Court Opinion

ID: 9937791
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 19:01:59.784351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:19.093210
License: Public Domain

I concur in the judgment of affirmance, because I would overrule Behel. If Behel is correct law, rendering the defendant's escape conviction invalid due to a faulty indictment, then, in my opinion, coram nobis may be a proper remedy. While ordinarily a conviction based on an indictment insufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the court may not be collaterally challenged, where such invalidity is judicially established after the conviction under review, a "factual" issue may be invoked, thus giving coram nobis a viable field of operation. See 24 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1605 (1).
But I do not agree that the indictment is deficient. An indictment that charges the Defendant with unlawfully escaping from the county jail where the sheriff held him under authority of law contains all the requisites of specificity to comport with due process and, in my opinion, is a valid indictment.