Walker v. Wainwright
| Citation | 88 S.Ct. 962,19 L.Ed.2d 1215,390 U.S. 335 |
| Decision Date | 11 March 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 786,M,786 |
| Parties | Donald Gene WALKER v. Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Director, Florida Division of Corrections. isc |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
See 390 U.S. 1036, 88 S.Ct. 1420.
On September 30, 1960, the petitioner was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. On May 25, 1965, he was found guilty of aggravated assault and was sentenced to five years in the state penitentiary, to commence when he had completed serving the sentence for murder.
Having attempted without success to challenge his murder conviction on federal constitutional grounds in the state courts, the petitioner sought a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He contended that he had been deprived of counsel at his preliminary hearing, that a coerced confession had been used against him at trial, and that he had been denied the right to an effective appeal.
The District Court observed that, even if the petitioner's contentions were accepted and his murder conviction reversed, he would still face a five-year prison term for aggravated assault. Because a favorable decision on the murder conviction would not result in the petitioner's immediate release from prison, the District Court thought itself powerless to consider the merits of his claims and therefore denied his habeas corpus petition without further consideration. In short, the District Court held that the petitioner could not challenge his life sentence until after he had served it. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit summarily rejected the petitioner's application for a certificate of probable cause, and he then sought review in this Court.
In reaching its conclusion, the District Court relied upon McNally v. Hill, 293 U.S. 131, 55 S.Ct. 24, 79 L.Ed. 238, for the broad proposition that the 'Writ of Habeas Corpus may not be used as a means of securing judicial decision of a question which, even if determined in the prisoner's favor, could not result in his immediate release.' The McNally decision, however, held only that a prisoner cannot employ federal habeas corpus to attack a 'sentence which (he) has not begun to serve.' 293 U.S., at 138, 55 S.Ct. at 27. Here the District Court has turned that doctrine inside out by telling the petitioner that he cannot attack the life sentence he has begun to serve—until after he has finished serving it. We need not...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Newman v. State of Missouri
...88 S.Ct. 1556, 20 L.Ed.2d 554-559 (1968); Peyton v. Rowe, 391 U.S. 54, 88 S.Ct. 1549, 20 L.Ed.2d 426 (1968); Walker v. Wainwright, 390 U.S. 335, 88 S.Ct. 962, 19 L.Ed.2d 1215 (1968); cf. Ex parte Hull, 312 U.S. 546, 61 S.Ct. 640, 85 S.Ct. 1034 In the case at bar, petitioner filed herein his......
-
Helton v. United States
...96 S.Ct. 445, 46 L.Ed.2d 384 (citing Peyton v. Rowe, 391 U.S. 54, 88 S.Ct. 1549, 20 L.Ed.2d 426 (1968); Walker v. Wainwright, 390 U.S. 335, 88 S.Ct. 962, 19 L.Ed.2d 1215 (1968)). As summarized by the Ninth Circuit: "It is clear from recent Supreme Court decisions that it is not a bar to hab......
-
Hensley v. 8212 1428
...supra; Peyton v. Rowe, supra; Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 1556, 20 L.Ed.2d 554 (1968); Walker v. Wainwright, 390 U.S. 335, 88 S.Ct. 962, 19 L.Ed.2d 1215 (1968); Jones v. Cunningham, The custody requirement of the habeas corpus statute is designed to preserve the writ of habe......
-
Rodriguez v. McGinnis, 354-356
...or laws of the United States." Jones v. Cunningham, 371 U.S. 236, 243, 83 S.Ct. 373, 9 L.Ed.2d 285 (1963); Walker v. Wainwright, 390 U.S. 335, 88 S.Ct. 962, 19 L.Ed.2d 1215 (1968); Peyton v. Rowe, 391 U.S. 54, 88 S.Ct. 1549, 20 L.Ed.2d 426 (1968); Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483, 89 S.Ct. 74......
-
Table of Cases
...130 L. Ed. 2d 233 (1994): 16.2(2) Wainwright v. Torna, 455 U.S. 586, 102 S. Ct. 1300, 71 L. Ed. 2d 475 (1982): 23.7 Walker v. Wainwright, 390 U.S. 335, 88 S. Ct. 962, 19 L. Ed. 2d 1215, reh'g denied, 390 U.S. 1036 (1968): 24.2(1) CIRCUIT COURTS ______________________________________________......
-
§ 24.2 The Personal Restraint Petition
...current detention." Toliver v. Olsen, 109 Wn.2d 607, 609-10, 746 P.2d 809 (1987) (footnotes omitted) (quoting Walker v. Wainwright, 390 U.S. 335, 336, 88 S. Ct. 962, 19 L. Ed. 2d 1215, reh'g denied, 390 U.S. 1036 Although the writ of habeas corpus arises from the Constitution, most current ......
-
CHAPTER 4 WHEN IS A CLAIM COGNIZABLE?
...§2244(b) (1964 ed., Supp. II), speaks in terms of "release from custody or other remedy." See Peyton v. Rowe, supra; Walker v. Wainwright, 390 U.S. 335 (1968). Cf. Ex Parte Hull, 312 U.S. 546 (1941). In the present case, petitioner filed his application shortly after June 20, 1963, while he......