Calvin Crator v. Dexter Payne

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of Crator’s habeas petition because his life sentence for rape did not exceed the statutory maximum applicable at the time of the offense and therefore was not facially illegal. The court held that the death-penalty authorities invoked by Crator did not apply to his life sentence and that a life sentence for rape did not violate the Eighth Amendment. Crator’s equal-protection and additional cruel-and-unusual-punishment arguments were not preserved because he raised them for the first time on appeal, and they would not establish a facially illegal sentence or lack of jurisdiction even if considered.