Ex parte Lucas, 30092.
| Decision Date | 25 October 1946 |
| Docket Number | 30092. |
| Citation | 26 Wn.2d 289,173 P.2d 774 |
| Parties | Ex parte LUCAS. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
Department 2
Proceeding in the matter of application of Frank Lucas for a writ of habeas corpus, wherein the Attorney General filed a demurrer to the petition.
Demurrer sustained and petition denied.
Frank Lucas, of Walla Walla, per se.
Smith Troy and Edward J. Lehan, both of Olympia, for respondent.
Frank Lucas was found guilty, by a jury June 4, 1945, in the superior court for Franklin county, of the crime of attempted sodomy. On September 17, 1945, he was found guilty by a jury to be an habitual criminal within the meaning of the first paragraph of Rem.Rev.Stat. § 2286, which provides that one adjudged to be an habitual criminal shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than ten years. On October 16, 1945, judgment was entered sentencing Lucas to confinement in the Washington state penitentiary for the period of ten years. On the same day Lucas was received in the state penitentiary pursuant to that judgment and sentence. Nine days later the trial court convinced that the sentence imposed was void for the reason that the statute (Rem.Rev.Stat.Supp. 10249-2) requires the court to impose a sentence for a maximum term of not less than twenty years since the applicable provision of Rem.Rev.Stat. § 2286 fixed a minimum term to be imposed modified the former judgment by imposing a sentence of confinement in the state penitentiary for a period of not more than twenty years.
On the ground that the sentence of ten years is a legal sentence imposed by a valid judgment, and that the attempted modification of that judgment by the trial court October 25 1945, is without legal effect, Frank Lucas has filed petition in this court for a writ of habeas corpus to correct the second judgment. The attorney general has demurred to the petition on the ground that same fails to state any grounds for issuance of the writ.
In the absence of a showing of some statutory ground for vacation or modification of a judgment after its rendition and proper entry, the trial court is without power to vacate or modify its final judgment. The only statute authorizing the vacation or modification of judgments after their final entry is Rem.Rev.Stat. § 464. Among the eight enumerated statutory causes found in that section of the statute for vacation or modification of the judgment we do not find any authority for the disturbing of the final judgment entered ...
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State v. Wells
...on a motion to modify such judgment. A ground for vacation or modification as set forth in RCW 4.72.010 must be present. In re Lucas, 26 Wash.2d 289, 173 P.2d 774 (1946), was overruled by In re McNutt v. Delmore, 47 Wash.2d 563, 288 P.2d 848 (1955), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 1002, 76 S.Ct. 550......
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Palmer v. Cranor
...of habeas corpus. Voigt v. Mahoney, 1941, 10 Wash.2d 157, 116 P.2d 300; In re Grieve, 1945, 22 Wash.2d 902, 158 P.2d 73; In re Lucas, 1946, 26 Wash.2d 289, 173 P.2d 774. A narrow exception was engrafted on this rule in Sorenson v. Smith, 1949, 34 Wash.2d 659, 209 P.2d 479. We held that, whe......
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Buckingham v. Cranor
...person of the petitioner and of the subject matter of the offense charged. Voight v. Mahoney, 10 Wash.2d 157, 116 P.2d 300; In re Lucas, 26 Wash.2d 289, 173 P.2d 774. In 1947, the legislature amended subsection 1, quoted above, now Rem.Supp. 1947, § 1075(1); RCW 7.36.130(1) by providing for......
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State ex rel. Sharf v. Municipal Court of Seattle
...has approved the action of a trial court in ordering a defendant returned for the imposition of an increased sentence. In re Lucas, 26 Wash.2d 289, 173 P.2d 774, specifically held that the superior court has no such power. In re McNutt, supra, stated that the Lucas case had been overruled s......