UNITED STATES OF AMERICA EX REL. ALBERT MINTZER, PETITIONER-APPELLANT,
v.
EDWARD DROS, AS WARDEN OF THE MANHATTAN HOUSE OF DETENTION FOR MEN, RESPONDENT-APPELLEE

2d Cir. | 1967-11-30
Nos. 137, Docket 31670
403 F.2d 42 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1967) Caution
Cited by 4 cases

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Holding

The court held that the district court correctly denied the writ of habeas corpus as the appellant's claims did not raise constitutional questions or were not cognizable in habeas corpus.


Facts & Procedural History

Appellant, an incarcerated prisoner, sought a writ of habeas corpus, claiming his conviction for grand larceny by false pretenses violated his constit…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

PER CURIAM:

Appellant is an incarcerated New York State prisoner. He was sentenced on July 13, 1964 to a term of five to fifteen years upon his conviction after a jury trial for grand larceny in the first degree by false pretenses.

Appellant’s application for a writ of habeas corpus was denied by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and he appeals. We affirm.

Appellant claims that his constitutional rights were violated because (1) the indictment on which his trial was based charged not larceny by false pretenses but larceny by false promise, which was not then a crime, (2) there was no evidence to support the conviction, (3) the charge to the jury was erroneous, and (4) the trial was fundamentally unfair because of prejudicial comments by the trial judge. The district court carefully considered each of these contentions. No adequate reason is .offered by appellant for our disturbing that court’s conclusions.

Habeas corpus is not available to test the sufficiency of the indictment. United States ex rel. Tangredi v. Wallack, 343 F. 2d 752 (2d Cir. 1965).

The objections to the correctness of the judge’s charge and to the sufficiency of the evidence fail to raise questions of constitutional dimension.

Appellant’s continued and disruptive vacillation between insisting on proceeding pro se and demanding to be represented by counsel engendered most of the comments by the trial judge of which complaint is now made. The judge’s conduct fell far short of denial of the constitutional right to a fair trial. See United States ex rel. Colon v. Follette, 366 F. 2d 775 (2d Cir. 1966).

Appellant also contends that his conviction for failure to file annual reports in violation of New York General Business Law, McKinney’s Consol.Laws, c. 20, Section 352-e(8) is invalid because the statute is void for vagueness and in any event does not apply to him. Since appellant was given a suspended sentence of one year on this count, and that year had expired when the decision below was handed down, federal habeas eorpus is not available to challenge it.

Affirmed.


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