Vitale v. Hunter, Warden, 206 F.2d 826, 10th Cir. (1953)

206 F.
2d 826
VITALE,
v.
HUNTER, Warden.
No. 4647.
United States Court of Appeals.

Tenth Circuit.
Aug. 5, 1953.
Rehearing Denied Sept. 3, 1953.
Joseph M. Bonuso, Washington, D.C. (James H. Hope, Topeka, Kan., on

the brief), for appellant.
Robert H. Bingham, Topeka, Kan. (Eugene W. Davis, Topeka, Kan., on
the brief), for appellee.
Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and MURRAH and PICKETT, Circuit
Judges.
MURRAH, Circuit Judge.
Complaining of the restraint of his liberty by the respondent Warden, upon an

alleged violation of the terms of a commuted sentence, the petitioner brought
this action for a writ of habeas corpus to effect his release from Leavenworth
Penitentiary. And, this appeal is from an order of the District Court of Kansas
discharging the writ.
The petition for the writ alleged in substance that he was arrested and detained
by the agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on January 31,
1952, at the International Airport, Los Angeles, California, while enroute from
Tia Juana, Mexico, to Rome, Italy, via Los Angeles and New York, and while
being transferred to a connecting and waiting airline for direct transit across the
United States. He alleged that when he booked passage into and across the
United States, he had in his possession a roundtrip ticket from Rome, Italy, to
Tia Juana via Venezuela, but upon being informed of an agreement between the
United States and the airline, under which aliens without a visa were permitted
to travel through the United States under the supervision of the airline, and that
such route was quicker and shorter, he purchased the ticket on which he was
traveling at the time of his arrest; that except for his unlawful arrest and
detention, he would have continued upon his journey through and across the
United States to his home in Italy.
3
In a supporting memorandum, the petitioner stated that while serving sentences

totaling fifteen years in the Federal Penitentiary, the President of the United
States commuted the sentences on May 26, 1935, to expire immediately upon
his delivery to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for deportation,
provided that if he should thereafter 'be found within the United States * * *
otherwise than in the lawful custody of a federal officer, the commutation shall
thereupon become null and void and of no effect, and he shall be returned to the
penitentiary to complete the service of his sentences. * * * ' The agreement
between the United States and the airline, referred to in the petition and
attached to the memorandum, provided in substance that alien passengers
without visas were permitted to travel through the United States in Direct
transit, with necessary servicing and connecting stops, to destinations outside
the United States, provided that such passengers would be under the strict
supervision of the airline, with binding obligation to vouchsafe their orderly
passage in accordance with the agreement. The contention is that apprehension
while in direct transit across the United States to a destination outside thereof
under the strict supervision of the airline, is not being 'found within the United
States' as that term is used in the Presidential commutation of the sentences;
that not having been found in the United States, his detention is unlawful and
the writ should therefore issue.
In his response to the petition, the Warden admitted custody but denied its
illegality. He alleged the attached judgments, commitments and the Presidential
commutation. He attached and made specific reference to an indictment
returned in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
in 1945, charging this petitioner with 'unlawfully, willfully, knowingly and
feloniously entering the United States of America from a foreign country' by
means of a vessel which arrived at Miami, Dade County, Florida, on October 2,
1944; that further charging that at the time of such entry into the United States,
the petitioner was an alien who had been previously arrested and deported from
the United States on July 14, 1939, in pursuance of law. Further answering, it
was alleged that a warrant for the arrest of petitioner on the Florida indictment
has since been outstanding; that the petitioner was found and arrested by the
immigration authorities at San Pedro, California, on January 31, 1952, pursuant
to which he was in lawful custody of the respondent and that the writ should be
discharged.
With convincing logic, we are urged to interpret the critical language 'found
within the United States' as meaning something more than 'merely coming
upon or discovering' the petitioner; that when considered in its proper context,
the critical phrase connotes an entry at large to mix with the population, and
given that meaning, the petitioner's apprehension at the airport cannot be said
to be a violation of the terms of the commutation.
The construction of the critical phrase finds support in analogous cases. See Ex
parte Chow Chok, C.C., 161 F. 627; McFarland v. United States, 6 Cir., 19 F.2d
805; Delgadillo v. Carmichael, 332 U.S. 388, 68 S.Ct. 10, 92 L.Ed. 17. The
condition in the commutation was well within the power of the sovereign,
Kavalin v. White, 10 Cir., 44 F.2d 49, but, having imposed the condition, it
does not become the sovereign or breed respect for law to indulge in 'captious
interpretations' of the terms thereof. We do not think, however, that our case
turns on whether the petitioner was 'found within the United States' while in
direct transit from Tia Juana to Rome via Los Angeles and New York. As we
have seen, the response pleaded an indictment charging an unlawful entry into
the United States in 1944 and an outstanding warrant for the arrest of the
petitioner. The trial court's opinion indicates that at some intermediate stage of
the proceedings, the government moved to reopen the case and offer positive
proof in support of the factual allegation, and that some time during the
proceedings called the petitioner to testify concerning the indictment, but that
he refused to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate him.
While the trial court did not choose to rest its decision upon the fact of
petitioner's illegal entry in 1944, we think it might well have done so. Under the
common law, as adopted by statute, 'The allegations of a return to the writ of
habeas corpus or of an answer to an order to show cause in a habeas corpus
proceeding, if not traversed, shall be accepted as true except to the extent that
the judge finds from the evidence that they are not true.' 28 U.S.C.A. 2248.
No evidence is necessary to support the allegations of a return. It imports verity
and must be taken as true, unless directly put in issue by the pleadings. Crowley
v. Christensen, 137 U.S. 86, 11 S.Ct. 13, 34 L.Ed. 620; United States ex rel.
D'Istria v. Day, C.C., 20 F.2d 302; Graham v. Carr, 9 Cir., 11 F.2d 908; United
States ex rel. Catalano v. Shaughnessy, 2 Cir., 197 F.2d 65. An issue joined by
the petition and the return must be determined upon proof. See Stewart v.
Overholser, 87 U.S.App.D.C. 402, 186 F.2d 339. But here, the allegations with
reference to the entry in 1944 stand untraversed and unrebutted, and we think
they must be taken as true. This being so, the petitioner must be held to have
entered the United States on October 2, 1944, the commutation thereupon
became null and void. His apprehension in Los Angeles in 1952, whether in
obedience to the outstanding warrant or for some other reason, is immaterial to
the question of his unlawful detention. The essential fact is that he was found
within the United States in violation of the terms of his commutation and he
cannot therefore complain of his return to the penitentiary to complete the
service of his sentence.
8
There is nothing on the fact of the record to indicate that the commutation was
not revoked strictly in accordance with its terms. We will not assume that it was
not revoked for proper cause in an appropriate proceedings. See Kavalin v.
White, supra.
The judgment of the court is affirmed.

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206 F.

United States Court of Appeals.

Joseph M. Bonuso, Washington, D.C. (James H. Hope, Topeka, Kan., on

Complaining of the restraint of his liberty by the respondent Warden, upon an

In a supporting memorandum, the petitioner stated that while serving sentences

The judgment of the court is affirmed.

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