty of the offense of which the defendant may be convicted, whether the punishment for such offense be either imprisonment, or fine, or both, and fixed either by the verdict of the jury, or judgment of the court, trying the case, and the payment of such fees and costs in addition to the payment of the fine assessed, shall be enforced by imprisonment until the same shall be satisfied, at a rate of one dollar per day of such fees and costs, or fine, or both, whether the defendant shall perform labor on the public road or highway, or remain in prison.”

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1950 OK CR 98 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1950)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1939 OK CR 109, 93 P.2d 765, 67 Okla. Crim. 235, 1939 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-barnes-oklacrimapp-1939.