Green Lake County v. Waupaca County

89 N.W. 549, 113 Wis. 425, 1902 Wisc. LEXIS 92
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 11, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 89 N.W. 549 (Green Lake County v. Waupaca County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green Lake County v. Waupaca County, 89 N.W. 549, 113 Wis. 425, 1902 Wisc. LEXIS 92 (Wis. 1902).

Opinion

Wietslow, J.

Counsel for appellant seem to have the idea that the orders certifying to the compensation of the defendants’ attorneys under Stats. 1898, sec. 4713, and the order taxing the expenses of the trial under secs. 2940 and 2941, are all orders made in the criminal action, and hence that they may all be included in one notice of appeal, under Stats. 1898, sec. 3049. In this, counsel certainly are in error. Neither the proceeding to fix the compensation of counsel, nor the proceeding to tax costs in favor of one county against the other, has any real connection with the criminal action. They both arise out of such action, it is true, but neither of them concerns the defendants in the criminal action, or the issues in that action, in the least. They are plainly special proceedings growing out of the action. In the proceedings to fix the compensation of the attorney, the parties interested are the attorney whose compensation is fixed, and the county which must pay that compensation. In the proceedings to tax the expenses of the trial, the parties interested are the [433]*433county in which the trial is had, and the county in which the action originated.' The parties are not the same, therefore^ in the two proceedings; and it is elementary that final orders in two different proceedings, affecting different parties, cannot be appealed from by the same notice of appeal. Such an appeal would be bad for duplicity if the notice were served on all the parties interested. In the present case, however, there was no service of the notice of appeal on Mr. Einch or Mr. Eitzgibbon. The statute requires the notice of appeal to be served on the “adverse party.” Sec. 3049. As the last-named gentlemen are the adverse parties in the proceedings to fix their compensation, there is really no appeal here from the orders fixing compensation of the attorneys, but only an appeal from the order refusing to review the taxation of costs. This order is plainly a final order affecting a substantial right in a special proceeding, and hence is appealable, under sec. 3069, Stats. 1898, and this appeal we will now consider.

1. The most serious objection made to the bill as taxed is to the items of attorney’s fees to Mr. Einch and Mr. Eitz-gibbon for defending the accused men. The case was never brought to trial, yet one attorney was allowed $210 for eighteen days’ services, and the other $367.50 for twenty-four and one-half days’ services. The statute provides (sec. 4713, Stats. 1898) that the compensation certified by the court “shall in no case exceed fifteen dollars per day for each day actually occupied in such trial or proceeding.” The attorneys were not appointed until after the venue was changed and the case was in Green Lake County. Mr. Eitzgibbon’s itemized bill shows that he was in court in Dartford on three different days, viz., January 22d, the day on which he was appointed, and on June 11th and 12th, while the remainder of the time-charged for was spent out of court, looking up witnesses, preparing for trial, making brief, and consulting with Attorney- Einch. In the case of Mr. Einch, the bill shows [434]*434very much tbe same state of facts; only two days being spent in court; one of them being tbe day wben tbe case was nolled, and one tbe following day, and tbe remaining time being employed in looking up and examining witnesses and preparing for trial. Tbe appellant’s claim is tbat, under tbe statute, no allowance can be made to any attorney, save for days actually occupied in court in tbe trial, and bence tbat tbe court erred in 'allowing for days spent out of court in preparation for tbe trial. On tbe other band, it is claimed tbat days spent by tbe attorney in preparation of tbe trial ■should really be considered a part of tbe trial, because preparation is necessary for every trial, and a lawyer who did not prepare would fail in bis duty to tbe prisoner and to tbe court. Also it is urged tbat, tbe orders certifying to tbe compensation of attorneys not being before us upon this appeal, they must be considered as res adjudícala; in other words, tbat tbe question is settled by those orders, and not to be opened here. If tbe orders in question certified tbat any given number of days bad been actually spent by tbe attorney in tbe trial, and tbat be was entitled to $15 per day therefor, it is difficult to see bow tbe amount so allowed and paid by Green Lalce County could be attacked collaterally on appeal from tbe taxation of costs. But tbe orders are not of this nature. As will be seen by reference to tbe statement of tbe case, they do not state or decide tbat any given number of days were spent in tbe trial of tbe case, but simply say tbat “tbe above bill is allowed” at $15 a day for so many days, thus making tbe bill a part of tbe order. Turning to tbe bill, we find tbat all but two or three of tbe days allowed for were spent out of court. So tbe allowance amounts simply to an allowance of $15 per day for a large number of days, all but two or three of which were spent outside of tbe court. Tbe court has only power to make allowance for days actually occupied in tbe trial. It has no jurisdiction to go further. If it makes an order which appears on its face to [435]*435be for days spent in something else beside “the trial,” that order is void, because there is no jurisdiction to make it; and, when the lack of jurisdiction appears on the face of the proceeding itself, it can be taken advantage of collaterally. It appearing here, upon the face of the orders themselves, that most of the time certified by the judge was time spent out of court in preparing for trial, the question arises whether •such time can be called, in any proper sense, time “actually occupied in such trial.” ''-The. desirability, nay, the absolute necessity, of preparation out of court before entering upon, the.trial of any case, must be admitted, but that is not the question here. The fact that the practice among trial judges has been quite general to allow attorneys some reasonable time for preparation may also be admitted; but, if the law be not doubtful in terms, such practice, however long continued, is of no moment. We are bound to say that the statute seems ■entirely free from ambiguity or doubt. It says, in effect, that whenever, in any criminal action or proceeding, any attorney shall, defend an indigent prisoner by order of the court, the county in which such action or proceeding may arise or be pending shall only be liable to pay such sum as the trial court shall certify to be reasonable, not exceeding in any case $15 per day for “each day actually occupied in such trial or proceeding.” A day spent in the office or in hunting up witnesses is not a day spent in the trial, nor can it be •made so by any torturing of language. It is suggested that such time may be time spent in the “proceeding,” and so may be allowed for, but this claim is untenable. As we have just ■seen, the word “proceeding” is used three times in the section. In the first two instances it is used in connection with the words “criminal action.” It is evident in these two instances that it indicates something in the nature of a criminal- action, but distinguishable therefrom, such as a proceeding to punish for criminal contempt; in other words, the word is here used to differentiate a “criminal proceeding” [436]*436from a “criminal action.” There is certainly a very strong-presumption that a word used three times in a given section, of half a dozen lines, is used in the same sense every time. There would need to be some quite plain indication that it is-used with a different meaning in one instance, to justify a court in applying such different meaning.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 N.W. 549, 113 Wis. 425, 1902 Wisc. LEXIS 92, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-lake-county-v-waupaca-county-wis-1902.