Feathers v. Detrick

336 S.E.2d 922, 175 W. Va. 628, 1985 W. Va. LEXIS 646
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 13, 1985
DocketNo. 16734
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 336 S.E.2d 922 (Feathers v. Detrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Feathers v. Detrick, 336 S.E.2d 922, 175 W. Va. 628, 1985 W. Va. LEXIS 646 (W. Va. 1985).

Opinion

McHUGH, Justice:

In this action, the appellant, Elmer Feathers, appeals from the final order of the Circuit Court of Mineral County, West Virginia. Pursuant to that order, entered on September 20, 1984, the circuit court denied the appellant relief in habeas corpus, following proceedings in which the appellant, who allegedly violated the conditions of his Indiana imposed parole, challenged his extradition to Indiana from West Virginia. The appellee is the Sheriff of Mineral County. The extradition having been stayed for purposes of this appeal, this Court has before it the petition for appeal, all matters of record and the briefs and argument of counsel.

The appellant was convicted in Indiana of criminal offenses in 1979 and 1980. He received a prison term in Indiana and was later released upon parole.

In November, 1983, the Indiana Parole Board, upon “due knowledge and information,” declared the appellant to be a parole violator and “fugitive from justice.” Thereafter, Harlan C. Hicks, an Indiana correctional officer and member of the Indiana Parole Board, issued with regard to the appellant a “Warrant for Retaking Paroled Offender.” That warrant, dated May 21, 1984, provided in part:

Having reasonable cause to believe that Elmer Feathers — DOC 6926-P, a committed offender of the State of Indiana, conditionally released from the Indiana State Prison and under the supervision of the Department of Correction, has violated the conditions of his release agreement and has lapsed or is about to lapse into criminal ways, ... I hereby order that said committed offender be retaken and be detained in order that the committed offender be placed in the actual custody of the Department of Correction.1

On June 15, 1984, the appellant was arrested in Mineral County upon the May, 1984 fugitive warrant. Thereafter, a warrant was issued by the Governor of West Virginia for the (continued) arrest of the appellant upon the fugitive warrant and for the extradition of the appellant to Indiana.

By habeas corpus petition, the appellant challenged his extradition to Indiana, and on September 14, 1984, a hearing upon the petition was held in circuit court. The appellant contended that, inasmuch as no judicial determination had been made in Indiana of probable cause to believe that the appellant was a parole violator, i.e., that he had “escaped” from parole, extradition to Indiana from West Virginia could not be ordered.

The circuit court concluded, however, that the question of whether the appellant had violated his parole was, rather than a judicial matter subject to probable cause standards, an administrative matter properly determinable by the Indiana Parole Board. As reflected in its order entered on September 20,1984, the circuit court denied relief to the appellant. The circuit court stated: “[I]t is not required that any judicial determination of probable cause be made in the State of Indiana in order to authorize the extradition of a parolee.”

I.

THE EXTRADITION CLAUSE

Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States provides in part:

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who [630]*630shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

As the Supreme Court of the United States stated in Michigan v. Doran, 439 U.S. 282, 99 S.Ct. 530, 58 L.Ed.2d 521 (1978), that clause “was intended to enable each state to bring offenders to trial as swiftly as possible in the state where the alleged offense was committed.” 439 U.S. at 287, 99 S.Ct. at 534, 58 L.Ed.2d at 526. Moreover, the court, in Doran, stated: “The purpose of the Clause was to preclude any state from becoming a sanctuary for fugitives from justice of another state and thus ‘balkanize’ the administration of criminal justice among the several states.” 439 U.S. at 287, 99 S.Ct. at 534, 58 L.Ed.2d at 526.

In furtherance of the considerations of U.S. Const, art. IV, § 2 [cl. 2], West Virginia has adopted the “Uniform Criminal Extradition Act.” (W.Va.Code, 5-1-7 through W. Va. Code, 5-1-13). As reflected in W.Va.Code, 5-l-7(b) [1937], the Governor of West Virginia has a duty, generally, “to have arrested and delivered up to the executive authority of any other state of the United States any person charged in that state with treason, felony, or other crime, who has fled from justice and is found in this State.... ” Subsection (c) of W. Va. Code, 5-1-7 [1937], provides, in part:

No demand for the extradition of a person charged with crime in another state shall be recognized by the governor unless in writing alleging ... that the accused was present in the demanding state at the time of the commission of the alleged crime, and that thereafter he fled from the state, and accompanied by a copy of an indictment found, or by information supported by affidavit, in the state having jurisdiction of the crime, or by a copy of an affidavit made before a magistrate or justice there, together with a copy of any warrant which was issued thereupon; or by a copy of a judgment of conviction or a sentence imposed in execution thereof, together with a statement by the executive authority of the demanding state that the person claimed has escaped from confinement or has broken the terms of his bail, probation or parole. The indictment, information, or affidavit made before the magistrate or justice must substantially charge the person demanded with having committed a crime under the law of that state; and the copy of indictment, information, affidavit, judgment of conviction or sentence must be authenticated by the executive authority making the demand, (emphasis added)

The Uniform Criminal Extradition Act was discussed in Doran, supra. In Do-ran, the petitioner challenged his extradition from Michigan to Arizona (in which states the Act had been adopted). The petitioner was charged in Arizona with theft, and the Arizona governor issued a requisition to Michigan for the petitioner’s extradition. The record indicated that a “judicial determination” had been made in Arizona of probable cause to believe that a theft had been committed and that the theft had been committed by the petitioner. The Michigan governor granted extradition. However, the Supreme Court of Michigan determined that the extradition documents from Arizona failed to set forth “sufficient facts” to establish probable cause concerning the theft. Consequently, the Michigan court granted the petitioner relief in habeas corpus.

The Supreme Court of the United States, in Doran, reversed and held that “when a neutral judicial officer of the demanding state [Arizona] has determined that probable cause exists, the courts of the asylum state [Michigan] are without power to review the determination.” 439 U.S. at 290, 99 S.Ct. at 536, 58 L.Ed.2d at 528.2 In [631]*631particular, the Supreme Court of the United States held:

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Related

State ex rel. Sheppard v. Kisner
394 S.E.2d 907 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
336 S.E.2d 922, 175 W. Va. 628, 1985 W. Va. LEXIS 646, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/feathers-v-detrick-wva-1985.