MILLER v. ADERHOLD, WARDEN

Supreme Court of the United States1933-02-06No. No. 138

288 U.S. 20677 L. Ed. 70253 S. Ct. 3251933 U.S. LEXIS 34SCDB 1932-109

Summary · law.co

Holding. The trial court retained jurisdiction to impose sentence at a subsequent term even if the earlier suspension order was permanent and void. The judgment of the circuit court of appeals is affirmed.

Miller was convicted of mail theft on his guilty plea in December 1930 and received a suspended sentence with discharge. At a later court term in June 1931, a different judge sentenced him to four years imprisonment. Miller challenged this second sentencing through habeas corpus, arguing that the original suspension order was permanent and therefore void, which would have deprived the trial court of power to impose sentence once that term ended.

The Court rejected Miller's argument. Although the Court assumed without deciding that a permanent suspension of sentence would be void under prior precedent, it held that a void suspension order does not strip the trial court of jurisdiction to sentence at a later term. The Court reasoned that a void order is essentially a nullity and has no legal effect, so the case remains pending before the court until a lawful sentence is imposed. The Court also noted that the defendant could have requested sentencing at any time during the suspension, and by failing to do so implicitly consented to the delay.

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

Key issues

Whether a permanent suspension of sentence deprives the trial court of jurisdiction to sentence at a later term
Whether a void suspension order eliminates the court's power to pronounce judgment
The continued applicability of court jurisdiction when final judgment (sentencing) has not been pronounced within the term of conviction

Procedural posture

The case proceeded from a conviction and suspended sentence in federal district court, to a subsequent sentencing by a different judge, to denial of a habeas corpus petition in federal district court, and was affirmed by the circuit court of appeals before reaching the Supreme Court.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

majority opinion

Mr. Justice Sutherland

delivered the, opinion of the Court

December 10, 1930, in the federal district court for the southern district of New York, petitioner wasconvicted on his plea of guilty of the crime of stealing from the United States mails. By order of the court, sentence was suspended and he was discharged from the custody of the marshal.

At a Subsequent term of court, on June 17, 1931, petitioner was sentenced by another judge to four yfears imprisonment. A motion to vacate the sentence was denied; and. a petition for a writ of habeas corpus was filed in the federal district court for the northern district of Georgia, praying the discharge of petitioner on the ground that the court imposing the sentence wás without jurisdiction to do so. After a hearing the writ was dis-. missed and petitioner remanded to custody. The circuit court of appeals affirmed the judgment. 56 F. (2d) 152.

Petitioner seeks a reversal here on the ground that the order of December 10 constitutes a permanent suspension of sentence, void tinder the decision of this court in Ex parte United States, 242 U. S. 27; and that with the expiration of the term the trial court was without, power to sentence petitioner. The Solicitor General vigorously opposes the contention that the effect of the order was to suspend sentence permanently; but, without determining that question, we are of opinion that if such was . the. effect, nevertheless,, the court was not deprived of power to impose sentence at a subsequent term.

.The decisions on the point are in conflict. The greater number support the view of petitioner; but we are of opinion that the weight of reason is the other way. Several of the cases holding with petitioner are set forth in Mintie v. Biddle, 15 F. (2d) 931. While these cases and others are emphatically to the effect that a permanent suspension of sentence is void, and that the court thereby, with the passing of the term, loses jurisdiction, we find no convincing reason in any of them for the latter conclusion. The decision in the Mintie case rests primarily upon. considerations affecting the accused. Support for its conclusion is found by .the court in the supposition that during the suspension the accused can “ make no plans, enter into no contracts, engage in no permanent occupation, and bind himself to no obligations, or create any pérmanent ties, business or domestic.” .But it is hard to see the relevancy ofthese difficulties to the question of jurisdiction. They equally would be present if sentence were definitely postponed from term to term; and power to that extent is not doubted. Moreover, since the suspension order is void, the accused is not bound to rest under the supposed hardship. He may at any time put an end to it by requesting the court to pronounce judgment, which the court no doubt would do unless good cause to the contrary were made to appear. In the ab- sence of such request he must be held to have consented to the indefinite delay and cannot complain. Hoggett v. State, 101. Miss. 269, 271; 57 So. 811. Compare United States v. Mulligan, 48 F. (2d) 93; United States v. Lecato, 29 F. (2d) 694, 695.

In a criminal casé final judgment means sentence; and a void order purporting permanently to suspendsentence is neither a final nor a valid judgment. United States v. Lecato, supra, at p. 695; State v. Bongiorno, 96 N. J. L. 318; 115 Atl. 665; People v. Bork, 78 N. Y. 346, 350; State v. Vaughan, 71 Conn. 457, 458; 42 Atl. 640; Symington v. State, 133 Md. 452, 454; 105 Atl. 541. If the.suspension be for a fixed time, the case undoubtedly remains on the docket of the court until disposed of by final judgment. There is no good reason, in our opinion, why a different rule should obtain where the order of suspension, though expressly made permanent, is void. Such an order is a mere nullity without force or effect, as though no order at all had been made; and the case necessarily remains pending until lawfully disposed of by sentence. Compare In re Bonner, 151 U. S. 242, 259-262; G. Amsinck & Co. v. Springfield Grocer Co., 7 F. (2d) 855, 858; Hammers v. United States, 279 Fed. 265, 266; Biddle v. Thiele, 11 F. (2d) 235, 236-237; Bryant v. United States, 214 Fed. 51.

The order here under review being ineffectual to confer immunity from punishment; the conclusion that such immunity existed must rest upon the bare fact that, without any saving provision, the term at which the accused was convicted but not sentenced had passed. But that foundation for the conclusion at once vanishes in the face of therule that where judgment has not been pronounced upon a verdict during the term at which it was rendered, the cause continue? on the docket and necessarily passes over to a succeeding term for final judgment or other appropriate action. Walker v. Moser, 117 Fed. 230, 232. We conclude, in accordance with what we regard as the better view, that in a criminal case, where verdict has been duly returned, the jurisdiction of the trial court, under circumstances such as are here disclosed, is not exhausted until sentence is pronounced, either at the same or a succeeding term. Rachmil v. United States, 288 Fed. 782, 785; Ex parte Dunn, 50 S. D. 48, 52-54; 208 N. W. 224; Hoggett v. State, supra, at p. 271; Hancock v. Rogers, 140 Ga. 688; 79 S. E. 558; Dilley v. Commonwealth, 243 Ky. 464, 468; 48 S. W. (2d) 1070; Neace v. Commonwealth, 165 Ky. 739, 742-743; 178 S. W. 1062.

Judgment affirmed.

The opinion was announced .by • the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Sutherland being absent from the Bench.