GEORGE E. FAISON, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
E. D. VESTAL, CITY MARSHAL, DEFENDANT IN ERROR

Fla. | 1916-04-25
Taylor, C. J., and Shackleford, Cockrell and Ellis, JJ., concur.
71 Fla. 562 Florida Supreme Court (1916) Positive Treatment
Cited by 16 cases

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Synopsis

This case concerns a petitioner seeking release from custody via habeas corpus, arguing an ordinance allowing for both fine and imprisonment for selling intoxicating liquors was void. The court affirmed the denial of the writ, holding that while the sentence might be illegal, the petitioner should be remanded for a lawful sentence rather than discharged.


Holding

The court held that the ordinance was not wholly void, and even if the imposed sentence was illegal, the petitioner was not entitled to discharge. Instead, the petitioner should be remanded to custody to receive a lawful sentence within the ordinance's limitations.


Key Quotes

“If the sentence imposed be illegal, the petitioner is not thereby entitled to a discharge, bitt may be remanded for a proper sentence, he having his right to give bail as the law provides pending the imposition of a legal sentence.”

Establishes the court's reasoning for not discharging the petitioner despite a potentially illegal sentence.

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Facts & Procedural History

Faison was detained by the City Marshal under a conviction for selling intoxicating liquors contrary to city ordinances. He petitioned for a writ of h…

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Opinion of the Court
Whitfield, J.

Whitfield, J.

The Circuit Judge issued a writ of habeas corpus upon a petition alleging that Faison was illegally detained in custody by Vestal, City Marshal of Plant City, under a conviction upon an affidavit charging that on stated days Faison “did sell intoxicating liquors, contrary to the city ordinances of said city,” etc. It is further alleged that the ordinance is void, in that it illegally authorizes a double sentence of both fine and imprisonment. As justifying the detention the marshal relied upon a mittimus reciting a violation of the ordinance making it unlawful “to directly or indirectly sell or offer for sale any intoxicating liquors, wines or beers or any spirituous, vinous or malt liquors of any kind whatsoever within the corporate limits of the City of Plant City, Florida,” and imposing a penalty of “a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) or more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or by imprisonment in the city jail for not less Than ten (10) days or more than thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, for the first offense and by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment in the city jail for not less than thirty (30) days or more than sixty (60) days or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court, for each offense subsequent to the first offense.” The mittimus requires the marshal to take and keep Faison in his custody “subject to hard labor in the City of Plant City, Florida, for the full period of sixty (60) days.”

The Circuit Judge held that the ordinance “authorizes imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for the first offense which is the maximum penalty prescribed by law, and further finds that the respondent has no legal right or authority to confine the petitioner for a longer period than thirty days, which has not yet been fully served by the petitioner. The Court further finds that the ordinance in question is not unconstitutional or void and not in conflict with the Municipal Charter of the City of Plant City, or the Constitution, or the laws of the State of Florida, and that a valid judgment may hereafter be entered imposing upon the petitioner a fine of not more than One Hundred Dollars or imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.

It is thereupon Considered, Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the petition be denied and that the petitioner, George E. Faison, be, and he is hereby remanded to the custody of the respondent to serve such sentence as may be lawfully imposed upon him in conformity with and within the limitations of this order and decree.”

A writ of error to this judgment was allowed by the Circuit Judge under the statute.

Section 14, Chapter 6389, Acts of 1911, the special charter act of the City of Plant City, Florida, authorizes the city to pass “all such ordinances as may be expedient and necessary for the preservation of the public peace and morals,” etc., provided “that for no one offense made punishable by the ordinances and laws of the said city, shall a fine of more than five hundred dollars be as sessed, nor imprisonment for a period of time greater than sixty days.” It does not appear that the ordinance conflicts with the local option laws of the State regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors, wines or beer. Assuming that the Circuit Judge correctly held the city could not legally “confine the petitioner for a longer period than thirty days,” and assuming also as contended for the petitioner, but not deciding, that the portion of the sentence of the petitioner by the municipal court “to hard labor in the city,” is not authorized, the petitioner is charged with a municipal offense and apparently has been convicted under such charge. If the sentence imposed be illegal, the petitioner is not thereby entitled to a discharge, bitt may be remanded for a proper sentence, he having his right to give bail as the law provides pending the imposition of a legal sentence. See McDonald v. Smith, 68 Fla. 77, 66 South. Rep. 430; Porter v. State, 62 Fla. 79, 56 South. Rep.

406. It does not appear that the ordinance as construed by the Circuit Judge is wholly void under the statute conferring powers upon the City of Plant City. A second offense is one offense though not the first offense; and a proper sentence may avoid questions as to the legality of a double sentence. The judgment entered by the Circuit Judge-complies with the statutory provision that at the hearing the Court shall “either discharge him, admit him to bail or remand him to custody, as the law and the evidence shall require.” Being “remanded * * * to serve such sentence as may be lawfully imposed upon him” is a remand to custody as the law and the evidence requires, and the petitioner is not thereby denied his right to bail under the law pending sentence.

If the petitioner has not been legally tried on the affidavits charging the offense, he may be so tried upon be ing remanded, and if he is not tried and sentenced or sentenced promptly he may exercise his right to give bail.

Judgment affirmed.

Taylor, C. J., and Shackleford, Cockrell and Ellis, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Johnson v. State, 81 Fla. 783 (Fla. 1921)
    …iquor at his place of business contrary to the statute, if he does not duly show that the possession was not unlawful. See Ex Parte Simmons, 73 Fla. 998, 75 South. Rep. 542; Douglass v. Shackleford, 73 Fla. 889, 75 South. Rep. 213; Faison v. Vestal, 71 Fla. 562, 71 South. Rep. 759; Baender v. Barnett, U. S. , 41 Sup. Ct. Rep. 271. The judgment remanding the petitioner to the custody of the sheriff on a commitment issued under the sentence of the county judge, is reversed with directions to remand the peti…
  • Ex parte Browne, 93 Fla. 332 (Fla. 1927)
    …dy may be tested in habeas [*334] corpus proceedings, and if the judgment is found to be illegal the petitioner may be remanded for a proper sentence, there being no illegality in the proceedings prior to the judgment and sentence. Faison v. Vestal, 71 Fla. 562, 71 South. Rep. 759; Ex parte Simmons, 73 Fla. 998, 75 South. Rep. 542; Douglas v. Shackelford, 73 Fla. 889, 75 South. Rep. 203; Johnson v. State, 81 Fla. 783, 89 South Rep. 114; State ex rel. Johnson v. Quigg, 83 Fla. 1, 90 South. Rep. 695; McDonal…
  • State v. Quigg, 83 Fla. 1 (Fla. 1922)
    …sentence of conviction in the Municipal Court is unlaAV-ful.- The order remanding the petitioner under the sentence of imprisonment is reversed and petitioner will be produced to the Municipal Court for appropriate proceedings. See Faison v. Vestal, 71 Fla. 562, 71 South. Rep. 759; Ex Parte Simmons, 73 Fla. 998, 75 South. Rep. 542; Douglas v. Shackelford, 73 Fla. 889, 75 South. Rep. 203; 81 Fla. 783, 89 South. Rep. 114. It is so ordered. Browne, C. J., and Taylor, Ellis and West, J. J., concur.…

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