Lewis v. State

Decision Date23 November 1965
Citation215 A.2d 433,59 Del. 146
Parties, 59 Del. 146 Ronald F. LEWIS, Plaintiff Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Defendant Below, Appellee.
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware

James F. Kipp, Asst. Public Defender, Wilmington, for appellant.

Richard I. G. Jones, Deputy Atty. Gen., Wilmington, for the State.

WOLCOTT, C. J., and CAREY and HERRMANN, JJ., sitting.

WOLCOTT, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from the denial by the Superior Court of a Petition for Habeas Corpus.

On October 11, 1963, the prisoner was sentenced to a term of two years imprisonment upon one charge, and at the same time was sentenced to a term of two years upon a second charge. The sentence upon the second charge was suspended and the prisoner placed on probation for a period of two years commencing upon the expiration of the sentence upon the first charge.

On July 23, 1964, the prisoner was admitted to parole. This parole expired on March 1, 1965. On March 8, 1965, the prisoner was arrested on several charges of fourth degree burglary and, on March 22, 1965, was sentenced to four prison terms of nine months each on four such charges, the sentences to run consecutively for a total of three years.

On May 7, 1965 the prisoner was brought before the Superior Court and sentenced to a term of two years on a charge of violation of probation imposed upon the second of the original charges. The prisoner, himself, on June 3, 1965, filed a petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus with the Superior Court which was denied. Thereafter, the prisoner, again acting on his own initiative, filed a paper with this Court which was directed to be treated as a Praecipe on Appeal. The Public Defender's office now appears for him.

The burden of the prisoner's complaint is that his sentence for violation of probation is illegal because the commencement of the probation was indefinite. This is so, it is argued, because of the indefinite termination of his prior sentence due to time off for good behavior. Hence, he says there was no definite commencement date of his probation in violation of 11 Del.C., § 3902(a), which requires a definite date for the beginning and ending of a sentence. He therefore argues that he did not violate his probation because he had not been validly placed upon probation.

We do not reach the question argued for two reasons:

First, the prisoner seeks review of an allegedly illegal sentence. He seeks to do so by means of a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. This, ...

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7 cases
  • Dean, In re
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Delaware
    • February 26, 1969
    ...we think, an implicit recognition by us of the rule. See Curran v. Woolley, supra; Golla v. State, 2 Storey 433, 159 A.2d 585; Lewis v. State, Del., 215 A.2d 433, and Quillen v. Betts, 9 Terry 93, 98 A.2d In the Curran case, we rejected Habeas corpus as the post-conviction remedy to have th......
  • Braxton v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Delaware
    • July 9, 1984
    ...of this Court. Rocker v. State, Del.Supr., 240 A.2d 141 (1968); see Curran v. Woolley, Del.Supr., 104 A.2d 771 (1954); Lewis v. State, Del.Supr., 215 A.2d 433 (1965); Norris v. Casson, Del.Super., 460 A.2d 547 In view of this, we have reexamined the language of Superior Court Criminal Rule ......
  • Weber v. Albright, 152
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Delaware
    • July 1, 1994
    ...law, a Writ of Habeas Corpus is an inappropriate procedural vehicle to seek review of an allegedly illegal sentence. Lewis v. State, Del.Supr., 215 A.2d 433, 434 (1965). Weber is, therefore, not entitled to habeas NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 25(a), the......
  • Joseph v. State, No. 185, 2007 (Del. 8/14/2007), 185, 2007.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Delaware
    • August 14, 2007
    ...is pending before the Court. 2. Hall v. Carr, 692 A.2d 88, 891 (Del. 1997). 3. DEL. CODE. ANN. tit. 10, § 6902 (1999). 4. Lewis v. State, 215 A.2d 433, 434 (Del. 1965). ...
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