Barnes v. Hunter, 4190.

Decision Date04 April 1951
Docket NumberNo. 4190.,4190.
PartiesBARNES v. HUNTER, Warden.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

John B. Tweedy, Denver, Colo., for appellant.

Malcolm Miller, Asst. U. S. Atty., Topeka, Kan. (Lester Luther, U. S. Atty., Topeka, Kan., on the brief), for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and MURRAH and PICKETT, Circuit Judges.

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from an order denying an application for a writ of habeas corpus. In his application for the writ Barnes alleged that an information containing three counts was filed against him in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri; that the second count charged that Barnes "did cause to be transported in interstate commerce from Columbia, Missouri to Cleveland, Ohio, two falsely made and forged checks in the amount of Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00) each,"; that the third count charged that Barnes "did transport and cause to be transported in interstate commerce from Kansas City, Missouri to Cleveland, Ohio, four (4) falsely made and forged checks in the following amounts respectively: Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00), Fifty-five Dollars ($55.00) and Sixty-five Dollars ($65.00) each,"; that Barnes entered pleas of guilty to each of the three counts and was sentenced to terms of imprisonment of one year and one day on Count 1, two years on Count 2, and two years on Count 3, the sentences to run consecutively; that since November, 1948, Barnes has been confined in the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas; that on or about April 1, 1949, Barnes filed in the sentencing court under 28 U.S. C.A. § 2255 a motion to vacate the sentences imposed upon Counts 2 and 3, for the reason that neither of such counts charged an offense against the United States and the court was without jurisdiction to impose sentences on Counts 2 and 3; that on April 7, 1949, the sentencing court, without affording Barnes a hearing or opportunity to traverse the objections filed by the United States to his motion to vacate, overruled the motion; that thereafter on April 19, 1949, Barnes filed a notice of appeal from the order denying his motion to vacate; that the court entered an order permitting the notice to be filed without paying the filing fee, but denying Barnes leave to perfect his appeal in forma pauperis.

Section 2255, supra, provides: "An application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a prisoner who is authorized to apply for relief by motion pursuant to this section, shall not be entertained if it appears that the applicant has failed to apply for relief, by motion, to the court which sentenced him, or that such court has denied him relief, unless it also appears that the remedy by motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention."

It is not the function of this court on an appeal from an order denying an application for a writ of habeas corpus to review the action of the sentencing court in denying a motion to vacate a sentence filed under § 2255, supra. Our sole inquiry with respect to the proceedings on such a motion is whether the applicant for the writ has shown that his remedy by motion under § 2255, supra, was inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention.

To establish that the remedy by motion was inadequate and ineffective Barnes alleged that the sentencing court summarily denied his motion to vacate, without a hearing, and denied him the right to prosecute an appeal from the order denying such motion in forma pauperis.

Barnes asserts that Counts 2 and 3 of the information undertook to charge violations of 18 U.S.C.A. § 2314, which in part reads: "Whoever, with unlawful or fraudulent intent, transports in interstate or foreign commerce any falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited securities, knowing the same to have been falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited; * * *." and that Counts 2 and 3 failed to allege two elements of the offense defined in § 2314, namely, (1) unlawful or fraudulent intent, and (2) knowledge that the security was forged.

Section 2255, supra, does not give a prisoner the right to obtain a review, first by the court which imposed the sentence and then on appeal from a denial of a motion to vacate, of errors of fact or law that must be raised by timely appeal. The purpose of the section was not to confer a broader right of attack upon a judgment and sentence than might theretofore have been made by habeas corpus, but rather to provide that the attack which theretofore might have been made in some other court through resort to habeas corpus, must now be made by motion in the sentencing court, unless it shall appear that the remedy by motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of the prisoner's detention. While the form of attack is direct, the grounds therefor are limited to matters that may be raised on collateral attack.1

It is a general rule that in a habeas corpus proceeding the sufficiency of the indictment or information upon which the petitioner was convicted and sentenced may not be challenged. In Knewel v. Egan, 268 U.S. 442, 446, 45 S.Ct. 522, 524, 69 L.Ed. 1036, the Supreme Court of the United States, speaking through the late Chief Justice Stone said: "It is fundamental that a court upon which is conferred jurisdiction to try an offense has jurisdiction to determine whether or not that offense is charged or proved. Otherwise every judgment of conviction would be subject to collateral attack and review on habeas corpus on the ground that no offense was charged or proved. It has been uniformly held by this court that the sufficiency of an indictment cannot be reviewed in habeas corpus proceedings."

