Opinion
September 9, 1963.
November 13, 1963.
Criminal Law — Practice — Habeas corpus — Alleged illegality of arrest — Arrest for felony without warrant.
In a habeas corpus proceeding, in which it appeared that petitioner, who had been convicted on indictments charging him with incest, assault and battery, aggravated assault and battery, assault and battery with intent to ravish, rape, indecent assault, and corrupting the morals of a minor child, alleged that his arrest was unlawful and in violation of his constitutional rights, in that he was forcibly awakened in the early morning hours of the day of arrest by police officers who had entered his apartment, placed him under arrest and forced him to leave his legal residence and to accompany them to the police station, where he was incarcerated until a hearing on the following day, and that he was subjected to this arrest without a warrant; that the evidence indicated that petitioner's daughter had awakened a neighbor, informed the neighbor that her father had committed rape upon her, that the neighbor had taken her to the nearest police station, and that the police officers had returned to the premises, placed petitioner under arrest, and taken him into custody; and that the court below, holding that the evidence amply warranted the guilty verdicts by the jury, that the alleged illegality of arrest was not ground for discharge in a habeas corpus proceeding after conviction, and that the police officer could arrest for felony without a warrant, dismissed the petition; it was Held that the order of the court below should be affirmed.
Before RHODES, P.J., ERVIN, WRIGHT, WOODSIDE, WATKINS, MONTGOMERY, and FLOOD, JJ.
Appeal, No. 147, Oct. T., 1963, from order of Court of Common Pleas No. 5 of Philadelphia County, Sept. T., 1962, No. 1453, in case of Commonwealth ex rel. Charles Smythe v. A.T. Rundle, Warden. Order affirmed.
Same case in court below: 31 Pa. D. C. 2d 542.
Habeas corpus.
Order entered dismissing petition, opinion by SPORKIN, J. Relator appealed.
Charles Smythe, appellant, in propria persona.
John F. Hassett and Arlen Specter, Assistant District Attorneys, F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, Jr., First Assistant District Attorney, and James C. Crumlish, Jr., District Attorney, for appellee.
Submitted September 9, 1963.
The order of the court below dismissing petition for writ of habeas corpus is affirmed on the opinion of Judge SPORKIN of the Court of Common Pleas No. 2 of Philadelphia County, as reported in 31 Pa. D. C. 2d 542.