LAW.coLAW.co

Warren ALM, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit1956-12-10No. No. 15629
238 F.2d 604

Summary

Holding. The district court's denial of Alm's motion to vacate his sentence was affirmed. A conviction cannot be collaterally attacked on grounds that the indictment was defective once the defendant has pleaded guilty and been convicted.

Warren Alm pleaded guilty to transporting a stolen 1939 Mercury automobile across state lines in violation of federal law. He was convicted and sentenced in April 1955. More than a year later, Alm filed a motion seeking to vacate his sentence, arguing that the indictment was defective because it failed to include the motor and serial numbers of the stolen vehicle.

The court rejected Alm's argument on multiple grounds. The court found that including specific vehicle identification numbers in an indictment is not required by law, and that if Alm had been uncertain about which automobile he was accused of transporting, he should have requested more detailed information before entering his guilty plea. The court further held that once a defendant has been convicted, an indictment cannot be challenged through a collateral attack such as a motion to vacate a sentence—such defects, if they existed, should have been raised before conviction.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether an indictment must include specific motor and serial numbers of a stolen vehicle
  • Whether indictment defects can be raised through collateral attack after conviction
  • Timing of objections to indictment sufficiency relative to plea and conviction

Procedural posture

Alm appealed in forma pauperis from the district court's June 1, 1956 order denying his motion under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 to vacate his sentence.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal in forma pauperis from an order of the District Court of June 1, 1956, denying a motion of Warren Aim, under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255, for the vacation of a sentence imposed upon him April 21, 1955. The sentence was based upon Aim’s conviction under his plea of guilty on April 19, 1955, to an indictment returned March 26, 1953. The indictment charged, under Sec. 2312 of Title 18 U.S.C.A.: “That Warren Aim, on or about the twenty-sixth day of October, 1952, transported a stolen motor vehicle, to-wit: a 1939 Mercury, from Grand Forks, in the District of Minnesota, to Watertown, in the District of South Dakota, and he then knew the motor vehicle to have been stolen.”

The record shows that Aim was represented by counsel at the time of the entry of his plea and at the time of his sentence, that he was fully advised of his rights, and that neither he nor his counsel raised any objection to the indictment or to any of the proceedings culminating in the judgment and sentence of which Aim now complains.

The motion of Aim for vacation of his sentence was dated April 5, 1956, and was based upon the assertion that the indictment was defective and did not adequately set forth the elements of the offense sought to be charged.

This appeal is without any merit. In the first place, the contention that the indictment was insufficient because the motor number and serial number of the stolen Mercury, alleged to have been transported interstate by Aim, were not shown in the indictment, is absurd. See and compare, Hewitt v. United States, 8 Cir., 110 F.2d 1, 5-6; United States v. Bent, 8 Cir., 175 F.2d 397, certiorari denied 338 U.S. 829, 70 S.Ct. 79, 94 L.Ed. 504, rehearing denied 338 U.S. 896, 70 S.Ct. 238, 94 L.Ed. 551; Thomas v. United States, 8 Cir., 188 F.2d 6, 8. If Alm, at the time of his arraignment, was in any doubt as to the identity of the stolen automobile he was charged with having transported, he should have applied for a bill of particulars. Thomas v. United States, supra, at page 8 of 188 F.2d.

In the second place, if it be assumed that the indictment was vulnerable for insufficiency of statement before Aim entered his plea of guilty and was convicted, it was certainly invulnerable to collateral attack thereafter. As this Court said in Keto v. United States, 8 Cir., 189 F.2d 247, 249:

“The general rule is that, after conviction, a sentence is not open to collateral attack on the ground that the information or indictment upon which it was based was defective. A motion to vacate a judgment, under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255, is a collateral attack upon the judgment, and only such grounds may be urged as would be available in habeas corpus proceedings. United States v. Gallagher, 3 Cir., 183 F.2d 342, 344. A judgment in a criminal case which is invulnerable to attack by habeas corpus is equally invulnerable on motion to vacate the judgment.”

See, also, Collins v. United States, 8 Cir., 211 F.2d 789, 790.

Aim’s attempt to secure a vacation of his sentence was doomed from its inception, and leave to proceed in forma pauperis with this futile appeal should not have been granted beyond allowing him to file a notice of appeal. See Higgins v. Steele, 8 Cir., 195 F.2d 366.

The order appealed from is affirmed.