Grimshaw v. State

74 N.W. 375, 98 Wis. 612, 1898 Wisc. LEXIS 185
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided March 1, 1898·Published

Opinion

PiNNEV, J-.

The plaintiffs in error were jointly charged ■by.information with having feloniously, in the night time, on, etc., wilfully and burglariously broken and entered a •certain building used' and known as a chicken house, the .property-of one George Marx, said building not adjoining [613] or occupied with any dwelling bouse, with intent then and there to commit the crime of larceny, in this, to wit, the-goods and chattels of the said George Marx then and there being found to take, steal, and carry away, against the peace and dignity of the state of Wisconsin. The defendants-pleaded not guilty, and, having been convicted and sentenced, each brought his separate writ of error.

Upon the writ of error brought by Grimshaw it was assigned as error that the warrant upon which he was arrested was illegal and void, in that it was issued by E. S. Park, clerk of the municipal court for the eastern district of Wau-kesha county, upon a complaint made before him for that purpose; and it was contended that the said E. S. Park, as clerk of said court, had no judicial authority to take said complaint or issue- said -warrant thereon.

1. The -warrant was under the seal of the court, and signed' by the clerk, and tested in the name of the judge thereof. By sec. 8, ch. 22, Laws of 1895, establishing said court, it is-provided that the clerk of the court “may examine on oath . all persons applying for warrants, and reduce their examinations to writing and file the same, and may issue all warrants and other processes from said court.” Sec. 4 of said chapter provides that “ the general provisions of law which may at any time be in force relative to the circuit courts, and actions and proceedings therein in case of crime . . » shall apply also to said municipal court, unless inapplicable, and the rules of practice prescribed by tjie justices of the supreme court for circuit courts shall be in force in said municipal court; and these rules, practice and proceedings shall conform as near as practicable to the rules of practice of circuit courts; and it has poiver and authority to issue all process necessary to carry this practice, which process shall in substance be the same, when applicable, as used in circuit courts.” Similar objection was made in Shaffel v. State, 97 Wis. 377, in relation to the criminal warrant issued in [614] like manner by the municipal court for the western district -of said county, and was overruled. It is not necessary to enter upon an examination or discussion of the powers of the clerk. It is enough that the court had power to issue the warrant. Upon its face it appeal’s to have been so issued. If actually issued by the clerk, the presumption is that it was issued by direction of the court. There'is nothing in Pooler v. State, 97 Wis. 627, that gives any support to this assignment of error.. On the contrary, it was there ■•treated as without merit, in view of the case of Shaffel v. State, supra.

2. It is assigned as error that the court erroneously received in evidence on the trial of Grimshaw the statement made before the municipal judge and the district attorney by Ernest Sweet, in the absence of the defendant, when he (Sweet) was arrested and brought before said judge for examination for the offense charged in the information. The -objection is that the reception in evidence of such statement or confession was in violation of the right secured to him by sec. 7, art. I, of the constitution, to meet the witnesses against him face to face. This assignment of error ■\vholly fails, for the reason that the bill of exceptions, which is certified to contain all the evidence given upon the trial, -does not contain the statement or confession referred to. The court has no means, therefore, of judging whether its reception in evidence was error prejudicial to the defendant Grimshaw.

For these reasons the judgment against the defendant Grimsha/w must be affirmed.

The defendant Sweet sued out his separate writ of error, and, upon the return to the writ, made and assigned as error the same objections to the validity of the complaint and warrant as were made in the case of Grimshaw. From what has been said, it will be seen that this point needs no special attention.

[615] The second error assigned is that thé court erred in receiving in evidence, upon the trial of said 'Sweet, the statements alleged to have been made before the municipal judge by Grimshaw and Sweet at the time of their arrest, as taken down in shorthand, and afterwards transcribed into longhand in the Sweet case by the reporter. Objection was made on the same ground as in the case of Grimshaw, and, further, that erasures or changes had been made in the transcript of the minutes written out by the reporter.

By the separate bill of exceptions returned to the writ of error taken by said Sweet, it appears that he made quite a lengthy statement before the municipal judge 1 at the time of his arrest, in which, after the warrant wTas read to him and on being asked if he wanted an examination, he responded: “No judge, I am guilty of it. I am willing to own it. We went in and killed twelve chickens,” etc.; and gave the circumstances in detail, stating that Grimshaw was with him, and that there were three of them, but denied knowing who the other was, and insisted that he had not been induced by any promise of an officer to make said statement or confession. After the information had been filed the defendant pleaded guilty. Subsequently counsel appeared in his behalf, and the examination was held open, and he was allowed to plead not guilty.

At the trial it appeared that the alleged erasure or change made in the transcript of the minutes of the reporter was trifling and immaterial.

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Grimshaw v. State, 74 N.W. 375, 98 Wis. 612, 1898 Wisc. LEXIS 185 (Wis. 1898).

74 N.W. 375 (Grimshaw v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Shaffel v. State
72 N.W. 888 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1897)
Pooler v. State
73 N.W. 336 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1897)