191 Pa. Super. 495 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1960
Opinion by
Oarl Nagle has appealed from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Wyoming County dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
On June 25, 1938, appellant entered pleas of guilty to five bills of indictment in Wyoming County. On Bill No. 41 January Sessions 1938, charging breaking, entering, and larceny, he was sentenced for a term of ten to twenty years. On Bill No. 42 January Sessions 1938, charging breaking, entering, and larceny, he was sentenced for a term of ten to twenty years at the expiration of the sentence on Bill No. 41. On Bill No. 43 January' Sessions 1938, charging larceny, he was sentenced for a term of one to two years at the expiration of sentence on Bill No. 42. On Bill No. 4 October Sessions 1938, charging larceny of automobile, he was sentenced for a term of two to four years at the expiration of sentence on Bill No. 43. On Bill No. 5 October Sessions 1938, charging jailbreak, he was sentenced for a term of one to two years at the expiration of sentence on Bill No. 4. Because the sentences on Bills Nos. 41 and 42 exceeded the maximum provided by law, they were subsequently reduced by the court below to mínimums of five and máximums of ten years.
At the time of his pleas in Wyoming County, June 25, 1938, appellant was supposedly on parole from the Eastern State Penitentiary as a result of prior sentences in Luzerne County. However, in Commonwealth ex rel. Nagle v. Smith, 154 Pa. Superior Ct. 392, 36 A.
On June 30, 1948, appellant’s minimum sentence was commuted to ten years, six months, and fifteen days, expiring July 17, 1948. On September 15, .1948, he was paroled to remain on parole until December 30, 1965. While on parole, appellant perpetrated two additional offenses. On November 1, 1951, he was committed to the Montgomery County prison on a charge of breaking, entering, and larceny. On July 11, 1952, he was sentenced on that charge by the Montgomery County Court for a term of one year in the Montgomery County prison with a detainer lodged against him from Bucks County. On October 28, 1952, appellant was released from the Montgomery County prison and committed to the Bucks County prison. On June 9, 1953, he was sentenced by the Bucks County court on Bill No. 66 January Sessions 1953, charging burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods, for a term of two and one-half to five years, to be computed from October 28, 1952. Appellant was thereupon returned to the Eastern State Penitentiary at which time the unexpired period of the Wyoming County sentences was seventeen years, three months, and fifteen days, and appellant’s maximum term was calculated to expire on September 24, 1970.
There are two answers to appellant’s contention. In the first place the amendments of December 22, 1954, cannot reasonably be interpreted to have the effect of changing' the Wyoming County sentences from consecutive to concurrent. Although the direction in Commonwealth ex rel. Nagle v. Smith, supra, 154 Pa. Superior Ct. 392, 36 A. 2d 175, was self-executing and did not require implementation, the late President Judge Farr apparently concluded, somewhat belatedly, that .clarification- was necessary. The amending orders, expressly refer to the Superior Court decision. A sentence is to be construed in its entirety and so as to give effect to the intent of the sentencing court: Commonwealth ex rel. Scoleri v. Burke, 171 Pa. Superior Ct. 285, 90 A. 2d 847. As we recently pointed out in Commonwealth ex rel. Darby v. Myers, 190 Pa. Superior Ct. 461, 154 A. 2d 297, a reference to the date of commitment in order to comply with the Act of 1937, P. L. 1036, 19 P.S. 894 et seq., does not govern the effect of a sentence where there is a specific direction that it is to be served following another sentence. The fact that the amendments of the instant sentences did not repeat the direction that they were to be served consecutively is not controlling.
We deem it unnecessary to discuss the cases cited in appellant’s brief as, without exception, they support our view. Appellant also cites Section, 181 ‘ of, the Act of March 31, 1860, P. L. 382, 19 P.S. 893, which made fulfillment of sentence equivalent to. pardon. Although this statutory provision would have no application in the instant case for the reason that, as previously dem
Order affirmed.