Bashaw, In re
| Decision Date | 25 May 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 45-70,45-70 |
| Citation | 278 A.2d 752,129 Vt. 393 |
| Parties | In re Neal R. BASHAW. |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
David F. Buckley, Bellows Falls, for plaintiff.
James M. Jeffords, Atty. Gen., and Martin K. Miller, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Before HOLDEN, C. J., and SHANGRAW, BARNEY, SMITH and KEYSER, JJ.
The petitioner sought post conviction relief in Windsor County Court. His pro se petition is entitled an 'Application for Writ of Habeas Corpus.' The procedure available to the petitioner is not governed by his choice of labels. See, Smith v. Bennett, 365 U.S. 708, 712, 81 S.Ct. 895, 6 L.Ed.2d 39. His allegations bring his petition within the procedure and remedy afforded by 13 V.S.A. §§ 7131-7137. Our review is governed by the same direction.
A hearing on the petition was denied on the grounds that the petition, on its face, failed to set forth any facts justifying a hearing. This is appropriate under the statute, 13 V.S.A. § 7133, provided that the motion itself, 'and the files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief. * * *' The ruling is here for review.
The petitioner sets out several issues in his petition warranting attention and adjudication, after appropriate fact finding. See, In re Lamphere, 127 Vt. 604, 605, 256 A.2d 29. All relate, in various ways, to his constitutional right to trial by jury under the provisions of Articles 10 and 12 of Chapter I of the Vermont Constitution. He alleges he was tried by an eleven man jury without his personal consent; that his attorney waived, without right or authority, a jury of twelve; and, further that no such waiver can constitutionally be made by either or both of them, and certainly not orally. He further claims that the jury was empanelled in July, then allowed to separate for an impermissible length of time before trial commenced in August.
These claims now stand as unimpeached allegations as to their facts, and unchallenged as to their law, since the petition was dismissed prior to any requirement for responsive pleadings on the part of the state. In the absence of any other concern, the matter should have moved at least as far as requiring the state to answer, and then, if the unresolved issues required, on to hearing, findings, conclusions of law and judgment. Effective review of the issues requires such steps.
Where summary action is undertaken, proper implementation of the statutory purpose requires the court to support its ruling by stating the conclusions of law upon which it predicates its action. Although such a statement is not before us in this case, the mittimus attached to the petition suggests the probable basis for the refusal of relief. If so, the suggestion of the mittimus is not enough to...
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Stewart, In re
...even where release from confinement is not one of the possible dispositions under the issues presented." In re Bashaw, 129 Vt. 393, 395, 278 A.2d 752, 754 (1971)(construing 13 V.S.A. § 7131). On two occasions we have stated that an individual need not be incarcerated to satisfy the "in cust......
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In re Chandler
...even where release from confinement is not one of the possible dispositions under the issues presented.” In re Bashaw, 129 Vt. 393, 395, 278 A.2d 752, 754 (1971) (construing 13 V.S.A. § 7133). In fact, a new trial may be the only relief that a court could ever afford petitioner because a Ve......
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In re Chandler, 2012-073
...even where release from confinement is not one of the possible dispositions under the issues presented." In re Bashaw, 129 Vt. 393, 395, 278 A.2d 752, 754 (1971) (construing 13 V.S.A. § 7133). In fact, a new trial may be the only relief that a court could ever afford petitioner because a Ve......
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Trivento, In re, 127-72
...to order the release, retrial, or resentencing of the petitioner, whichever relief is appropriate. 13 V.S.A. § 7133; In re Bashaw, 129 Vt. 393, 395, 278 A.2d 752 (1971). In this case, the county court reviewing the appellant's confinement as a psychopathic personality was also the same cour......