Frank Kennedy v. Curtis Reid, Superintendent, District of Columbia Jail

Appellant pled guilty to three separate indictments for housebreaking. In open court the sentences were imposed as follows:

“You may serve one to three years on each case, the sentences to run consecutively.”

The consecutive order of the sentences was not stated.1 Moreover, the three cases were not referred to separately; the sentencing was lumped as stated above.

The Judgments and Commitments signed by the Judge in compliance with Rule 32(b), Fed.R.Crim.P., provided that the sentences should run concurrently. This rule reads as follows:

“(b) Judgment. A judgment of conviction shall set forth the…