Drinkall v. Spiegel

36 L.R.A. 486, 36 A. 830, 68 Conn. 441, 1896 Conn. LEXIS 50
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedDecember 22, 1896
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 36 L.R.A. 486 (Drinkall v. Spiegel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Drinkall v. Spiegel, 36 L.R.A. 486, 36 A. 830, 68 Conn. 441, 1896 Conn. LEXIS 50 (Colo. 1896).

Opinion

Andrews, C. J.

There are various assignments of error, but only two questions are presented. Is the appellant a fugitive from justice, and is he “ charged with a crime ” in the State of New York, within the meaning of that expression as used in the Constitution of the United States?

The papers attached to the requisition from the executive of New York show that the plaintiff had been indicted, tried, convicted and sentenced in that State for the crime of burglary in the third degree, and that the term of the sentence has not yet expired. The plaintiff insisted and asked the court to decide that having been convicted.of, and sentenced to the reformatory for, the crime of burglary, he could not be said now to be “ charged with that crime; ” that the charge of burglary had been merged in the verdict and sentence to and imprisonment in the Elmira Reformatory. The court did so hold; but held and decided that the charge of burglary in the third degree, upon which the plaintiff was convicted and sentenced to said reformatory, continued to be a charge against him until the said sentence was fully performed.

The Constitution of the United States, Art. IV. § 2, requires that ■“ a person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.” The law of Congress passed in 1789,—now §5278 of the Revised Statutes of the United States—provides for the carry[446]*446ing out of this provision of the Constitution. Our own statutes, §§ 1671-1682, establish the procedure which should be followed when a requisition is made upon the Governor of this State pursuant to the Constitution and the statutes of the United States, for the surrender of a person charged with a crime. The earliest compact between the Plantations of Connecticut, New Haven, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, contained a stipulation that upon the escape of any prisoner or fugitive for any criminal cause, whether breaking prison or getting from the officer or otherwise escaping, he should, “ upon the certificate of two magistrates,” be delivered up “into the hand of the officer or other person who pursuethhim.” 1 New Iiaven Col. Records, 103; 1 Palfrey’s Hist, of New England, 623—626. The Articles of Confederation between the colonies prior to the Constitution, contained a provision that any person guilty of, or charged with “any crime, should be delivered up on the demand of the executive of the State from which he fled.” The provisions of law which existed prior to the adoption of the Constitution show that the purpose of the section quoted is that justice, offended in the State from which the person has fled, shall be satisfied. It is one who “ flees from justice ” who is to be delivered up. Neither the Constitution nor the statutes say that it is only for the purpose of trial that the fugitive is to be surrendered. A man is still a fugitive from justice so long as he has departed leaving its demands unsatisfied. Hawley on Interstate Extradition, 110. Judge Story in commenting on this section of the Constitution, says: “It is of vital impórtance to the public administration of criminal justice, and the security of the respective States, that criminals, who have committed crimes therein, should not find an asylum in other States, but should be surrendered up for trial and punishment. It is a power most salutary in its general operation, by discouraging crimes and cutting off the chances of escape from punishment. It will promote harmony and good feelings among the States; and it will increase the general sense of the blessings of the national government. It will, moreover, give strength to a great moral [447]*447duty, which neighboring States especially owe to each other, by elevating the policy of the mutual suppression of crime into a legal obligation. Hitherto it has proved as useful in practice as it is unexceptionable in its character.” 2 Story on the Const., § 1809; 1 Kent’s Comm. *37, note.

An offender against the justice of one State can acquire no rights by defrauding that justice. Between him and the justice he has offended no rights accrue to him by his flight. He remains at all times, and eArerywhere, liable to be called upon to answer to the law for his violation thereof, provided he comes within the reach of its arm. United States v. Rauscher, 119 U. S. 407, 425; Adriance v. Lagrave, 59 N. Y. 110. The expression “charged with,” as applied to a crime, is sometimes used in a limited sense—intending the accusation of a crime which precedes a formal trial. In a fuller and more accurate sense the expression includes also the responsibility for the crime. Anderson’s Law Diet., in verb. It is in this latter sense that the expression is used in the Constitution. The public purpose to be effected by extradition must be taken into consideration in determining this question. Its object is to prevent the successful escape of any person accused of crime, whether convicted or unconvicted, and to secure his return to the State from which he fled, for the purpose of punishment. It is invoked to aid in the administration of criminal justice and to more certainly insure the punishment of the guilty. The construction contended for by the plaintiff would defeat the ends of justice in many instances. There is no express decision cited which favors it. In Dolan’s Case, 101 Mass. 219, the prisoner was returned from Ohio to Massachusetts by extradition to serve out an unexpired sentence, and in Holton v. Hopkins, 21 Kan. 638, a prisoner was returned for a like purpose. No narrow or strained construction should be placed on that expression as there used. It is broad enough to include all classes of persons duly accused of crime. A person can be said to be charged with crime as well after conviction as before. The conviction simply establishes the charge conclusively. An unsatisfied judgment of conviction still constitutes a “ charge,” within [448]*448the true intent and meaning of the Constitution. An indictment or affidavit merely presents the charge, while a conviction proves it. To warrant extradition the statute requires an indictment or affidavit charging a crime, but if in addition thereto there is also presented a record of conviction, the case is not weakened, but rather strengthened. Public Papers of Gov. Hill, 1889, p. 286; 2 Moore on Extradition, p. 839; The People v. Warden of The City Prison, 3 N. Y. Crim. Rep. 370.

It being thus shown that the plaintiff was “ charged with a crime ” in the State of New York, and it appearing that he was found in this State, he is “ a fugitive from justice,” such that he ought to be extradited. The fact that a man is charged with crime in one State and is afterwards found in another, has generally been regarded as prima facie evidence that he is a fugitive. Ex parte Reggel, 114 U. S. 642-653; Roberts v. Reilly, 116 id. 80; Kingsbury’s Case, 106 Mass. 223.

The plaintiff, however, strenuously insists that he is not a fugitive from justice. In his replication he alleged that he “ did not flee from the justice of the State of New York, but left said State of New York as allowed and directed by the board of managers of the Elmira Reformatory.” Technically the plaintiff is not in a position to raise this question.

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Bluebook (online)
36 L.R.A. 486, 36 A. 830, 68 Conn. 441, 1896 Conn. LEXIS 50, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drinkall-v-spiegel-conn-1896.