Gordon S. Little v. Clarence T. Gladden, Warden

Little appeals from the District Court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He is an Oregon state prisoner who, in 1943, entered pleas of guilty, before an Oregon state court, to charges of burglary and of knowingly uttering a forged cheek. For the two offenses, he received consecutive sentences of five and three years of confinement, respectively. Approximately one month later, on April 16, 1943, an information was filed by the district attorney of Marion County, Oregon, alleging that Little previously had been convicted of more than three other felonies. On July 3, 1943, after determination by a jury that Little had in fact been convicted of the previous crimes, and in attempted compliance with Oregon’s habitual criminal statute, then O.C. L.A. §§ 26-2801 to 26-2804, the state trial judge found appellant “guilty of violation of the HABITUAL CRIMINAL ACT.” For that “violation,” the judge then imposed a sentence of life imprisonment in the Oregon State Penitentiary.

After the prison terms for burglary and uttering a forged cheek had expired, Little petitioned the Oregon Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus. On August 2, 1954, that tribunal granted the writ,…