State ex rel. Bone v. Barr

• Decision Date: 18 January 1907
• Parties: STATE EX REL. BONE v. BARR, WARDEN.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

133 Iowa 132

110 N.W. 280

STATE EX REL. BONE

v.BARR, WARDEN.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Jan. 18, 1907.

Appeal from District Court, Jones County; B. H. Miller, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment in habeas corpus proceedings. By the judgment the relator was awarded his liberty from imprisonment in the state penitentiary at Anamosa, and the defendant appeals. Affirmed.C. W. Mullan, Atty. Gen., for appellant.

Park Chamberlain, for appellee.

BISHOP, J.

The defendant is warden of the state penitentiary at Anamosa. The relator was convicted of murder in the Floyd district court, and committed to the penitentiary at Anamosa under a sentence of 60 years. His case was appealed to this court, and after submission the judgment was reversed and the case remanded for a new trial. Pending the appeal, relator served 2 years 3 months and 20 days' actual time of the sentence imposed on him. On his second trial he was convicted of manslaughter, and was sentenced to serve a term in said penitentiary of 5 years, 8 months and 8 days. The statute of this state (Code, § 5468) provides that “if a defendant, imprisoned during the pendency of an appeal, upon a new trial ordered by the supreme court is again convicted, the period of his former imprisonment shall be deducted from the period of imprisonment to be fixed on the last verdict of conviction.” Under the statute prescribing the penalty for the crime of manslaughter the maximum term of imprisonment is fixed at eight years. It will thus be seen that the sentence last imposed, added to the actual time served pending appeal from the former conviction, amounted to the full maximum term for which he could be committed. It is the allegation of the petition for the writ that under his first sentence relator earned the good time, so called, allowed by law, amounting to 3 months and 25 days; that in view thereof the sentence last imposed was excessive in that no allowance was made in fixing the same for the good time so previously earned. Having served the full term of eight years, counting good time earned under each sentence as allowed by law, this proceeding was commenced.

It is provided by section 5703 of the Code that each prisoner confined in the penitentiary, who shall comply with rules of the institution as to conduct and the performance of duties assigned him, shall be entitled to a diminution of time from his sentence according to a table included in said section. Thereunder one sentenced for a term...