Fields v. Ragelmeir

7 Ohio N.P. 585, 7 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 585, 19 Ohio Dec. 164, 1908 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 66
CourtLucas County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJuly 6, 1908
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 7 Ohio N.P. 585 (Fields v. Ragelmeir) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Lucas County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fields v. Ragelmeir, 7 Ohio N.P. 585, 7 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 585, 19 Ohio Dec. 164, 1908 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 66 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1908).

Opinion

Bassett, J.

Heard on motion to quash service.

Two separate motions are filed in this ease, one by defendant, John J. Ragelmeir-, and one by the defendant, George W. Crawford, each motion containing the same 'grounds, to-wit, moving the court to quash the service of summons herein and dismiss said action, for the reason that said court has no jurisdiction over the person of the defendants.

By the agreed statement of facts it appears that the defendant Ragelmeir, a resident of Defiance county, was on February 17, 1908, present at a preliminary hearing or investigation before a justice of the peace in Lucas county, Ohio, and was by such justice ordered to enter into a recognizance to appear before the Court of Common Pleas of Lucas County, Ohio, then in session; that -thereafter the grand jury of said county convened on March 9, 1908, and was in session on March 11, 1908, when the defendant, John J. Ragelmeir, was served with summons in this ease, that is, in the case now under consideration; that the defendant, Ragelmeir, was never -at any time summoned or subpoenaed to appear before said grand jury on said March 11, 1908, or at any other time during said term nor during’ the session of said grand jury; nor was he at any time requested by any member of the said grand jury or said court, -or any [586]*586officer of said court, nor by the prosecuting attorney of said county or any of his assistants, nor by the clerk of said court, or any of his deputies, at any time on said March 11,1908, or any other time, to come from the county of Defiance, Ohio, and appear before said grand jury, as a witness in his own defense, or .in any other capacity. That said Eagehneir, without any petition or request or without any summons or subpoena but on his own suggestion, came before said grand jury on said March 11, 1908;'that said bond given1 in said criminal proceeding in said justice court did not provide, nor did said justice of the peace order, that said John J. Ragelmeir appear from time to time before said Court of Common Pleas of Lucas County to await the grand jury of said county, nor that said plaintiff should not depart therefrom without leave.

Certain authorities have been cited by counsel for the mover, among which is the ease of Andrews v. Lembeck, 46 Ohio St., 38. In this case an injunction was sought in Medina county; the judges of that judicial district being .engaged and not being able to hear the case, notice was served upon the defendant to appear before one of the judges in Cuyahoga county, in the same judicial district. Upon the hearing in Cuyahoga county, the defendant, a party to the suit, appeared, on the advice of his' counsel that his presence might be necessary during the hearing. After the hearing, and before sufficient time had elapsed for Andrews to depart for his home by the first train leaving therefor, he was served with summons in an action commenced against him by Lembeek in Cuyahoga county. The Supreme Court held that, under Section 5459, he was exempt from service, and that the summons there served upon him in another- civil action was not good service.

There is another ease, cited on page 42, Compton v. Wilder, 40 Ohio St., 130, in which the defendant in a criminal prosecution was extradited from Pennsylvania ,to Ohio, and while in Ohio the complaining witness undertook to and did have served upon the defendant (prior to his entering into bail, or at least soon after entering into bail and prior to his leaving the state by the easiest and -earliest means of leaving) a summons and arrest. In that ease the Supreme Court held that as a matter of good faith the complaining witness had not made good serv[587]*587ice; and as a matter of good faith.between -the state of Ohio and the state of Pennsylvania such practice would not be tolerated: therefore -the court held that the service was invalid and .that the defendant, a non-resident, was not required by law to answer to the summons, that he was not in court in a lawful manner, and the summons was set aside. Mayer v. Nelson, 54 Neb., 434; Letherby v. Shaver, 73 Mich., 500; Byler v. Jones, 22 Mo. App., 623.

Section 5457 of the Revised Statutes of Ohio sets forth certain persons who .are priviledged from arrest. Among those privileged from arrest are officers, suitors and witnesses while going to, attending or returning from court. The only qualification to that provision is found in Section 5459, Revised Statutes, which says:

“Nothing in this subdivision contained shall be construed to extend to cases of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, or to privilege any person herein specified from being served .at any time with a summons or notice to appear.”

It will be noticed in Compton v. Wilder, supra, that they not only had served the summons or notice to .appear, but they also had issued the order for arrest, and the court held that consequently it was invalid.

In this case no order for .arrest has been made. Under the common law a capias is a writ commanding the sheriff to take charge of the defendant and have him before .the court to answer the charge therein contained; it is called a capias ad respondendum when issued before judgment and a capias ad faciendum when issued after judgment. It directs that the defendant be compelled to appear, while the sole object of the summons is that he be notified. We state this merely ,as a means of distinguishing between a capias at common law and a summons under our code.

When the defendant, Ragelmeir, voluntarily entered into Lucas county and voluntarily appeared before the grand jury, he, of his own .accord, submitted himself to .that jurisdiction. As matter of right, he could not appear before the grand jury; he could not introduce witnesses; he could not challenge the jurors before the oath was administered; he could not demur to the [588]*588complaint, nor- cross-examine tbe complaining witness, until the indictment was filed and the case docketed and the defendant arrested. He could not be considered as in court and compelled to make answer; neither could the grand jury punish him as for contempt by exercising the ordinary powers of a court of law. State v. Hamlin, 47 Conn., 95; State v. Walcott, 21 Conn., 271; People v. Goldenson, 76 Cal., 328.

In Compton v. Wilder, to which we have referred, it was found there that the plaintiff had acted in bad faith, in forcibly bringing a non-resident of Ohio into the jurisdiction. This case, however, now on hearing, is free of the charge even of malice, fraud, connivance or procurement on the part of the plaintiff to inveigle the defendant into this jurisdiction; indeed -the agreed statement of facts shows that the defendant came here voluntarily, .and without a subpoena appeared before the grand jury. The case is not only free from the objection that it is not in good faith or in fraud of the law, but it is free from the objection that the service of summons or notice was served upon the defendant in a manner which tends to .impede or embarrass the administration of public justice; for, as the court has -already said, he had no lawful occasion to attend upon the hearing before the grand jury.

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Bluebook (online)
7 Ohio N.P. 585, 7 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 585, 19 Ohio Dec. 164, 1908 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fields-v-ragelmeir-ohctcompllucas-1908.