In People ex rel. Johnson v. Martin (283 App Div 478 [4th Dept 1954], affd 307 NY 713 [1954]), an order granting a writ of habeas corpus was issued by the Wyoming County Court where the inmate (Johnson) claimed that he had been wrongfully confined by the State beyond his lawful sentence. The issue in Johnson is described (at 480): "It was relator's contention that under the commitment of the Yates County Court, dated May 27, 1947, his term of imprisonment was for a maximum of five years pursuant to section 288 of the Correction Law and that his term had expired. The position of the State is that, no maximum having been fixed by the sentencing court upon sentence, the relator could be held in custody for the maximum time provided by law as punishment for burglary, third degree, which maximum is ten years. (Penal Law, 407.)" The Johnson court found that because Johnson's maximum term at the time of sentencing was five years, the State had no authority to hold him beyond that period, reminding that "the passing of sentence upon one convicted of a crime as well as the suspension of sentence is the sole prerogative and duty of the court. The judge must fix the punishment and the limits thereof within the bounds which the Legislature has provided for the crime. The Commissioner of Correction by himself or acting through his agents has no authority to sentence a prisoner nor to fix the limits of his confinement" (283 App Div at 481).