United States of America Ex Rel. Francis Spellman, Jr. v. Glenn Murphy

217 F.2d 247, 1954 U.S. App. LEXIS 3108
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 13, 1954
Docket11167_1
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 217 F.2d 247 (United States of America Ex Rel. Francis Spellman, Jr. v. Glenn Murphy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States of America Ex Rel. Francis Spellman, Jr. v. Glenn Murphy, 217 F.2d 247, 1954 U.S. App. LEXIS 3108 (7th Cir. 1954).

Opinion

DUFFY, Chief Judge.

Relator was in custody at the Illinois State Farm, a state penal institution. He petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus contending that he was apprehended, convicted and incarcerated while he was in the custody of a United States Marshal pursuant to the terms of probation imposed upon him by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, and claimed that his incarceration in the state institution was, therefore, unlawful. The United States District Court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law holding that the Circuit Court of Ogle County lacked jurisdiction to proceed with the trial of relator which resulted in his conviction, and that the sentence imposed on him by said Court was in violation of the principle of comity existing between the State of Illinois and the United States and that the judgment of conviction was void, and ordered that relator be discharged by the warden of the Illinois State Farm from further imprisonment and detention.

It seems necessary to set out a somewhat detailed statement of the proceedings involving relator in the federal district court and the state circuit court, in order to fully understand the issues herein. On July 21, 1951 an information was filed with a United States Commissioner in the Northern District of Illinois charging relator with the violation of Title 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 714m (b) and (c) which sections cover larceny or embezzlement of funds or other property of the United States Commodity Credit Corporation. On January 21, 1952 a federal grand jury returned an indictment covering the above charge (Cause 52 CR 1) and relator was released on bail.

On October 1, 1951 the grand jury of the Circuit Court of Ogle County, Illinois, returned four indictments charging relator with making checks with the intent to defraud. The offenses contained in these charges were misdemeanors and were designated in the state court as Causes Nos. 8312, 8313, 8314 and 8315.

*249 On December 27, 1952, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, relator entered a plea of guilty to the charge in the indictment there pending (Cause 52 CR 1). The Court sentenced relator to the custody of the Attorney General for imprisonment for a period of five years. The Court then suspended the execution of the prison sentence and placed relator on probation. One of the conditions of the order for probation was that for a period of three years relator would, once each week, surrender to the custody of the United States Marshal for a period of twenty-four hours.

In January, 1953, relator, without objection on his part to the state court’s jurisdiction, was tried in the Circuit Court of Ogle County, on the charge contained in Cause No. 8315, and a jury returned a verdict of “Not Guilty”. Thereafter, in April, 1953, the grand jury of the Circuit Court of Ogle County returned an indictment (Cause No. 8355) charging larceny by embezzlement of 40,-000 bushels of grain belonging to Commodity Credit Corporation. This indictment charged a felony.

On June 12, 1953, relator moved the Circuit Court of Ogle County to dismiss Cause No. 8314 for alleged failure to bring same to trial within 120 days from demand therefor. The Court denied this motion, but considered same to be a demand for trial.

On June 29,1953 relator filed a motion in the Circuit Court of Ogle County in Cause No. 8355 attacking the jurisdiction of that Court on the ground, among others, that relator was, at that time, on probation from the United States District Court. On July 10, 1953, the Circuit Court of Ogle County overruled relator’s motion and set Cause No. 8355 for trial on September 8, 1953 and also set the misdemeanor case No. 8314 for trial on the same day. This was done because the Court’s jurisdiction to proceed in No. 8355 had been questioned.

On August 14,1953 relator filed a petition in the United States District Court asking that the state authorities be restrained from proceeding in Cause No 8355. This motion was granted on October 12, 1953.

While this motion was pending the attention of the District Court was directed, informally, to the plan of the state authorities to proceed with the trial in Cause No. 8314 and the District Court’s advice was sought whether such procedure was permissible. The Court refused to make any commitment on the ground that the matter had not been properly called to its attention.

Relator went to trial in the Circuit Court of Ogle County on the charges contained in Cause No. 8314 and on October 17, 1953 was found guilty. The Circuit Court sentenced relator to imprisonment for a period of one year and imposed a fine of $1,000.00. A 60 day stay of mittimus was granted. A motion for a new trial was denied in which relator did not raise any question as to the Circuit Court’s jurisdiction, nor had any such question been raised at the trial. The stay of mittimus expired December 27, 1953.

On December 26, 1953 relator surrendered himself to the custody of the United States Marshal at Freeport, Illinois, for the purpose of carrying out the terms of the probation order of the United States District Court. He presented himself at the Stephenson County jail at Freeport, and, although it does not appear from the record, we assume that some arrangements had been made by the United States Marshal for the relator to surrender himself at that place. On December 27, 1953, at about 12:20 A.M., the Sheriff of Ogle County took custody of the relator and transported him to the Illinois State Farm at Vandalia, Illinois, for the purpose of carrying out the sentence imposed by the Circuit Court of Ogle County. On January 5, 1954 relator petitioned for habeas corpus, the merits of which are now before us on this appeal.

In the judgment entered by the District Court it was ordered that relator be forthwith discharged “from further imprisonment and detention by reason of *250 the said commitment issued by the Circuit Court of Ogle County in Cause No. 8314.” It was the view of the District Judge that the trial and sentence of relator in Cause 8314 was void from the beginning.

The argument of relator that the state authorities violated the rule of comity in prosecuting him in Cause No. 8314 while he was on probation under the order of the Federal District Court, finds support in Grant v. Guernsey, 10 Cir., 63 F.2d 163, 164. In that case the defendant was at large under the terms of an order of probation from the Federal Court when the local authorities initiated criminal proceedings against him based on acts committed prior to the entry of the Federal probation order. The local authorities did not obtain the permission of the Federal Court for such prosecution. On a writ of habeas corpus the district court discharged the defendant. By a divided court, the Court of Appeals sustained the District Court holding that the action of the local authorities “was a direct interference with federal jurisdiction, and a violation of the rule of comity between federal and state courts”. Several District Courts have followed the rule announced in the Guernsey case, to-wit: United States ex rel. Speece v. Toman, D.C., 23 F.Supp. 119; United States v. Pendergast, D.C., 28 F.Supp. 601; United States ex rel. Hall v. McGowan, D.C., 80 F.Supp. 792.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Creps v. State
581 P.2d 842 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1978)
United States v. Thomas Hooper
564 F.2d 217 (Seventh Circuit, 1977)
Harkins v. Lauf
532 S.W.2d 459 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1976)
State v. Jones
327 So. 2d 18 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1976)
State v. Scott
491 S.W.2d 514 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1973)
People v. Rodgers
276 N.E.2d 504 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1971)
State v. Williams
237 So. 2d 69 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1970)
Brown v. State
452 S.W.2d 176 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1970)
People Ex Rel. Scott v. Jones
255 N.E.2d 397 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1970)
Willis v. United States
250 A.2d 569 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1969)
Franklin v. State
392 P.2d 552 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1964)
Gene Alvin Krupnick v. United States
286 F.2d 45 (Eighth Circuit, 1961)
Grovene James Finley v. United States
266 F.2d 29 (Fifth Circuit, 1959)
Kellett v. United States
162 F. Supp. 791 (W.D. Missouri, 1958)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
217 F.2d 247, 1954 U.S. App. LEXIS 3108, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-of-america-ex-rel-francis-spellman-jr-v-glenn-murphy-ca7-1954.