Opinion ID: 1593003
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lawfulness of Custody

Text: It is an essential element of the crime of escape that the custody from which the prisoner escaped was lawful. While it has been held that it is not a crime to depart from custody for which there is no authority, a prisoner may not defy his guards and run away merely because his sentence is irregular or voidable.  The reading matter under the main heading, in part, states at page 883 of the same citation: Moreover, custody is not rendered unlawful because the prisoner has been arrested and confined without a warrant, on suspicion of a felony; or because of failure to comply with statutory formalities in arresting him, or because of a mere informality in process, such as the failure of a warrant to state the county in which an offense was committed, or because of the absence of a commitment, or because the warrant, of the existence of which the prisoner has been informed, is not in the possession of the arresting officer,   . In Whitaker v. Commonwealth, 188 Ky. 95, 221 S.W. 215, 10 A.L.R. 145 (Ct.App. 1920), the defendant argued that his jail confinement was not legal and he therefore had a right to escape. He claimed that he was practically dragged out of bed on a Sunday night, taken before the county judge who refused to hear him, and sentenced without trial. The court held that: It was his duty to submit to the commitment until his status was changed or he was released in a proper manner. Ubi jus ibi remedium is a maxim of wholesome application. Whatever his rights, appellant had his legal remedy, and of this he should have availed himself. He was not authorized or justified in leaving the jail of his own volition. Black's Law Dictionary, Revised Fourth Edition (West Publishing Co.), defines the above quoted maxim as Where there is a right, there is a remedy. It is said that the rule of primitive law was the reverse: Where there is a remedy, there is a right. For further reference material see 70 A.L.R.2d, page 1430, Annot., Justification For Escape; 96 A.L.R.2d, page 520, Annot., Escape or prison breach as affected by means employed. In our case it appears the defendant was in jail for public intoxication having been committed there by the justice of the peace. The sheriff did not receive from him a certified copy of the judgment of commitment. Nevertheless, we think the imprisonment of the defendant was, at least, under color of law and he was not entitled to resort to self-help, but should have resorted to some other procedure, such as habeas corpus, to determine whether or not he was being illegally detained. Affirmed. BIEGELMEIER, P. J., and HANSON and WOLLMAN, JJ., concur.