Summary
In Commonwealth ex rel. Baugh v. Claudy, 171 Pa. Super. 183 (allocatur refused ibid. xxiv), 90 A.2d 307 (certiorari denied by the Supreme Court of the United States), we affirmed the dismissal of a writ of error coram nobis by the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny County on the opinion of SOFFEL, J., for the court en banc.
Summary of this case from Com. ex rel. Comer v. ClaudyOpinion
April 17, 1952.
July 17, 1952.
Criminal law — Practice — Writ of error coram nobis — Truth and accuracy of averments — Summary dismissal.
1. Those seeking to invalidate or set aside, by writs of habeas corpus or coram nobis, the sentences under which they are held in confinement should adhere to truth and accuracy in both petitions and briefs.
2. In this case, it was Held that a petition for a writ of error coram nobis was devoid of merit, and that it had been proper for the court below to summarily dismiss it.
Before RHODES, P.J., HIRT, RENO, DITHRICH, ROSS, ARNOLD and GUNTHER, JJ.
Appeal, No. 34, April T., 1952, from order of Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny County, June Sessions, 1950, Nos. 166 and 167, in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ex rel. Fleetwood Baugh v. Dr. John W. Claudy, Warden, Western State Penitentiary. Order affirmed; reargument refused August 6, 1952.
Petition for writ of error coram nobis.
The facts are stated in the opinion of SOFFEL, J., of the court below, SOFFEL, ADAMS, and DREW, JJ., a part of which is as follows:
Fleetwood Baugh was indicted with Thomas Hall at Nos. 166 and 167 June Sessions, 1950, in the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery for the County of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, charged with robbery. The jury returned verdicts in said cases finding the defendants guilty. The Court entered the following sentences as to the defendant Fleetwood Baugh:
[At No. 166, June Sessions, 1950, imprisonment of not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years in the Western State Penitentiary . . . At No. 167, June Sessions, 1950, not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years in the Western State Penitentiary, to begin and take effect at the expiration of the sentence imposed at No. 166, June Sessions, 1950.]
Reporter's note: The sentences as recorded have been abbreviated.
Subsequently Fleetwood Baugh filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, which sets forth the following allegations of fact:
That he was accused of Robbery, with Accomplice and by Violence, upon one Jasper Lineburger, on date of April 21, 1951, No. 167, bill of indictment.
That during a preliminary hearing at No. 2 Police Station, one Roy Davis appeared as a witness for Lineburger, stating that he (Roy Davis) lost nothing in the presence of Alderman Williams, thereby charging your Petitioner with but one charge and one crime.
That Petitioner was ushered before His Honor, Frank P. Patterson, for arraignment on ONE charge, being that of one Jasper Lineburger, Indictment No. 167, no formal hearing or accusation was made by Roy Davis (Indictment No. 166) until the day of trial, September 11, 1950.
Your petitioner requests that Bill of Indictment No. 166, be vacated and set aside, in view of the fact that it is a false accusation, which can be proved by Alderman Williams of No. 2 Police Station, Attorney Bloomfield and County Jail Records.
Your Petitioner respectfully requests that this Honorable Court subpoena Alderman Williams, so as to testify to the statement made by Roy Davis at the Preliminary Hearing that "he did not lose anything but was present as a witness for Jasper Lineburger." It is further requested that Attorney Bloomfield be subpoenaed with the County Jail Records, so as to prove NO charge was formally made by Roy Davis.
Your Petitioner respectfully requests the records of former President Judge PATTERSON be submitted to further prove that Judge PATTERSON did in open court on a previous Habeas Corpus hearing, admit your Petitioner was not arraigned on Indictment No. 166, however, this point was not then under question.
His Honor, FRANK P. PATTERSON, President Judge of the Allegheny County Court, was fully aware of the Arraignment of Your Petitioner on ONE charge, No. 167, therefore being without doubt of the Validity of Bill of Indictment No. 166, Your Petitioner requests that he may be releaved (relieved) of said unjust sentence for which he is now serving in the Western State Penitentiary at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with due respect to the Laws and Statutes of this Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
On October 29, 1951, this matter came before a court en banc consisting of Judges SOFFEL, ADAMS and DREW. No argument was presented to substantiate the allegations set forth in the petition. Defendant was present in Court and was represented by counsel, Daniel T. Zamos, Esq., of the Legal Aid Society, who stated in open court that there was no merit to the petition for writ of error coram nobis. The petition was summarily dismissed.
This is one of many cases now being brought before the courts on petition by an inmate of the penitentiary, who, encouraged by fellow-inmates, either presents a petition for writ of habeas corpus or writ of error coram nobis.
The evidence adduced at the trial of these cases may be summarized briefly as follows:
[The testimony established that on April 21, 1950, at 9:30 p.m., at 1812 Wylie Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Baugh and an accomplice committed robbery.]
Reporter's note: An analysis of the testimony of the witnesses is omitted.
The defendants were represented by counsel during the trial. The jury, by its verdicts, found the defendants guilty as indicted. We believe there was ample evidence to sustain and justify the verdicts.
Since there was nothing presented to the court en banc to justify or sustain the writ of error coram nobis, we are of the opinion that it was properly dismissed.
Petitioner appealed.
Ezra C. Stiles, Jr., with him Fleetwood Baugh, in propria persona, for appellant.
Albert A. Fiok, Assistant District Attorney, with him James P. Malone, Jr., District Attorney, for appellee.
Argued April 17, 1952.
This is an appeal by defendant, Fleetwood Baugh, from the dismissal of his petition for writ of error coram nobis by the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny County. The petition is devoid of merit, and it was proper for the court below to summarily dismiss it. The attempted use of this writ by those who have no comprehension of its limited scope is becoming more frequent. See Com. v. Geisel, 170 Pa. Super. 636, 90 A.2d 306. Those seeking to invalidate or set aside, by writs of habeas corpus or coram nobis, the sentences under which they are held in confinement should adhere to truth and accuracy in both petitions and briefs.
The order of the court below is affirmed on the opinion of Judge SOFFEL, a part of which is set forth in the reporter's notes.