Mercer v. Commonwealth

Gordon MERCER v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky

Mercer v. Commonwealth, 346 S.W.2d 761 (Ky. Ct. App. 1961)

Court: Court of Appeals of Kentucky · State Appellate Courts
Decided: May 19, 1961
Judges: Bird
Citations: 346 S.W.2d 7611961 Ky. LEXIS 335

Cited by 7

Opinion of the Court — Bird

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

BIRD, Chief Justice.

The trial court dismissed Gordon Mercer’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. He appeals.

He was convicted in the Jefferson Circuit Court under the Habitual Criminal Act, KRS 431.190. His punishment, was fixed at life imprisonment. Here, as in the trial court, he contends that the Habitual Criminal Act violates various provisions of both state and federal constitutions and that his imprisonment is therefore wrongful.

This Court has heretofore held that the act does not violate either constitution as claimed by him, or at all. For discussion of the same issues, see Allen v. Commonwealth, 272 Ky. 533 , 114 S.W.2d 757 ; Ward v. Hurst, 300 Ky. 464 , 189 S.W.2d 594 ; Hampton v. Whaley, 313 Ky. 611 , 233 S.W. *762 2d 273 ; Harrod v. Whaley, Ky., 239 S.W.2d 480 ; Holt v. Commonwealth, Ky., 310 S.W.2d 40 .

Having been indicted as an habitual criminal he further complains fhat he not only failed to have the psychiatric examination required by KRS 203.340 but that the statute was ignored in all respects. Our examination of the statute does not convince us that a trial is dependent upon compliance. Failure to comply does not void the judgment. We hold only void judgments are subject to attack by a habeas corpus proceeding. Fisher v. Commonwealth, Ky., 243 S.W.2d 881 ; Brown v. Commonwealth, Ky., 243 S.W.2d 885 ; Owen v. Commonwealth, Ky., 280 S.W.2d 524 .

We find no error. The judgment is therefore afifirmed.

How later courts describe this case

No later court has written an explanatory parenthetical about this case yet.

Cited by 7 cases

View all citing references →

Relies on it most ⓘ

McIntosh v. Commonwealth368 S.W.2d 331 (Ky. Ct. App. 1963)
Etherton v. Commonwealth379 S.W.2d 730 (Ky. Ct. App. 1964)
Thomas v. Morrow361 S.W.2d 105 (Ky. Ct. App. 1962)
Jones v. Davis233 F. Supp. 949 (W.D. Ky. 1964)
Lairson v. Commonwealth388 S.W.2d 592 (Ky. Ct. App. 1965)
Wade v. Thomas357 S.W.2d 678 (Ky. Ct. App. 1962)

Most recent

Capps v. Commonwealth465 S.W.2d 42 (Ky. Ct. App. 1971)
Lairson v. Commonwealth388 S.W.2d 592 (Ky. Ct. App. 1965)
Etherton v. Commonwealth379 S.W.2d 730 (Ky. Ct. App. 1964)
Jones v. Davis233 F. Supp. 949 (W.D. Ky. 1964)
McIntosh v. Commonwealth368 S.W.2d 331 (Ky. Ct. App. 1963)
Thomas v. Morrow361 S.W.2d 105 (Ky. Ct. App. 1962)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 8

Depth	Case	Cited by
	Allen v. Commonwealth, 114 S.W.2d 757 (Ky. Ct. App. 1938)	25
	Ward v. Hurst, 189 S.W.2d 594 (Ky. Ct. App. 1945)	15
	Hampton v. Whaley, 233 S.W.2d 273 (Ky. Ct. App. 1950)	5
	Harrod v. Whaley, 239 S.W.2d 480 (Ky. Ct. App. 1951)	22
	Owen v. Commonwealth, 280 S.W.2d 524 (Ky. Ct. App. 1955)	15
	Brown v. Commonwealth, 243 S.W.2d 885 (Ky. Ct. App. 1951)	9
	Holt v. Commonwealth, 310 S.W.2d 40 (Ky. Ct. App. 1957)	6
	Fisher v. Commonwealth, 243 S.W.2d 881 (Ky. Ct. App. 1951)	2

`/`	Focus the search box
`j` `k`	Next / previous result
`Enter`	Open the selected result
`x`	Add / remove the selected result from the download list
`n` `p`	Next / previous search term in a case
`c`	Copy the citation of the current case
`+` `−`	Larger / smaller reading text
`?`	Show this list