Dilworth v. Leach

Decision Date12 November 1973
Docket NumberNo. 25911,25911
Citation183 Colo. 206,515 P.2d 1130
PartiesO'Dell DILWORTH, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Brad LEACH, Sheriff of Boulder County, Colorado, Respondent-Appellee.
CourtColorado Supreme Court

Rollie R. Rogers, Colo. State Public Defender, J. D. MacFarlane, Chief Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Douglas H. Brown, Deputy State Public Defender, Boulder, for petitioner-appellant.

John P. Moore, Atty. Gen., John E. Bush, Deputy Atty. Gen., Tennyson W. Grebenar, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for respondent-appellee.

KELLEY, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the district court discharging the petitioner-appellant O'Dell Dilworth's (petitioner) petition for writ of habeas corpus. We find no error and affirm.

Petitioner had been charged and convicted of a felony in the state of New Mexico, served a portion of his sentence and was released on parole. While on parole, he allegedly committed an offense of violence which constituted a violation of the terms of his parole. He departed the state of New Mexico and was arrested on a fugitive criminal complaint and incarcerated in Boulder County jail. Subsequently, a governor's warrant was issued at the request of New Mexico authorities. The petition for a writ of habeas corpus followed.

The principal errors alleged by the petitioner are based on discrepancies between the fugitive criminal complaint (C.R.S.1963, 60--1--13, 14, 15) filed by local Colorado authorities and the Colorado governor's warrant and its supporting documents. Petitioner argues that his arrest on the warrant issued on the fugitive complaint was unlawful and therefore the governor's warrant is void. He concedes, however, that to reach the conclusion for which he contends, it will be necessary for us to overrule the following cases which hold that an unlawful arrest does not void otherwise valid extradition proceedings: Luker v. Koch, 176 Colo. 75, 489 P.2d 191 (1971); McClearn v. Jones, 162 Colo. 354, 426 P.2d 192 (1967); Capra v. Miller, 161 Colo. 448, 422 P.2d 636 (1967); Velasquez v. People, 154 Colo. 284, 389 P.2d 849 (1964); Travis v. People, 135 Colo. 141, 308 P.2d 997 (1957). Neither reason nor justice requires a change in the well-settled principle that the process involved in the initial arrest in the asylum state becomes moot upon the issuance of the governor's warrant.

Another attack is based on the misspelling of the petitioner's name in some of the supporting documents. He contends that although both the requisition of the Governor of New Mexico and the warrant of the Governor of Colorado correctly refer to petitioner as O'Dell Dilworth, other documents which support the governor's warrant refer to another individual by the name of Odell Dillworth, and that this discrepancy is fatal. He maintains that the People have failed to prove a Prima facie case of identity between petitioner and Odell Dillworth.

Neither the omission of the apostrophe in the given name nor the double L in the surname had a tendency to mislead the petitioner and, under the circumstances, is therefore immaterial. Where two names are spelled differently but sound alike in their pronunciation, they are regarded as the same under the doctrine of Idem sonans. Murray v. People, 49 Colo. 109, 111 P. 711 (1910); Bloomer v. Cristler, 22 Colo.App. 238, 123 P. 966 (1911).

The petitioner introduced no evidence to disprove that he was the individual sought to be extradited. Rather he relied on the technical argument based solely on the discrepancy in the spelling of his name on some of the supporting documents. The petitioner's name in the requisition was identical to the name appearing in the governor's warrant. This created a Prima facie showing of identity and shifted the burden to petitioner to disprove the identity. Hithe v. Nelson, 172 Colo. 179, 471 P.2d 596 (1970).

In addition to the identity of names, an authenticated prison photo of the petitioner accompanied the extradition documents from New Mexico. The photo was competent evidence of identity. Glucksman v. Henkel, 221 U.S. 508, 31 S Ct. 704, 55 L.Ed. 830 (1911); United States ex rel. Vitiello v. Flood, 374 F.2d 554 (2d Cir. 1967); Raftery v. Bligh, 55 F.2d 189 (1st Cir. 1932); United States ex rel. Austin v. Williams, 12 F.2d 66 (5th Cir. 1926); Applications...

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19 cases
  • Pruett v. Barry
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • March 11, 1985
    ...moot all questions concerning the validity of the initial arrest. Reese v. Warden, 193 Colo. 7, 561 P.2d 339 (1977); Dilworth v. Leach, 183 Colo. 206, 515 P.2d 1130 (1973); Luker v. Koch, 176 Colo. 75, 489 P.2d 191 (1971); McClearn v. Jones, 162 Colo. 354, 426 P.2d 192 The petitioner has al......
  • Petition of Blackburn, 84-545
    • United States
    • Montana Supreme Court
    • April 15, 1985
    ...Spice (1975), 68 Wis.2d 263, 229 N.W.2d 97; Applications of Oppenheimer (1964), 95 Ariz. 292, 389 P.2d 696; Also, in Dilworth v. Leach (1973), 183 Colo. 206, 515 P.2d 1130, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed with the above cited principle and "... Neither reason nor justice requires a change......
  • Murphy v. Colorado Aviation, Inc.
    • United States
    • Colorado Court of Appeals
    • August 3, 1978
    ...of 20 to 30 days so that defendant could obtain experts to refute Zacko's testimony to be an abuse of discretion. See Dilworth v. Leach, 183 Colo. 206, 515 P.2d 1130 (1973). B. Federal Statutes And Regulations Certain Testimony Of NTSB Employees. At trial, Zacko testified that he was a form......
  • White v. Leach, 26610
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • March 10, 1975
    ...which relate to the initial arrest of the fugitive become moot. Crumrine v. Erickson, Colo., 526 P.2d 148 (1974); Dilworth v. Leach, Colo., 515 P.2d 1130 (1973); Luker v. Koch, 176 Colo. 75, 489 P.2d 191 (1971); McClearn v. Jones, 162 Colo. 354, 426 P.2d 192 (1967); Capra v. Miller, 161 Col......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Interstate Rendition Under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act
    • United States
    • Colorado Bar Association Colorado Lawyer No. 6-12, December 1977
    • Invalid date
    ...272 P.2d 656 (1954); Osborne v. Van Cleave, supra, note 104. 140. Eathorne v. Nelson, supra, note 62. 141. Id. 142. Dilworth v. Leach, 183 Colo. 206, 515 P.2d 1130 (1973). 143. Martello v. Baker, ___ Colo. ___, 539 P.2d 1280 (1975); Bernardo v. Cronin, supra, note 75. 144. McCoy v. Cronin, ......

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