Ex parte Noel

338 S.W.2d 903
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedSeptember 30, 1960
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 338 S.W.2d 903 (Ex parte Noel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex parte Noel, 338 S.W.2d 903 (Ky. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

MOREMEN, Judge.

By petition to the Kenton Circuit Court for a writ of habeas corpus, Brown Noel sought to be released from the custody of the jailer of that county where he was being held under a warrant issued by the Governor under KRS 440.070. The circuit court refused to release him.

On the 30th day of December 1959, the place of business of the Mason Jewelers, Inc., in Huntsville, Alabama, was entered and about $15,000 worth of merchandise was carried away.

On January 3, 1960, Brown Noel was arrested under a fugitive warrant (KRS 440. 080) issued from the Covington Police Court upon affidavit by a member of the Police Department of that city. He was soon released upon the execution of a $5,000 bond for appearance on January 27, 1960. The hearing was later postponed to February 24, 1960.

On January 15, 1960, the Governor of Alabama requested extradition and filed an affidavit and warrant in support. On the 25th day of January 1960, the Governor of this Commonwealth issued a rendition warrant under KRS 440.070, and under the processes required for interstate requisition by Article IV, Section II of the Constitution of the United States and by an Act of Congress which is codified in 18 U.S.C.A. § 3182. The rendition warrant issued by the Governor was served on Brown Noel on February 19, 1960.

Under the terms of KRS 440.070, a fugitive may be apprehended and brought before a circuit judge who is charged with the duty to ascertain if the person in custody is the fugitive named in the warrant. When satisfied as to identity, he is directed to order the delivery of the prisoner to the agent of the state which demanded him.

On January 27, 1960, appellant filed in the Kenton Circuit Court a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and at a hearing of it (February 19, 1960), the sufficiency of the réndition warrant was tested and, at the same time, the identity of Brown Noel was established.

On this appeal it is contended that appellant should have been proceeded against solely under the provisions of KRS 440.080, and not under KRS 440.070. It is argued that the Kenton Circuit Court had no jurisdiction of the case because appellant was first arrested under a fugitive warrant issued by the police court, and once that action had been taken in the police court, all subsequent proceedings should also be under the same section of the statute, and in the same court. This is an unusual argument since appellant selected the circuit court as the correct forum in which to apply for a writ — and certainly the circuit court has jurisdiction of such matters. Criminal Code of Practice, § 399.

At the time this habeas corpus proceeding was instituted (January 27, 1960) the accused was at liberty under an appearance bond. The return on the rendition warrant discloses that it was served February 19, 1960. The writ is appropriate only where there is actual or physical restraint, and a person out on bail is not so restrained. Robinson v. Bax, Ky., 247 S.W.2d 38. Therefore, no writ of habeas corpus would lie if directed at the proceedings in the police court.

Historically, habeas corpus proceedings have been used as a method of testing the propriety of extradition proceedings. 25 Am.Jur. Habeas Corpus, Section 67, page 192. In some states, and in this one, statutes have been passed, such as our own KRS 440.070, which give to the accused the same right which he formerly obtained upon inquiry under a writ of habeas corpus, so appellant could have achieved the same result upon' a hearing, after service of the Governor’s rendition warrant, as he would have by the institution of this action. In either case, the circuit court was the proper forum for investigation.

[906]*906We find no irreconcilable conflict between KRS 440.070 and KRS 440.080. The latter was designed as a means for the apprehension of one who has committed a crime in another state and for his detention ■pending the arrival of a request for extradition from that state. It will be noted that this statute provides that the judge — whether circuit, county or police — if satisfied of the person’s guilt shall commit him to jail for sixty days “unless he is legally discharged or removed upon the demand of the executive of the state in which it is charged .that the offense was committed.” Also: “The person who caused the arrest of the fugitive shall notify the executive of the state in which the crime was committed that the fugitive is being held in custody. The Governor of this state, upon a proper demand made, shall issue his warrant directing the officer having custody of the prisoner to deliver him to the agent of the state demanding him.”

By the exact terms of KRS 440.080, it is anticipated that proceedings may be terminated by action taken under KRS 440. 070, which requires that after the Governor issues a rendition warrant it be returned to a circuit court for identification of the prisoner. We are informed that both sections have been repealed by the Uniform Extradition Act, passed at the 1960 regular session of the General Assembly.

Appellant next contends that this action is of a civil nature and, under CR 52.01, the trial court committed prejudicial error when it failed to find facts specifically, and to state separately its conclusion of law.

It is true that generally the Civil Rules of Practice and Procedure apply to actions which are considered to be civil in nature. In some instances certain provisions of the old Code of Civil Procedure were applied to criminal action. This condition was recognized in the Act which authorized and made effective the rules of civil procedure promulgated by this court.

KRS 447.155 reads: •

“The rules of the Court of Appeals shall apply to criminal procedure in all situations where any provision of the Civil Code, superseded by the rules, has heretofore been made applicable to criminal procedure either by express reference or by interpretation.”

We remember no instance where provisions of the old Civil Code were made applicable to habeas corpus proceedings. The Civil Rules have not been made applicable by reference or interpretation, and no constitutional provision precludes the legislature from outlining habeas corpus procedure in the Criminal Code of Practice, regardless of the fact that the writ may be considered to have civil characteristics.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
338 S.W.2d 903, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-noel-kyctapp-1960.