Hirons v. Warden of Maryland Penitentiary

Henderson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an application for leave to appeal from the denial of a writ of habeas corpus. This Court has on four previous occasions denied applications by this petitioner for leave to appeal, reported in 196 Md. 679 , 198 Md. 662 , 201 Md. 652 , and 203 Md. 670 . In at least two of these applications the point was raised as to the legality of his transfer from the State Reformatory for Males to the Maryland Penitentiary, under the following circumstances: the petitioner was sentenced on May 15, 1949, by the late Judge France, to terms totalling six years in the State Reformatory for assault with intent to kill and carrying a deadly weapon.

In October, 1949, he was sentenced by Judge Tucker to twenty years in the Maryland Penitentiary for armed robbery, to run concurrently with his first sentences from May 15, 1949. It was held that the matter of transfer was within the discretion imposed by law upon the Board of Correction, under Code (1951), Art. 27, sec. 794. (By Ch. 758, Acts of 1953, the powers conferred upon the Board of Correction were transferred to the Superintendent of Prisons. See Code (1955 Supp.), secs. 763 and 794.) The petitioner now alleges that his transfer was not made with the consent or approval of the Board of Correction, but was made solely by.