City of St. Louis v. Young

138 S.W. 5, 235 Mo. 44, 1911 Mo. LEXIS 79
Supreme Court of Missouri·Decided June 1, 1911·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

BROWN, C.

— This is an appeal by Henry Henning, surety in a recognizance for the appearance of defendant Young in the police court of the city of St. Louis to answer a charge of violating a city ordinance, from a judgment of the St. Louis Court of Criminal Correction on scire facias, enforcing a forfeiture of said recognizance.

Although appellant’s abstract of the record states that certain objections were taken by the appellant in the course of this proceeding, and that a bill of exceptions was signed and filed, there is nothing contained in the abstract indicating what the bill of exceptions [49]*49contained, or that any action or proceeding of the court was preserved or stated in it.

The scire facias was issued out of the Second District Police Court of the city of St. Louis, and is, with the returns thereon, in the following words and figures:

IN THE SECOND DISTRICT POLICE COURT.
State of Missouri, City of St. Louis, ss.
THE STATE OP MISSOURI
fo the Marshal of the City of St. Louis, Greeting:
Whereas, on the 15th day of Sept., A. D. 1906, in the city of St. Louis, Harry Young'as principal and Hy. Henning as security personally appeared before John Lyon of 9th District, an officer of the city of St. Louis duly authorized by ordinance to take bonds for and in behalf of the city of St. Louis in cases of persons arrested for violation of ordinances of said city; and acknowledged themselves to be each indebted to said city in the sum of two hundred dollars, to be levied upon their respective goods, chattels, lands and tenements.
Yet upon condition, that if the, said principal shall personally be and appear before the police justice of the Second District Police Court of the city of St. Louis at the Second District Police Court of said city on the 17th day of Sept., A. D. 1906, at the opening of the said police court on the forenoon of said day, then and there to answer a charge of violating an ordinance of said city, and should not depart thence without leave being first obtained from said police justice, then their r'ecognizance to be null and void; otherwise to remain in full force and effect; and
Whereas, afterwards, on a day subsequent to said 17th day of September, 1906, named in said recognizance, to-wit, on the 25th day of Sept., 1906, to which the hearing of said case had been continued in said court, the said principal not having been discharged from said recognizance, although then and there solemnly demanded by said court to come into court according to the condition of said recognizance, came not, but made default and failed therein, and the said security, although demanded then and there by the said court to bring into court the body of said principal and save his recognizance, came not, but failed therein;
Wherefore, it was considered by said court that the recognizance of said security, as well as of said principal, be forfeited, and
Whereas, The said sum acknowledged as aforesaid from them,' the said conusors, yet remain to be levied;
. Therefore, we command you to make'known to said principal and security, according to lay, that they appear before the said [50]*50police justice of the city of St. Louis, at’the Second District Police Court of said city, on the 25th day of Oct., 1906, then and there to show cause if any they have, or anything can say, why the city of St. Louis should not have execution against them of the debt aforesaid, in form aforesaid, by them acknowledged to be due according to the force of said recognizance (now remaining in possession of said court), and have you then and there this writ, with.your return thereon how you have executed the same.
Given under my hand this 25th day of Sept., A. D. 1906. By order of the Second District Police Justice.
• W. A. CARTEE,
Clerk of the Second District .Police Court.

And return thereon, as follows:

Return on original:

Executed this writ in the city of St. Louis on this 10th day of Oct., 1906, by delivering a true copy to within named security Hy.; Henning.
GEO. P. WEINBRENNER,
City Marshal.
By J. Prank Tevis, Deputy City Marshal.

Return on alias:

Executed the within writ in the city of St. Louis on this 30th day of Oct., 1906. After due and diligent search by the Marshal the within named Harry Young could not be found in the city of St. Louis.
GEO. P. WEINBRENNER,
City Marshal.
By R. A. James, Deputy City Marshal.

. No other writ appears in the abstract'of the record, although the returns set out above seems to indicate that an alias was issued and returned nihil as to Young.

Judgment was entered in the Second District Police Court November 16, 1906, enforcing a forfeiture of the bond mentioned in the writ, from which appeal was taken by Mr. Henning, the surety, to the St. Louis Court of Criminal Correction.

In the latter court a motion was filed by appellant to quash the writ for matter apparent on its face, which was overruled, and appellant thereupon filed a return [51]*51which, he designates an answer, denying all the allegations of the writ and asserting in general terms that the police court was without jurisdiction to declare a forfeiture of the bond referred to in the writ.

On June 1st, 1907, a trial de novo was had in the Court of Criminal Correction, resulting in the judgment against Henning, from which this appeal is taken.

I. In this case the issues of law made by the parties in their briefs are materially narrowed by the fact that, although the appellant’s abstract of record states that a bill of exceptions was, during the time allowed by the court for that purpose, duly signed and filed, there is nothing from which its contents can be even surmised.

It has become the settled rule of this court that the abstract of the record should show, in some orderly and reasonable way, that the exceptions and motions are preserved in a bill of exceptions, otherwise we cannot consider them. [State v. Adkins, 221 Mo. 112, 120, and cases cited; Hays v. Foos, 223 Mo. 421; Kolokas v. Railroad, Id., 455, 460.] For this reason we are precluded from the examination of any question not raised on the face of the record proper. Applying the rule to this case,, the question is whether the writ on its face is sufficient to support the judgment.

This eliminates a preliminary question raised by the appellant as to the effect of certain ordinances of the city of St. Louis relating to matters of practice before the police justice. As it does not appear from the abstract of record that any such ordinances were before the court, either by averment in the writ or return, or as evidence, we are not at liberty to assume their existence for the purposes of this case. Whatever of incongruity there may be in a rule which creates a conclusive presumption that the wandering vagrant who sojourns for a day in St.

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City of St. Louis v. Young, 138 S.W. 5, 235 Mo. 44, 1911 Mo. LEXIS 79 (Mo. 1911).

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