North Carolina v. Pearce

395 U.S. 711 (1969).

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Pearce (D) was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape. The trial judge sentenced him to prison for a term of 12 to 15 years. Several years later he got a reversal of his conviction. D was retried, convicted, and sentenced by the trial judge to an eight-year prison term, which, when added to the time D had already spent in prison amounted to a longer total sentence than that originally imposed. These were affirmed on appeal. D then began this habeas corpus proceeding. The District Court held that the longer sentence imposed upon retrial was 'unconstitutional and void.' Upon the failure of the state court to resentence D within 60 days, the federal court ordered his release. This order was affirmed The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Rice (D1) pleaded guilty to four separate charges of second-degree burglary. He was sentenced to prison terms aggregating 10 years. The judgments were set aside in a state coram nobis proceeding, upon the ground that D1 had not been accorded his constitutional right to counsel. D1was retried upon three of the charges, convicted, and sentenced to prison terms aggregating 25 years. No credit was given for the time he had spent in prison on the original judgments which was over two and a half years. He then brought this habeas corpus proceeding alleging that the state trial court had acted unconstitutionally in failing to give him credit for the time he had already served in prison, and in imposing grossly harsher sentences upon retrial. The judge found that D1 had been denied due process of law, because 'under the evidence, in this case, the conclusion is inescapable that the State of Alabama is punishing petitioner D1 for his having exercised his post-conviction right of review and for having the original sentences declared unconstitutional.' The judgment of the District Court was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.