Edwards

This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing appellant’s proceeding in habeas corpus on the ground that it alleged no ground for granting the writ. Appellant contends that he pleaded guilty to and was sentenced to consecutive sentences on two charges of an information which on their face were so diverse in character that they could not be charged in the same information within the provisions of Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A., as follows:

One of the charges was a violation of the Motor Vehicle Theft Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 408 [now §§ 2311-2313], and the other a violation of the National Stolen Property Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 415 [now § 2314]. The findings of the judgment are:

While it is difficult to conceive that on the same day the defendant in Houston, Texas, could transport in separate transactions the stolen securities in interstate commerce and begin the transport of a stolen automobile from there to Sacramento, California, we assume that the two transports were separate transactions.

The question remains whether the two offenses charged are of the “same or similar character.” Obviously, if the two charges had been of the transportation at…