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78 OFFICE OF THE A’HORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Hon. W. Y. Ikid Warden Texas Prlmn 8yStSa XunteriLla,T.u‘ retJU66tiBlg the OpiniOR Of thl 0a6 BenJu5.n ibl1ing6, prior regi6teP W16ber 66886. XQW letter onsd tit0 rho -6 l?th under a new oonvlotlon 0 der wtthatrttkllae Bur&a of bOOE'd6 mnd Identtfloatlon. PebrurrP 20th 1 requested an apiaion 6 Of this ~Z'iSOfl82' fM6! the B0U.d Of en& haYe at hand ttwlr letter of ing a6 to submit the wtter to you. Kindly &v166 at JOUr eOnVenieUOe Wb%etbbr the ObWnar in qu66tion 616~ be cotistru~d a8 8 %il Pardon. The rubjeat L-tie i6 now 6la66ified a6 a Conditton*r Pardon violator and &6 regirt6red under hi6 hid n~m?Mr 64#?246 66ZTing the bdanoe or hi6 I(lartpHtn6 pii@ term. li this i6 iWtWMOt, he wU1 be plaiM bask U&6r l new number aid reg&stmr6d a6 sanlng the new oonvlatlon sf three (3) years.* Xon. W. W. WalLI,page 2 The exooutlve proolam6tion granting pardon for th6 ftr6t murder oonviotlon is aondltlonal end provider; "TO ALL TO WXOU TFIEEEPRliXEiNTS SHALL COME: *WHE~AS, At the Hay Term, A. D., 1919 in the Dt6trlot Court of Van Zandt County, Texas, -----------------------. BENJAUIW ROLLING9 843,724 -6 aonrloted of a felony, towlt: M u R D E R and hl6 punlrhment 8666666d at 6OnfinOmSnt in the Penitentiary for Ninety-nine year68 and "This dafrndant I6 panted a pardon aondltloned that a6 long a6 he reo6lver &15.00 per month, hi6 board and lodging and is treated humanely he remain in the personal employ Ot 2X-@Ot@X'Wl- Jam66 6. F6r@l60tl, fOI' 6%X year6 from the date hereof mnd und6r his rdr~or and dlreotion. 'IN TESTIMONY ~WHEREOI,I have hereunto rigwd my ma6 offlolally and amused th6 Seal af State to b6 irplu66ed hereon at f6;lni9;16 the 1Qth day of January, . 0, . /d llrJ,@mA. Ferqu~8 Oorernor 0r Mu6 " BX THISGOVEiWOR: Ld - wK#&L- Seoretary of State ---_-- ------.-...--- @I, Benjamin flolllnge,the above do6orlbed. freely mooopt the abovr pardon and oondltlon therein mentioned. The rule i6 that in case of doubt nondltionol pardon6 as6 to be conetrued most f6vorebly to the grantee and against the sovereign. 06born v. United States, 91 U. 3. 474,
23 L. Ed. 388;
20 Rawle c. L. 662. Wlth this in mind we lRt6rpret the pardon grhnt6d B6nJamln Holllngs, dated Jan. 12, 1927, to be aondltlonal solely that he remain In the personal employ and under the advioe an8 dl.reotl.on of Ja6. E. Fergu6On lor a period 0r 61x years froa the 12th day of January, 1.8271and that this be n6oersary only ln the event that n6 receives th6 6um of 81s. psr month, his Hon. W. W. Uaid, pagr 3 board and lodging and ir treated humanely by 6uQh lwloy6r. We Interpret thlr to be a oonaltlon preoeaent and lf tu6 ocndltLon va6 ratlsfird - there be%ng L1oother - the pardon beaan6 irrevooable on the 12th day of January, 19X3. The oonditions attaahed to a par&on are di6aretk.o~ vlth tim - the only rrqulmmnt rxeautlve being that they be nbt %llo al or immor& Ex arte Dawnport, 110 Tex. Or. Rep. zH?b, 9 LU. f2d) 589, 60.A.L.B. !40$. In order to k oparatlvrr, bov- 6ver, th#$Prmiltapp6ar ln the padOn. Ii% rte Reno, 66 no. Q66 27 Adi Rap. 337~ Annotation6,
60 A.L.R. 14p" 6, 111 Am. 6t. R6p.10&, 7+n. Oas. 88. A OOndltlOMl pardon, be it upon OOndltlOn6 prewdent OX' 6Ub66qU6Klt,bWO6le6 8brOhte UpOn th6 iulfll%WRt Of it8 aonditionr. barr Q. State,
19 Or. App. 666, 66 Au. Rop. 606. It oannot be revoked aftor it b6 been delivered and looeptod and th6 grantee ha6 faithfully perforwd the cwmdktlon8. !Cxpu‘te Mae, 72 Or. F&p. 687 162 5. U. 801; ti parto hra616C, 91 Qr. Rep. 476, QSQ 8. Y. oi2. In the m Q16. th6 OOUCt 6aibl %nder all the autboritle6 w6 have b6en able k, rind, the rule 16 that uhen the Governor ha6 i66UOd 6n onoonai- tlorurlpardon, and it ,S6 aooepted by the prlronen, &nd he 16 relea6sd thexwunder, all power and oantrol &OS, th6 prl6oner 3.6gonei The Uovemor has no authority to revoke an onoondltional pUaon liter ito 186U11160, drltvery, and aooeptanee. pA oonditlonal pardon I6 a6 ab6olUte an not UpOn ths aondltloqs named theroln as 8.;an unoonditlonal pardon. It oan be revoked and annuled only upon a violatfon of the conditions $h6 &QOrnOf h66 ~6eOR f&t to tarart thereln. Upon a vlolatlon of the aondttlonr, th6 .rightof cevooatloa at onae arlresj but Zf the awdltlono are not vlolat8d, the rlgat to annul 8066 not exi6t. This right 6prlngr lnto exlrtenoe oolnolaent wLth the violation of the oond%tlonr, or either of them, nawd in th6 aondttlotml pardon.‘ Bon. W. ii.Uald, page 4 On motion for rehearing the court aontlnued: “And If the Oovernor Is not granted the authorlt? and power to revoke an unconditional pardon at hi8 pleasure by the Constitution - and this certainly no one can contek - then the right to revoke a oonditional pardon comes, riotfrom en7 power oonferred h$on him br the Conatitutlon and laws of the State, but by reason of the aondltionr placed In the pardon, and solely from that aourae.” Aollingsl pardon was not condltloned that he aalataln go@d behavior or that he refrain from oommlttlng further orlne. The only requirement was that ha remain In the employ of James E. Fsrguson for alx yeare lf he reoelved proper treatment and pay. Filepardon could be.reroked by the oorernor for rlolatlon of thla -- and only this -- condltlon. We are lnfomed by the ex- ecutive department that It has not been BO revoked.’ lot having been revoked, It le our opinion that you have no authority to claeelfy Hollinga aa a conditional pardon violator and plaae him under his old number. He should be glron a new number for his new conviction until exeoutlve rotIon la taken revoking his pardon-it being eatabllshed that he has violated, Uurlng the six year period mentioned, aope oondltlon stated there- in. The foregoing oonaluslon makes it unnece#sar~ for ua to pass upon the question a8 to whether the oondltlonal pardon inyolved mar now be considered a full pardon. Very truly your8 SDS:JE
Document Info
Docket Number: O-3215
Judges: Gerald Mann
Filed Date: 7/2/1941
Precedential Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 2/18/2017