Ex parte Cooks

135 S.W. 139
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas·Decided February 8, 1911·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinions

HARPER, J.

It appears that appellant was summoned to work the road. 1-Ie failed to work. Complaint was filed in the justice court, and be was tried and convicted. Upon appeal to the county court be was again tried and convicted. The fine being less than $100, be could not appeal; the law making the judgment of the county court final. 1-Ie refused to pay the fine, was arrested, and sued out a writ of habeas corpus. Upon a hearing before the county judge be was remanded to the .custody of the sheriff, and from this judgment remanding him be appeals to this court, and from the record it appears there is an agreement as to the matters involved, which are stated as follows: (1) Was the court in session at the time relator was tried? (2) Taken in connection with the agreed statement of facts, did relator violate the law in refusing to» work the road as summoned? (3) Is the com[140] plaint invalid, for the reason that it is unintelligible and indefinite? (4) Is the special road law of Shelby county with reference to the punishment of persons for failure to work the road under its mode of summons constitutional and valid?

In regard to the first question, the laws of this state give to the commissioners the right to fix the time that the county court shall meet and the length of the term, and it appears that appellant was tried within the time fixed by the commissioners for the October term of the county court, and there is no order showing that the court adjourned prior to the date of the trial. The law authorized the election of a special judge under certain circumstances, and it appears that one was elected within the three days fixed by the statute. The court having been legally opened by the special judge, it would remain in session until the end of the term, unless the judge should make an order adjourning it. We answer the first question in the affirmative. This court in a proceeding of this character is not authorized to go behind a judgment valid on its face on an allegation of irregularity, rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction or inquire into the facts as to whether or not the defendant under the facts ought to have been convicted. The complaint may be irregular and subject to a motion to quash, but the Legislature has given the county court final jurisdiction where the case originates in the justice court and the fine in the county court is less than $100.

The judgment being valid on its face, we do not inquire into the matters contained in the second and third questions. In Ex parte Scwartz, 2 Tex. App. 80, 81, it is said: “A proceeding defective for irregularity and one void for illegality may be revised upon error or certiorari; 'but it is the latter defect only which gives authority to discharge on habeas corpus.” An irregularity is defined to be a want of adherence to some prescribed rule or mode of proceeding, and it consists either in omitting to do something that is necessary for the due and orderly conducting of a suit, or doing it in an unreasonable time or improper manner. Hurd on Habeas Corpus, 333, citing Tidd’s Pr. 435. “The writ of habeas corpus was not designed to operate as a writ of error or certiorari, and does not have their force and effect. It does not deal with errors or irregularities which render proceedings voidable merely, but such only as render them absolutely void.” Perry v. State, 41 Tex. 490. “The case of Darrah v. Westerlage, 44 Tex. 388, was not unlike the present case in several respects; and there it was held ‘that the writ of habeas corpus cannot be made use of to effect an appeal or as a writ of error. The extent to which the court below could go in looking into the orders of the recorder was as to his power to hear .and determine the question involved in the trial before the recorder.’ ‘Whether the proof warranted the judgment wa^ not a matter that could be investigated by the judge on the hearing of the writ of habeas corpus.’ Darrah v. Westerlage [44 Tex. 388].”

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Ex parte Cooks, 135 S.W. 139 (Tex. 1911).

135 S.W. 139 (Ex parte Cooks) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Mielcarek v. Riske
21 N.W.2d 218 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1945)
Ex parte Largent
162 S.W.2d 419 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1942)
Handy v. Johnson
51 F.2d 809 (E.D. Texas, 1931)
Hughes v. County Com'rs' Court of Harris County
35 S.W.2d 818 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1931)
State ex rel. Olympia v. Olympia Light & Power Co.
158 P. 85 (Washington Supreme Court, 1916)
Hatfield v. Hatfield
1916 OK 657 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1916)
Ex Parte Martinez, Jr.
145 S.W. 959 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1912)