Harris v. United States Department of Justice, Civ. No. 70-2875.

• Decision Date: 28 January 1971
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 70-2875.
• Citation: 322 F. Supp. 1158
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California
• Parties: Robert Merman X. HARRIS, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, United States Board of Parole, Myrl E. Alexander, Director, and G. V. Richardson, Warden, Respondents.

322 F. Supp. 1158

Robert Merman X. HARRIS, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, United States Board of Parole, Myrl E. Alexander, Director, and G. V. Richardson, Warden, Respondents.

Civ. No. 70-2875.

United States District Court, C. D. California.

January 28, 1971.

Robert Merman X. Harris, in pro per.

Robert L. Meyer, U. S. Atty., Frederick M. Brosio, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty., Chief, Civil Division, Carolyn M. Reynolds, Asst. U. S. Atty., for respondents.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS

HAUK, District Judge.

Petitioner filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus on September 19, 1969, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia praying for a Writ ordering the release of petitioner from federal custody. Upon motion of the United States Attorney, this action was transferred to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).

Petitioner contends that he is being illegally held in custody in that his original 5 year sentence has been improperly extended by 2 years. The facts surrounding petitioner's conviction, sentencing and incarceration are fully disclosed in the Petition, the Answer and the affidavit of Carolyn M. Reynolds, Assistant United States Attorney, and they conclusively show that petitioner's contention is without merit. A brief statement of these facts may be helpful.

On November 25, 1964, petitioner was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment by the United States District Court, Eastern District of California for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 495 (forging and uttering a United States Treasury check). This sentence was ordered to run consecutive to the state sentence he was then serving and, thus, he did not begin his federal sentence until March 18, 1965, when he was committed to the Federal Prison at Texarkana, Texas.

Petitioner was paroled on May 2, 1966, under 18 U.S.C. § 4203. At this time there remained to be served 1415 days of his five year sentence.

A Parole Violator Warrant was issued on April 18, 1968, under 18 U.S.C. § 4205 for absconding and failing to file his monthly reports to the probation officer.

Several months later, on August 15, 1968, petitioner was arrested when he was finally found in Miami, Florida. Whereupon, he was recommitted to Federal Prison at Texarkana, Texas, as a parole violator for the remainder of his term.

Since filing this Petition, petitioner has been reparoled. The expiration for his parole is now June 29, 1972.

Petitioner contends that the expiration date for his federal sentence should have been March 17, 1970, — five years after he began serving his five year sentence and that it was improper to have extended it past that date.

After reviewing the Petition, the points and...