Glen Dale Castle v. United States

399 F.2d 642, 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 5813
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedAugust 12, 1968
Docket24068_1
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 399 F.2d 642 (Glen Dale Castle v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glen Dale Castle v. United States, 399 F.2d 642, 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 5813 (5th Cir. 1968).

Opinion

*644 THORNBERRY, Circuit Judge.

For the third time, Appellant Castle comes to this Court as a result of his 1960 conviction for transporting five forged American Express money orders in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314. The indictment contained five counts, making each of the money orders constitute a separate offense. Castle was convicted on all five counts and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on the first count and five years on counts two through five. Counts two through five were concurrent, but consecutive to count one, making a total of fifteen years’ imprisonment. This Court affirmed the conviction, 287 F.2d 657, reasoning that the transportation of each money order was a separate offense and that therefore the trial judge had not imposed a multiple sentence for a single transportation. The Supreme Court disagreed and held that Castle was guilty of only one offense. Our judgment was vacated and the case remanded to the district court “for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.” 368 U.S. 13, 82 S.Ct. 123, 7 L.Ed.2d 75. On remand, appellant was resentenced to ten years’ imprisonment and fined $10,000. 1 He again appealed to this Court but we affirmed the conviction, reasoning that the triál judge correctly limited the proceedings to re-sentencing and that “the sentence was in accordance with the mandate of the Supreme Court and the applicable provisions of law.” 304 F.2d 871.

On April 5, 1965, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, Castle filed a motion to vacate his conviction. The district court denied the motion and this Court subsequently denied leave to appeal in forma pauperis. He thereafter secured counsel to represent him on this appeal. His present status necessitates consideration of whether Section 2255 is available to him. Appellant has served the required period of imprisonment to obtain mandatory release under his ten-year sentence. He has also served the thirty days required for nonpayment of the committed fine, signed the pauper’s affidavit required by 18 U.S.C. § 3569, and been released from prison. 2 As he is no longer “in custody,” it is urged that he cannot use Section 2255 to attack the sentence or fine. See Fooshee v. United States, 5 Cir. 1953, 203 F.2d 247. However, since he was in custody at the time he filed the present application, federal jurisdiction is not defeated by his release prior to completion of proceedings on such application. Carafas v. LaVallee, 1968, 391 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 1556, 20 L.Ed.2d 554. Moreover, his motion presents a real and substantial controversy, and could be treated as a motion for declaratory judgment under Rule 57, Fed.R.Civ.P. Wacker v. Bisson, 5th Cir. 1965, 348 F.2d 602. 3

Appellant alleges two grounds of error for our consideration: First, that the imposition of the $10,000 fine on resen- *645 fencing was an increase in his original sentence and therefore a violation of the double-jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment and an impairment of his right to appeal in contravention of the due-process clause of the fifth amendment; second, that fining an indigent violates the due-process clause of the fifth amendment and the equal-protection clause of the fourteenth amendment as implemented by the due-process clause of the fifth amendment. 4

I.

The question of whether a trial judge can increase a sentence on remand is currently being debated in criminal-law circles and demands resolution of a head-on clash of equally viable positions. See e. g. Agata, Time Served Under a Reversed Sentence or Conviction: A Proposal and a Basis for Decision, 25 Mont.L.Rev. 3 (1963); Alstyne, In Gideon’s Wake: Harsher Penalties and the “Successful” Criminal Appellant, 76 Yale L.J. 603 (1965); Whalen, Resentence Without Credit for Time Served: Unequal Protection of the Laws, 35 Minn.L.Rev. 239 (1951). Until recently it was believed that the trial judge could increase the sentence if he stayed within the statutory limits. 5 Indeed, this belief is supported by the only Supreme Court decisions on the subject. Stroud v. United States, 1919, 251 U.S. 15, 40 S.Ct. 50, 64 L.Ed. 103; Murphy v. Commonwealth of Mass., 1900, 177 U.S. 155, 20 S.Ct. 639, 44 L.Ed. 711. These decisions are based primarily on the rationale that by appealing the defendant voids all existence and effect of the original sentence and waives any double-jeopardy claim. Subsequent developments have indicated that the Stroud rule is also bottomed on the traditional discretion accorded trial judges in sentencing and the accompanying hesitancy of appellate courts to enter the sentencing area. See, United States ex rel. Starner v. Russell, 3 Cir. 1967, 378 F.2d 808; Shear v. Boles, N.D.West Va.1967, 263 F.Supp. 855. Much of this reluctance is based on the fact that the modern sentence is viewed as an individualized assessment of the ideal number of years needed to punish or rehabilitate the prisoner. Note, 80 Harv.L.Rev. 891, 894 (1967). This gives society an interest in fair punishment and effective rehabilitation, Rubin, The Law of Criminal Correction, 116-118 (1963), and makes it just to take a fresh look at the defendant on remand to assure that this interest was sufficiently vindicated the first time around. Recently, however, appellate courts have begun to restrict trial judges who in the name of discretion are violating constitutional rights. Gainey v. Turner, E.D.N.C.1967, 266 F.Supp. 95, 102. 6

In the increase-of-sentenee area, the erosion of the absolute discretion of the *646 trial judge started with the rejection of the “waiver theory” as a “simplistic rationale” and “sporting theory of justice.” See Whalen, supra, at 893. The most exhaustive treatment of the topic to date is the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in Patton v. State of North Carolina, 4th Cir. 1967, 381 F.2d 636, cert. denied, 1968, 390 U.S. 905, 88 S.Ct. 818, 19 L.Ed.2d 871. 7 There the defendant was denied five years’ credit as a result of employing a post-conviction remedy to rectify the fact that he was tried in violation of Gideon.

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399 F.2d 642, 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 5813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glen-dale-castle-v-united-states-ca5-1968.