Opinion
[H.C. No. 14, October Term, 1954.]
Decided November 11, 1954.
CRIMINAL LAW — Sentence — Need Not Date from Arrest. A sentence need not date from the time of the defendant's arrest. p. 643
HABEAS CORPUS — Failure to Credit Petitioner with Time Spent in Jail Awaiting Trial — Writ Properly Denied. Where the only contention of petitioner for a writ of habeas corpus was that, after he had been sentenced to eighteen months for violation of probation on a charge of non-support, he was credited with only two of the twelve days he spent in jail while awaiting trial, his application for leave to appeal from a refusal of the writ was denied. The ten days added to the sentence of eighteen months did not exceed the maximum penalty for the offense, Code (1951), Art. 27, § 96, and the Court of Appeals generally has no power to determine the penalty within the statutory limits. pp. 643-644
J.E.B.
Decided November 11, 1954.
Habeas corpus proceeding by Joseph Franklin Hands against the Warden of the Maryland House of Correction. From a refusal of the writ, petitioner applied for leave to appeal.
Application denied.
Before BRUNE, C.J., and DELAPLAINE, COLLINS, HENDERSON and HAMMOND, JJ.
This is an application for leave to appeal from the denial of a writ of habeas corpus.
The petitioner was tried, convicted, and sentenced on February 11, 1954, by Judge Warnken, of the Criminal Court of Baltimore City, to eighteen months in the Maryland House of Correction for violation of probation on the charge of non-support.
Petitioner's only contention in this Court is that he was not credited with the time he spent in the Baltimore City jail from January 30, 1954, to February 11, 1954, while awaiting trial. Petitioner was given credit for two days out of the twelve days he spent in the Baltimore City jail. There is no law in this State which requires that a sentence shall date from the time of the defendant's arrest. Baldwin v. Warden, 201 Md. 657, 658, 92 A.2d 739; Agner v. Warden, 203 Md. 665, 666, 667, 99 A.2d 735. If the ten days which petitioner spent in jail, and for which he claims credit, are added to the sentence of eighteen months, the total does not exceed the maximum penalty for the offense. Code, (1951), Article 27, § 96. The Court of Appeals generally has no power to determine the penalty within the statutory limits. Reid v. State, 200 Md. 89, 88 A.2d 478; Baldwin v. Warden, supra; Agner v. Warden, supra.
Application denied, with costs.