The principle was announced in the leading case of Ex parte Watkins, 3 Pet. 193, 7 L.Ed. 650, and has been reaffirmed many times by the Supreme Court.2

In Goto v. Lane, 265 U.S. 393, 402, 44 S.Ct. 525, 527, 68 L.Ed. 1070, the court said: "The circuit court in which the petitioners were tried and convicted undoubtedly had jurisdiction of the subject-matter and of their persons, and the sentence imposed was not in excess of its power. The offense charged was neither colorless nor an impossible one under the law. The construction to be put on the indictment, its sufficiency and the effect to be given to the stipulation were all matters the determination of which rested primarily with that court. If it erred in determining them, its judgment was not for that reason void".

In Re Coy, 127 U.S. 731, 758, 8 S.Ct. 1263, 1272, 32 L.Ed. 274, the court said: "In all such cases, when the question of jurisdiction is raised, the point to be decided is, whether the court has jurisdiction of that class of offenses. If the statute has invested the court which tried the prisoner with jurisdiction to punish a well-defined class of offenses, as forgery of its bonds or perjury in its courts, its judgment as to what acts were necessary under these statutes to constitute the crime is not reviewable on a writ of habeas corpus."

In United States v. Pridgeon, 153 U.S. 48, 59, 60, 14 S.Ct. 746, 750, 38 L.Ed. 631, the court said: "The habeas corpus proceeding being a collateral attack of a civil nature, it must clearly and affirmatively appear that the indictment charged an offense of which the court had no jurisdiction, so that its sentence was void."

The general rule is subject to certain exceptions:

(1) If the indictment or information attempts to charge a non-existent Federal offense, or, as it is sometimes called, an impossible offense, as where it appears that the offense attempted to be charged, even though defined by state law or known to the common law, is not defined by a Federal statute, the indictment or information is open to collateral attack;3 and

(2) Where although the offense is defined by Federal statute it affirmatively appears on the face of the indictment or information that no Federal offense was committed, the indictment or information is open to collateral attack. Such an indictment or information is said to be colorless. An example would be an indictment seeking to charge an offense under 18 U.S.C.A. § 2314, which makes it unlawful to knowingly transport in interstate or foreign commerce property of the value of $5,000, theretofore stolen, but alleging that the value of the property transported was $2,500.4

The elements of the offense sought to be charged by an indictment or information, the sufficiency of the plea or proof to support the judgment of conviction, the construction to be placed upon the indictment or information, and the sufficiency of the charge are all matters, the determination of which rest primarily with the sentencing court. If it errs in determining them, its judgment is not for that reason void. Hence, subject to the second exception noted above, when there is an offense defined by a Federal statute, of which the sentencing court has jurisdiction, and the indictment or information apparently attempts to charge an offense under such statute, and such court acquires jurisdiction over the person of the defendant, the sufficiency of the indictment is not subject to attack on habeas corpus.5

The rationale of the rule is that when...

To continue reading

Request your trial
42 cases
  • Carmen, Application of
    • United States
    • California Supreme Court
    • August 2, 1957
    ...that particular court has jurisdiction of that class of offense. In re Coy, 127 U.S. 731, 758, 8 S.Ct. 1263, 32 L.Ed. 274; Barnes v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 188 F.2d 86, 89; Tooisgah v. United States, 10 Cir., 186 F.2d 93, 96. 'It should be kept in mind that all congressional legislation relative ......
  • State ex rel. Irvine v. District Court of Fourth Judicial Dist. in and for Lake County
    • United States
    • Montana Supreme Court
    • December 20, 1951
    ...that particular court has jurisdiction of that class of offense. In re Coy, 127 U.S. 731, 758, 8 S.Ct. 1263, 32 L.Ed. 274; Barnes v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 188 F.2d 86, 89; Tooisgah v. United States, 10 Cir., 186 F.2d 93, 96. It should be kept in mind that all congressional legislation relative t......
  • State v. Cerny
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • February 13, 1956
    ...675, 676, certiorari denied 344 U.S. 877, 73 S.Ct. 171, 97 L.Ed. 679; Crow v. United States, 9 Cir., 186 F.2d 704, 706; Barnes v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 188 F.2d 86, 88, certiorari denied 342 U.S. 920, 72 S.Ct. 368, 96 L.Ed. 688; Kreuter v. United States, 10 Cir., 201 F.2d 33, 35. Rule 27.26 affo......
  • United States v. Walker, Crim. No. 24499.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of California
    • May 27, 1955
    ...note.) See also: Stewart v. Johnston, 9 Cir., 1938, 97 F.2d 548, 549; Kreuter v. U. S., 10 Cir., 1952, 201 F.2d 33, 35; Barnes v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 1951, 188 F.2d 86, 88; Hahn v. U. S., 10 Cir., 1949, 178 F.2d 11, 12; U. S. ex rel. Gallivan v. Hill, 3 Cir., 1934, 70 F.2d 840, When an indictm......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT