Ferguson v. Balkcom
| Decision Date | 20 October 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 23735,23735 |
| Parties | Billy Homer FERGUSON v. R. P. BALKCOM, Jr., Warden. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
For reasons stated in the opinion, the court did not err as appellant contends in affirming the trial court's judgment.
A. H. Leatherwood, Sr., Douglasville, for appellant.
Dan Winn, Sol. Gen., Cedartown, John T. Perrin, Dallas, Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., G. Ernest Tidwell, Exec. Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, B. Daniel Dubberly, Jr., Deputy Asst. Atty. Gen., Glennville, Carter A. Setliff, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for appellee.
This is habeas corpus proceeding which Billy Homer Ferguson brought in the City Court of Reidsville against R. P. Balkcom, Jr. as warden of Georgia's Tattnall County Prison. His petition alleges that he is being illegally detained by Balkcom under a sentence of death imposed upon him in Douglas County pursuant to a verdict convicting him of the murder of Luke A. Brown on July 17, 1958. The appeal is from a judgment quashing the writ and remanding applicant to the custody of respondent. The record brought to this court shows that Ferguson brought habeas corpus against O. M. Redding as Sheriff of Douglas County in 1958, where he alleged that he was being illegally detained by respondent for several specified reasons, that the writ was quashed and he weas remanded to the custody of respondent, and that there was no appeal from such judgment. The record also shows that Ferguson has since then been three times convicted of the murder of Brown and on each conviction was sentenced to be electrocuted. The first two convictions were reversed. See Ferguson v. State of Georgia, 365 U.S. 570, 81 S.Ct. 756, 5 L.Ed.2d 783; and Ferguson v. State, 218 Ga. 173, 128 S.E.2d 798. His third conviction was affirmed by this court on May 9, 1963. Ferguson v. State, 219 Ga. 33, 131 S.E.2d 538, certiorari denied, 375 U.S. 913, 84 S.Ct. 210, 11 L.Ed.2d 152. After this court's decision of May 9, 1963 was rendered (219 Ga. 33, 131 S.E.2d 538), Ferguson filed an extraordinary motion for new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. His motion was overruled and that judgment was affirmed in Ferguson v. State, 220 Ga. 364, 138 S.E.2d 881, certiorari denied 381 U.S. 905, 85 S.Ct. 1451, 14 L.Ed.2d 286. We do not deem it necessary to point out specifically the ruling heretofore made on applicant's petition for habeas corpus against Sheriff Redding and those subsequently made by this court and the Supreme Court of the United States; it is sufficient to hold, as we do, that all of the grounds asserted by him in this habeas corpus proceeding have been adjudicated adversely to him in the...
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Brown v. Holland, 26903
...is absolutely void. Sanders v. Aldredge, 189 Ga. 69, 5 S.E.2d 371; Morris v. Peacock, 202 Ga. 524(1), 43 S.E.2d 531.' Ferguson v. Balkcom, 222 Ga. 676, 151 S.E.2d 707. See also Grimes v. Harvey, 219 Ga. 675, 135 S.E.2d 281; Bonner v. Smith, 226 Ga. 250(3), 174 S.E.2d 438. There is no merit ......
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Moye v. Hopper
...the judgment or sentence under which applicant is being restrained is not merely erroneous but is absolutely void.' Ferguson v. Balkcom, 222 Ga. 676, 677, 151 S.E.2d 707, 708; Bonner v. Smith, 226 Ga. 250(3), 174 S.E.2d 438; Bush v. Chappell, 225 Ga. 659, 660, 171 S.E.2d 128; Poss v. Smith,......
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Walker v. Penn, S99A0930.
...be used as a substitute for an appeal, or as a second appeal. Moye v. Hopper, 234 Ga. 230(1), 214 S.E.2d 920 (1975); Ferguson v. Balkcom, 222 Ga. 676, 151 S.E.2d 707 (1966). Accordingly, the habeas court erroneously applied a "miscarriage of justice" analysis as the basis for granting the J......
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Ferguson v. Caldwell
...of res judicata which was sustained by the City Court of Reidsville. On appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. Ferguson v. Balkcom, 222 Ga. 676, 151 S.E.2d 707 (1966). 'Petitioner then brought a petition for habeas corpus in the Federal Court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The original petiti......