Smith v. United States

Decision Date30 June 1953
Docket NumberNo. 4639.,4639.
Citation205 F.2d 768
PartiesSMITH v. UNITED STATES.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Robert H. Kiley, Denver, Colo., for appellant.

Roger K. Allen, Asst. U. S. Atty., Stilwell, Okl. (Edwin Langley, U. S. Atty., Muskogee, Okl., on the brief), for appellee.

Before BRATTON, HUXMAN and PICKETT, Circuit Judges.

BRATTON, Circuit Judge.

The indictment in this case charged that appellant transported a stolen automobile from Amarillo, Texas, to Keota, Oklahoma, and that he knew it had been stolen by fraud. A plea of guilty was entered and appellant was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of five years to begin at the expiration of the sentence he was then serving in the state penitentiary of Oklahoma. The execution of the sentence was suspended and appellant was placed on probation for a period of five years. After being discharged from the penitentiary in Oklahoma and while serving his probationary period in this case, appellant pleaded guilty in a state court in Texas to a charge of forgery and was sentenced to imprisonment. Thereafter, the court below vacated its suspension of the sentence in this case and appellant was committed.

While confined under such judgment and sentence, appellant wrote a letter to the judge of the court in which he sought relief from the judgment and sentence on the ground that he had not violated the Dyer Act for the reason that he purchased the automobile by means of a check; that he obtained possession of the automobile in exchange for the check; and that although the check was worthless, the automobile was not a stolen car. The court directed that the letter be filed, and it was treated as a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate the judgment and sentence. On order of the court, appellant was produced at the hearing. He testified, and he consented that the court might make an investigation respecting the circumstances under which he obtained possession of the automobile. From the investigation it appeared to the court that the appellant gave the owner of the automobile a worthless check for part of the purchase price; that he and the owner then drove the automobile to the office of a finance company to make arrangements for financing the amount of the purchase price in excess of the amount of the check; that the owner went into the office of the finance company; and that while he was in the office, appellant drove the automobile away. The court denied the motion to vacate the judgment and sentence, and the appeal was from that action.

Section 2255, supra, provides that a prisoner in custody under sentence of a court claiming the right to be released upon the ground that the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States, or that the court was without jurisdiction to impose the sentence, or that the sentence is otherwise subject to collateral attack, may move the court which imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside, or correct it. The purpose of the statute was to provide that the attack upon a judgment which previously might have been made in a proceeding in habeas corpus should be made by motion filed in the criminal case, unless for some reason the remedy by motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of the detention. United States v. Hayman, 342 U.S. 205, 72 S.Ct. 263, 96 L.Ed. 232; Taylor v. United States, 4 Cir., 177 F.2d 194; Barnes v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 188 F.2d 86, certiorari denied, 342 U.S. 920, 72 S.Ct. 368, 96 L.Ed. 688; Kreuter v. United States, 10 Cir., 201 F.2d 33; Mills v. Hunter, 10 Cir., 204 F.2d 468. The statute does not enlarge the class of attacks which may be made upon a judgment of conviction in a criminal case. It merely provides that the attack must be made by motion in the court in which the sentence was imposed rather than in some other court through resort to habeas corpus, unless the remedy by motion is inadequate. Hurst v. United States, 10...

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24 cases
  • Martin v. United States, 6209.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • 4 January 1960
    ...statements are found in Osborne v. Looney, 10 Cir., 221 F.2d 254, 255; Butler v. Looney, 10 Cir., 219 F. 2d 146, 147; Smith v. United States, 10 Cir., 205 F.2d 768, 770; and Snell v. United States, 10 Cir., 174 F.2d 580, 10 Hixon was followed by Hoover v. United States, 10 Cir., 268 F.2d 78......
  • United States v. McGee
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
    • 29 March 1957
    ...F.2d 87, certiorari denied 347 U.S. 1020, 74 S.Ct. 877, 98 L.Ed. 1141; United States v. Caufield, 7 Cir., 207 F.2d 278; Smith v. United States, 10 Cir., 205 F.2d 768; Thompson v. United States, 8 Cir., 200 F.2d 143; United States v. Buhler, supra; United States v. Gallagher, supra; Godish v......
  • Rubenstein v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • 1 September 1955
    ...S.Ct. 263, 96 L.Ed. 232; Taylor v. United States, 10 Cir., 193 F.2d 411; Kreuter v. United States, 10 Cir., 201 F.2d 33; Smith v. United States, 10 Cir., 205 F.2d 768. Appellant did not attack the judgment and sentence on the ground that it was imposed in violation of the Constitution or la......
  • Clark v. United States, 13847.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit
    • 31 December 1959
    ...issues cannot be raised later by a motion to vacate sentence. United States v. Caufield, 7 Cir., 207 F. 2d 278, 280; Smith v. United States, 10 Cir., 205 F.2d 768, 771; Thompson v. United States, 8 Cir., 200 F.2d 143, 146; Woodring v. United States, 8 Cir., 248 F.2d 166, 169; Hornbrook v. U......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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