People Ex Rel. Vanilla v. Denno

The relator, now over 65 years old, was found guilty in 1924 of robbery, committed in 1920, and was sentenced to imprisonment for a definite term of 40 years as a second felony offender. In the ordinary course, his term would have expired on January 26, 1964. On July 1, 1940, after more than 16 years of continuous imprisonment, apparently without a single prison rule infraction, the authorities at Sing Sing Prison determined that the relator was entitled to ‘ ‘ commutation ’ ’ of 17 years, 11 months and 9 days for good behavior and “ compensation ” of 5 years, 6 months and 10 days for labor…