Beto v. Sykes
| Citation | 360 F.2d 411 |
| Decision Date | 29 April 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 22734.,22734. |
| Parties | Dr. George J. BETO, Director, Texas Department of Corrections, Appellant, v. Eugene SYKES, Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
Lonny F. Zwiener, Asst. Atty. Gen., of Texas, Waggoner Carr, Atty. Gen., of Texas, Hawthorne Phillips, First Asst. Atty. Gen., T. B. Wright, Executive Asst. Atty. Gen., Howard M. Fender, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for appellant.
No formal appearance entered for appellee, in pro. per.
Before RIVES and BELL, Circuit Judges, and FULTON, District Judge.
The district court granted Sykes' petition for habeas corpus and ordered his discharge from state custody for the reasons stated in an opinion hereto attached as Appendix A.
As appears from that opinion, the question presented and decided is a matter of state law only. Jurisdiction to consider and decide such a question has not been vested in any federal court or judge. 28 U.S.C.A. 2241(c); United States ex rel. Long v. Rundle, 3rd Cir. 1964, 327 F.2d 495, 496.
The judgment is therefore vacated and the case remanded with directions to dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction. The Clerk will issue the mandate forthwith.
Vacated and remanded.
APPENDIX A
Petitioner has filed herein a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus seeking his release from the custody of the Respondent. A hearing on said petition was had with Petitioner being present in person and testifying in his own behalf. The pertinent facts are found to be as hereinafter stated.
On January 22, 1958, Petitioner, with his court-appointed attorney, appeared before the District Court of Gonzales County, Texas in Cause No. 5563 on the docket of that court, and entered a plea of guilty to the offense of forgery and passing. The entry made on the judge's docket sheet in said Cause No. 5563 under date of January 22, 1958, is as follows:
Prior to entering such plea of guilty Petitioner filed an affidavit in said Cause No. 5563 in the required form setting forth that he had never before been convicted of a felony and requested that any sentence upon his conviction of the offense charged in that case be suspended. After the court accepted Petitioner's plea of guilty a judgment was duly entered in said cause. Among the findings of the court contained in said judgment was a finding to the effect that Petitioner had never before been convicted of
a felony and that the sentence in said cause should be suspended. The judgment further provided as follows:
IT IS, THEREFORE, CONSIDERED AND ADJUDGED by the Court that the defendant EUGENE SYKES is guilty of the offense of FORGERY & PASSING as confessed by him in his said plea of GUILTY herein made, and that he be punished as determined by the Court, by confinement in the State Penitentiary for a term of FIVE (5) years ______ and that the State of Texas do have and recover of said defendant all costs in this prosecution expended, for which execution will issue; the said defendant having made application in due form for suspension of the sentence on his conviction herein; it is further ordered by the Court that the sentence of the judgment of Court herein shall be and same is hereby suspended during the good behavior of the Defendant and that the said EUGENE SYKES, defendant be released from custody upon his personal recognizance in the sum of $500.00 dollars ($500.00) conditioned as the law requires for his good behavior during the said period of time." (Emphasis supplied)
As the judgment required, Petitioner was released from custody and probated to one Raymond South of San Antonio, Texas.
Subsequent to the events above related Petitioner was charged with having committed the offense of burglary with intent to commit theft in Cause No. S-57,245 in the District Court of Bexar County, Texas. On December 18, 1958, Petitioner plead guilty in that cause and was sentenced to the Texas Penitentiary for not less than two and not more than five years. Thereafter on January 5, 1959, Petitioner was brought back before the District Court of Gonzales County in said Cause No. 5563 and that court entered an order revoking Petitioner's probation and sentenced Pet...
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Johnson v. State of Maryland, Civ. No. 73-576-W.
...v. Warden, Md. Penitentiary, supra, is a matter of state law only. Pringle v. Beto, 424 F.2d 515, 516 (5 Cir. 1970); Beto v. Sykes, 360 F.2d 411, 412 (5 Cir. 1970). A constitutional defect in the sentence imposed does not affect the validity of the underlying conviction. Moore v. Illinois, ......
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Carter v. State
...proceedings have no jurisdiction over such state law claims"); Guzman v. Morris, 644 F.2d 1295, 1297 (9th Cir.1981); Beto v. Sykes, 360 F.2d 411, 412 (5th Cir.1966). This limitation of habeas relief to violations of federal law becomes even more apparent when the history and purpose of the ......
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Nelson v. Estelle
...F.2d 1326 (5th Cir. 1977); Pringle v. Beto, 424 F.2d 515 (5th Cir. 1970); Bilton v. Beto, 403 F.2d 664 (5th Cir. 1968); Beto v. Sykes, 360 F.2d 411 (5th Cir. 1966). Therefore, our duty is to determine whether there has been a constitutional infraction of defendant's due process rights which......
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Woodard v. Beto, 31107 Summary Calendar.
...under state rules of procedure. Pringle v. Beto, 5th Cir. 1970, 424 F.2d 515; Bilton v. Beto, 5th Cir. 1968, 403 F.2d 664; Beto v. Sykes, 5th Cir. 1966, 360 F.2d 411. However we construe the appellant's second contention, therefore, it lacks Affirmed. * Rule 18, 5th Cir.; see Isbell Enterpr......