Opinion
Opinion Filed April 4, 1967
Criminal Law.
1. 13 V.S.A. § 7131, cannot do service as an appeal.
2. Petition to vacate sentence was properly dismissed, where appeal from conviction was pending, and all issues presented by petition were available on direct review. 13 V.S.A. § 7131.
Motion to vacate sentence with respect to conviction for rape. The motion was brought while appeal of conviction was pending. Essex County Court, Sylvester, J., presiding. Motion denied because of pending appeal reported at 126 Vt. 320, 229 A.2d 237. Affirmed.
Herbert E. Ovitt, pro se. Chester S. Ketcham, Special Counsel for Attorney General, for the State.
February Term, 1967
Present: Holden, C.J., Shangraw, Barney, Smith and Keyser, JJ.
While the appeal in State of Vermont v. Herbert E. Ovitt, No. 491, was pending, the respondent appellant presented a motion to vacate his sentence. The motion was brought under the provisions of 13 V.S.A. § 7131 (1966, No. 41 § 1a). It attacks the validity of the information, claiming the Deputy Attorney General was without lawful authority to institute the prosecution. This point is considered in the appeal from his conviction.
The Essex County Court denied the motion because of the pending appeal, ruling that all of the issues presented were available on direct review by this Court. The statute, upon which the petitioner acted, cannot do service as an appeal. The order dismissing the petition is well founded. In re Rickert, 124 Vt. 232, 235, 203 A.2d 602.
Order affirmed.