Smith v. Swope

The judgment first pronounced in the federal court did not fix the time when the sentence was to begin. The commitments commanded the marshal to deliver appellant to the penitentiary “forthwith.”

In Hill v. Wampler, 298 U.S. 460, 465, 56 S.Ct. 760, 762, 80 L.Ed. 1283, it is said: “The prisoner is detained, not by virtue of the warrant of commitment, but on account of the judgment and sentence.” Inasmuch as the judgment did not fix the time when the sentence was to begin to run, it is necessary to determine when the sentence, began under the first indictment.

18 U.S.C.A. § 709a, enacted June 29,…