Franklin Brothers v. United States

This is an appeal from the denial of a petition for a writ of coram nobis. That remedy was sought to be utilized because petitioner’s plea of guilty to one count of possession of heroin was entered on April 16, 1951, and he has long since served his sentence of thirteen months. He was freed, only to again be reincarcerated for continued narcotic violations.

In 1951, petitioner was “hooked” on heroin. He was convicted in 1951, prior to his federal plea, in a Justice Court of King County, Washington, of the crime of being a habitual user of narcotics.

Brothers desired help to rid himself of his habit. Appellant himself states that his Justice Court sentence was six months, but “the State had no facility for the treatment of drug addicts.” (App.Br. pp. 3, 4) But Brothers says he was told that “if he subjected himself to an approved program,” his state sentence would be suspended.

This, Brothers swears (p. 23) led to his guilty plea to the federal indictment. His attorney (now deceased) told Brothers (App.Br. p. 4) “that he should plead affirmatively to the indictment presented in furtherance of perpetrating the main objective, i. e., civil commitment,” inasmuch as the proceeding…