Love, Application of
| Decision Date | 17 February 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. A-12837,A-12837 |
| Parties | Application of Marvin LOVE for Writ of Habeas Corpus. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The purpose of an appeal bond is to guaranty that accused will be available at such times as court may direct.
2. Sole guide in fixing amount of appeal bond should be to cause accused's appearance to answer the judgment of the court.
3. Where an accused convicted of manslaughter, by a proceeding in habeas corpus seeks reduction of bail fixed by the trial court, takes the witness stand, submits to cross-examination and introduces other evidence in support of the allegations of his petition, and it clearly appears that the bond fixed by the trial court is excessive under the facts and circumstances, bail will be reduced.
Original proceeding in which Marvin Love seeks reduction of appeal bond by writ of habeas corpus. Writ granted.
Hart & Burger, Pauls Valley, for petitioner.
Carroll J. Bowie, County Atty., Garvin County, Pauls Valley, for respondent.
Marvin Love filed a verified petition for writ of habeas corpus, alleging that he had been convicted in the district court of Garvin County, Oklahoma of the crime of manslaughter, and sentenced to serve 35 years in the state penitentiary, and that his appeal bond had been fixed at $25,000. Petitioner alleges that such bond is excessive, and asks that the same be reduced.
Rule to show cause was issued, and at the hearing before this Court the petitioner testified, and also introduced the evidence of other witnesses.
From the evidence before us and adduced at the hearing, it appears that the petitioner is a young man, 22 years of age, a member of a large family, and that he has lived all of his life in the vicinity in which the crime is alleged to have been committed. That he has no previous record of wrong doing. At the hearing before this Court, both the petitioner and his counsel expressed their intention to appeal the judgment and sentence rendered.
The purpose of an appearance bond, or an appeal bond, is to guarantee that the accused will be available at such time as the court may direct and it should never be used for the purpose of punishing an accused. Upon the hearing in this Court and the evidence before us, we were convinced that the bond fixed by the district court of Garvin County was, under all the circumstances, excessive, and that bail in the amount of $12,000 would be a reasonable amount under such...
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Kordelski v. Cook
...by the petitioner, are distinguishable in that they involve the right to bail pending trial. The contrary expression in Application of Love, Okl.Cr., 349 P.2d 767 (1960), a case involving an alleged excessive appeal bond, was not necessary to the decision in that case, and, being in conflic......