Petition of Needel
| Decision Date | 03 May 1962 |
| Parties | Petition of Rubin NEEDEL. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Robert A. Curry, Quincy, for petitioner.
Theodore R. Stanley, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondents.
Before WILKINS, C. J., and SPALDING, CUTTER, KIRK, and SPIEGEL, JJ.
This petition, originally to the county court, was transferred to the Superior Court. See G.L. c. 213, § 1A (); G.L. (Ter.Ed.) c. 214, § 32. It is loosely drawn. In substance it asks that a writ of habeas corpus issue to be served on the superintendent of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Walpole and on the commissioner of correction as respondents. There is no compliance with G. L. (Ter.Ed) c. 248, § 3, requiring that 'If the imprisonment or restraint is by virtue of a warrant or other process, a copy thereof shall be annexed,' with exceptions not shown to be material.
The petition contains an allegation of law that the petitioner should have been released from custody on November 28, 1960. This is denied. It contains allegations of fact, which the Attorney General concedes to be correct. 1 On November 12, 1957, the petitioner was taken into custody for a crime committed in Suffolk County on that date, and being unable to post bond or bail he was remanded to jail in the custody of the sheriff. On February 8, 1958, he was sentenced to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Walpole for a term of not more than six years and not less than four years. On October 16, 1959, he was released under parol conditions. On December 9, 1959, he was taken into custody by the State police, for a crime which was committed on August 30, 1957, and for which he had been secretly indicted in Essex County on January 16, 1958. He was brought to trial, found guilty, and on February 10, 1960, was sentenced to a term of not more than six years and not less than four years, to be served concurrently with the sentence for the Suffolk County crime. The Attorney General filed an 'answer,' which contained, in addition to other allegations, a denial that the petitioner is unlawfully held. See Vautier, petitioner, 340 Mass. 341, 343n, 164 N.E.2d 317. The petition was dismissed, and the petitioner appealed.
The 'answer' of the Attorney General sets up that the petitioner is imprisoned upon legal criminal process, and that hence habeas corpus will not lie under G.L. (Ter.Ed.) c. 248, § 1. The petitioner concedes that he is not entitled to the writ as matter of right. Such a writ, however, may issue as matter of discretion. G.L. (Ter.Ed.) c. 248, § 25. We assume that, if the petitioner's contentions are correct, he is entitled to an immediate discharge. Stearns, petitioner, Mass., 175 N.E.2d 470. 2 We consider the petition as a suitable basis for considering the merits of the main question presented on this record. See Sim's Case, 7 Cush. 285, 291-293; Chambers's Case, 221 Mass. 178, 180-181, 108 N.E. 1070. The appeal is here under G.L. (Ter.Ed.) c. 231, § 96.
The petitioner's contention is that the time he served from February 8, 1958, should be accounted time in custody awaiting trial under G.L. c. 127, § 129B (inserted by St.1960, c. 350), 3 which reads: 'The sentence of any prisoner in any correctional institution in the commonwealth, who was held in custody awaiting trial shall be reduced by the number of days spent by him in confinement prior to such sentence and while awaiting trial, unless the court in imposing such sentence had already deducted therefrom the time during which such prisoner had been confined while awaiting...
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Commonwealth v. Holmes
...that the prisoner would have been in custody regardless of the fact that he was also awaiting trial. See, e.g., Needel, petitioner, 344 Mass. 260, 261–262, 182 N.E.2d 125 (1962); Libby v. Commissioner of Correction, 353 Mass. 472, 475, 233 N.E.2d 200 (1968).9 See also Commonwealth v. Foley,......
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Commonwealth v. Holmes
...clear that the prisoner would have been in custody regardless of the fact that he was also awaiting trial. See, e.g., Needel, petitioner, 344 Mass. 260, 261-262 (1962); Libby v. Commissioner of Correction, 353 Mass. 472, 475 (1968).9 See also Commonwealth v. Foley, 17 Mass.App.Ct. 238, 244 ......
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Nason v. Superintendent of Bridgewater State Hospital
...Gentile, petitioner, 339 Mass. 319, 322, 159 N.E.2d 86; Stearns, petitioner, 343 Mass. 53, 56--58, 175 N.E.2d 470; Needel, petitioner, 344 Mass. 260, 261, 182 N.E.2d 125; Wright, petitioner, 350 Mass. 123, 124; ROHRER, PETITIONER, MASS., 230 N.E.2D We do not attempt to prescribe (see note 7......
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Miller v. Suffolk County House of Correction, Civil Action No. 01-11331-DPW (D. Mass. 9/27/2002), Civil Action No. 01-11331-DPW.
...1232, 1236-1237 (1998) (citing Libby v. Commissioner of Correction, 353 Mass. 472, 475, 233 N.E.2d 200 (1968); Petition of Needel, 344 Mass. 260, 262, 182 N.E.2d 125 (1962); Commonwealth v. Carter, 10 Mass. App. Ct. 618, 620 n. 4, 411 N.E.2d 184 Here, plaintiff was not in danger of serving ......