Carnley v. Cochran
| Decision Date | 23 September 1960 |
| Citation | 123 So.2d 249 |
| Parties | Willard CARNLEY, Pearl Carnley, Petitioners, v. H. G. COCHRAN, Jr., Director, Division of Corrections, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Willard Carnley and Pearl Carnley, in pro. per., for petitioners.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and B. Clarke Nichols, for respondent.
On petition of Willard Carnley and Pearl Carnley, writ of habeas corpus was on June 16, 1960, issued from this court as to each petitioner and return thereto was filed by respondent.
The return shows that respondent holds Willard Carnley and Pearl Carnley pursuant to a commitment from the Court of Record for Escambia County, Florida, dated September 19, 1958. Said commitments are predicated on judgments and sentences by the Court of Record of Escambia County entered September 19, 1958. The said judgments and sentences resulted from Willard Carnley and Pearl Carnley having been tried and convicted by a jury on an information charging Willard Carnley with the crime of incest and fondling and Pearl Carnley as being accessory before the fact to incest and accessory before the fact to fondling.
It is shown that petitioners waived a jury trial but the trial court refused to accept waiver of the jury which he had a right to do under the law of this state. Jones v. State, 1945, 155 Fla. 558, 20 So.2d 901. All the evidence at the trial was accordingly submitted to and passed on by the jury. Respondent denies that petitioners were totally unable to defend themselves. He denies that petitioners requested counsel to defend them. He denies that the trial court peremptorily ordered petitioners to sit down when they attempted to interrogate the witnesses against them.
Respondent affirmatively alleges that petitioners actively participated in the conduct of the trial with both interrogating the witnesses against them, both making opening statements to the jury and both making closing arguments to the jury. It is further shown that petitioners were carefully instructed by the trial court with regard to the rights guaranteed to them under the state and federal Constitutions and with respect to procedure governing the trial. A certified transcript of the testimony taken at the trial is attached to and made a part of the record in this proceeding. It proves each and every of the proceedings enumerated herein.
Petitioners contend that the crime of incest and the crime of fondling constitute a single offense. It will be observed, however, that in this case defendants were found guilty of all counts charged in the information, that they were sentenced to imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term of six months to twenty years, and by the terms of said sentence given credit for the time they spent in the Escambia County jail since their initial arrest on November 5, 1957. The sentence imposed was within the maximum prescribed by law for the crimes with which petitioners were charged and found guilty. Inasmuch as § 801.02, Florida Statutes, F.S.A. provides that the crime of incest, fondling [lewd and lascivious behaviour] when said acts are committed with a person 14 years old or under, shall be included under the provisions of Chapter 801, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., certainly no harm accrued to petitioners. Buchanan v. State, Fla.App.1959, 111 So.2d 51.
Section 801.03, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., provides that anyone convicted of an offense within the meaning of Chapter 801 may, in the discretion of the trial judge, be sentenced to a term not to exceed 25 years in the state prison. The trial court having adjudged petitioners guilty of all crimes charged in the information filed against them and having sentenced them to...
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Vickery v. State of South Carolina
...to appointment of counsel for the defendant gave rise to a presumption "that defendant waived the benefit of counsel . . ." Carnley v. Cochran, 123 So.2d 249 at 251. The United States Supreme Court reversed, citing Rice v. Olson, 324 U.S. 786, 65 S. Ct. 989, 89 L.Ed. 1367—(where the Court r......
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Loper v. Beto
...1960, the Supreme Court of Florida granted a provisional writ of habeas corpus that was discharged on September 23, 1960. Carnley v. Cochran, 123 So.2d 249, 250 (1960). ...
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Hlad v. State
...to guilt or penalty. 12 (4) PRESUMING WAIVER OF COUNSEL FROM A SILENT RECORD IS CONSTITUTIONALLY IMPERMISSIBLE In Carnley v. Cochran, 123 So.2d 249 (Fla.1960), the Florida Supreme Court in discharging a writ of habeas corpus, If the record shows that defendant did not have counsel or fails ......
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Carnley v. Cochran, 158
...However, that court, on the petition, the respondent's return and the petitioner's reply—but without any hearing—discharged the writ. 123 So.2d 249. Since an important constitutional right is involved, we granted certiorari and appointed counsel to represent the petitioner in this Court. 36......