25 P.2d 859 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1933
On the eighth day of October, 1929, an information was filed in the Superior Court of the County of Butte, charging the prisoner with the crime of escape, in that the petitioner, on or about the twenty-seventh day of March, 1929, in the county of Butte, who had theretofore been committed to the state prison at San Quentin, for a term less than life, did escape while engaged in road work at Camp 17, in Butte County, in violation of section 106 of the Penal Code. After trial the petitioner was on the sixteenth day of October, 1929, found guilty and sentenced to the state prison at Folsom.
Upon this application the petitioner contends that at the time of his trial, and on the date of pronouncing judgment and sentence, there was no section of the Penal Code providing for the punishment of such an offender in the state prison. This contention is based, first, upon the act of the legislature approved June 19, 1929, purporting to repeal sections
The further contention is made that the offense of which the petitioner is found guilty, and for which he was sentenced, is only a misdemeanor, in that no penalty was provided by the codes for the offense of which the petitioner is found guilty. Section 177, supra, reads as follows: "When an act or omission is declared by statute to be a public offense, and no penalty for the offense is prescribed in any statute, the act or omission is punishable as a misdemeanor." Prior to August 14, 1929, the time of taking effect of the act of the legislature just referred to, section
The act of the legislature approved June 19, 1929, and becoming effective August 14, 1929, contained the following: "Section 2. Sections
[1] The contention of the petitioner is to the effect not only that sections 18 and 18a, supra, have been repealed, but that subdivisions 2 and 3 of section
Section 1588 of the Penal Code, on August 14, 1929, related to credits and allowances for good behavior that might be awarded prisoners, and also forfeiture thereof for misconduct or violation of rules. While it may be admitted that the title used by the legislature in 1929 amending section
[3] The contention is also made that section 106 is violative of the constitutional rights of the petitioner, in that there is no just reason for classifying prisoners as those who are sentenced for less than life, and fixing an additional penalty upon them for escaping or attempting to escape, when no such penalty is provided for life-termers. The mere statement of the contention shows its fallacy, as no additional term of imprisonment could be imposed upon a life-termer, to begin at the expiration of his term of sentence.
The contention based upon the case of In re Heath,
The writ is denied.
Thompson, J., and Pullen, P.J., concurred. *584
Application by petitioner to have the cause heard in the Supreme Court, after judgment in the District Court of Appeal, was denied by the Supreme Court on November 6, 1933.