McIntosh v. Looney, 5628.

• Decision Date: 05 October 1957
• Docket Number: No. 5628.,5628.
• Parties: Harry A. McINTOSH, Appellant, v. Chesley H. LOONEY, Warden, United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

249 F.2d 62 (1957)

Harry A. McINTOSH, Appellant, v. Chesley H. LOONEY, Warden, United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, Appellee.

No. 5628.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

October 5, 1957.

Donald L. Giacomini, Denver, Colo., for appellant.

Milton P. Beach, Asst. U. S. Atty., Kansas City, Kan. (William C. Farmer, U. S. Atty., Topeka, Kan., on the brief), for appellee.

Before MURRAH, PICKETT and LEWIS, Circuit Judges.

LEWIS, Circuit Judge.

Appeal is taken from an order of the District Court denying, after full hearing, appellant's petition for writ of habeas corpus.

On April 7, 1952, appellant was incarcerated in the Green County, Missouri, jail serving a misdemeanor sentence of six months imposed upon him through state jurisdiction. On such date, pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum, appellant was turned over to federal authority for imposition of sentence for a violation of the federal kidnaping statute, 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 1201, 1202. The sentence set by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri was five years "said sentence of imprisonment to begin to run upon expiration of the sentence of imprisonment imposed by the state court and now being served." Appellant was then returned to state authority to serve the remainder of his six-month term. While so serving he assaulted a jailer, was indicted for the offense by the State of Missouri, plead guilty, and was sentenced to five years "said sentence to begin at the expiration of a sentence in the Green County, Missouri, jail."

On the expiration of appellant's six-month term he was removed to the Missouri penitentiary where he was imprisoned pursuant to the second sentence of the Missouri state court until October 11, 1956. He was then surrendered to federal authority and is presently held at the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. He bases his claim of right to habeas corpus upon the assertion that his federal sentence ran concurrently with that imposed by Missouri for the offense of assault and that he is consequently entitled to release through lapse of time.

There is no contention here made that the surrender of appellant to state custody for the purpose of continuation of his six-month term was either unauthorized or for the purpose of awaiting transportation to a place of federal detention as contemplated by the provisions of 18 U.S.C.A. § 3568.¹ The rules of comity between state and federal government permit surrender of jurisdiction and custody of prisoners for the exercise of sovereign rights inter se and it is well settled that in such cases a federal sentence does not begin to run until such time as a prisoner is first received at a federal penal institution for service of his federal sentence. Rohr v. Hudspeth, 10 Cir., 105 F.2d 747; Lunsford v. Hudspeth, 10 Cir., 126 F.2d 653; Hayward v. Looney, 10 Cir., 246 F.2d 56. But appellant insists that the right to surrender jurisdiction and custody of a federal prisoner to state sovereignty lies only with the court upon proper order and that no such act can be initiated or countenanced by either affirmative or negative action of the United States Marshal. He asserts that upon expiration of his six-month sentence it became the duty of the United States Marshal to obtain or attempt to obtain custody of appellant for the execution of the federal sentence; that at such time the state jurisdiction over him lapsed and was but renewed by execution of the second state sentence; that the second state sentence and that of the federal court were of equal...