Gunderman v. State

191 N.E. 338, 207 Ind. 515, 1934 Ind. LEXIS 248
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 6, 1934
DocketNo. 26,093.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 191 N.E. 338 (Gunderman v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gunderman v. State, 191 N.E. 338, 207 Ind. 515, 1934 Ind. LEXIS 248 (Ind. 1934).

Opinion

Treanor, J.

Appellant was convicted of attempted rape, upon an affidavit charging rape as defined in §2429, Burns Ann. Ind. St. Supp. 1929, §10-4201, Burns Ind. St. Ann. 1933, §2422, Baldwin’s 1934, Acts 1927, ch. 201,' p. 576. He assigns as error the court’s action in overruling (1) motion to quash, (2) motion in arrest of judgment, and (3) motion for new trial. In support of the motion to quash appellant contends that the Elkhart superior court was without jurisdiction to hear and determine the cause for the reason that the affidavit was not properly filed in the superior court. As a basis for this contention appellant makes the following statement:

“In this case the affidavit upon which appellant was tried and convicted was made on the 21st day of December, 1930, and filed in the City Court of the City of Elkhart before the Honorable Arthur H. Conley, Judge thereof as an examining magistrate and constituted the charge upon which appellant was, on the 9th day of January, 1931, recognized to appear at the next or February, 1931, Term of the Elkhart Superior Court io answer such charge as might be there filed against him. This same affidavit was filed with the Clerk of the Elkhart Superior Court together with the transcript and recognizance bond by the said Judge of said City Court on the 4th day of March, 1931. The same affidavit, without being resworn to or endorsed or signed by the prosecuting attorney, was refiled in the Elkhart Superior Court on the 2nd day of April, 1931, under *518 pretext of authority of Section 2103 R. S. 1926.” Appellant’s brief, pp. 35-36.

Appellant’s contention that the superior court was without jurisdiction depends ultimately upon the correctness of two assumptions:

(1) Under the record facts, as set out above, jurisdiction could be acquired only by virtue of the provisions of chapter 51 of the Acts of 1911, as amended by chapter 252 of the Acts of 1921. (§2103, Burns, etc., 1926, §9-712, Burns, etc., 1933, §2096, Baldwin’s 1934) , 1

(2) Chapter 252 of the Acts of 1921 is unconstitutional in that it contravenes Art. IV, §19 of the Indiana Constitution.

We think, however, that the Elkhart superior court acquired jurisdiction to hear and determine the cause *519 by virtue of other provisions of our statutes and without reference to the Act of 1921, supra. We call attention to the following:

(A) “Any justice of the peace or city judge, on complaint made on oath before him, charging any person with the commission of any felony or misdemeanor, shall issue his warrant for the arrest of such person, and cause him to be brought forthwith before him for examination or trial, . . .” §2092, Burns, etc., 1926, §9-701, Burns, etc., 1933, §2071, Baldwin’s 1934, Acts 1905, ch. 169, §62, p. 584.
(B) “When the offense charged is a felony, or a misdemeanor in which the lowest fine provided by law is larger than the justice shall have jurisdiction to assess, and the justice, upon the hearing, is of the opinion that the accused should be held to answer such charge, he shall be recognized to appear at the next term of the criminal court of such county, or if there be no criminal court, then to the circuit court of such county.” §2101, Burns, etc., 1926, §9-711,
*520 Burns, etc., 1933, §2080, Baldwin’s 1934, Acts 1905, ch. 169, §72, p. 584.
(C) “Such recognizance, together with a transcript of the proceedings and all papers in the case, shall be forthwith filed with the clerk of the proper court, who shall docket such cause for trial and record such recognizance forthwith, and enter the same on the judgment docket; and from the date of such entry it shall operate as a lien upon all lands in the county of the parties thereto, and any judgment afterward had upon it shall relate back to the date of such entry.” §2113, Burns, etc. Supp. 1929, §9-723, Burns 1933, §2092, Baldwin’s 1934, Acts 1927, ch. 132, §3, p. 411.

It follows from the foregoing that a person can be arrested and brought before a justice of the peace or a city judge upon an affidavit (“complaint made on oath”) charging a felony. It is then the duty of the justice or city judge to recognize the accused to appear at the next term of the criminal or circuit court of the county. Section 2113, Burns, etc., Supp. 1929, section (C), swpra, authorizes the filing of the recognizance, transcript of proceedings and all papers in the case with the clerk of the criminal or circuit court, who is directed to “docket such cause for trial.” This would seem to confer jurisdiction upon the criminal or circuit court to hear and try the cause upon “the complaint made on oath” before the justice of the peace or city judge, regardless of whether the “complaint on oath” was approved by the prosecuting attorney. But we think the following statutory provisions must be considered:

(D) “All public offenses, except treason and murder, may be prosecuted in the circuit or criminal court, by affidavit filed in term time, in all cases except when the grand jury is in session or a prosecution by indictment or affidavit for the same offense is pending at the time of the filing of such affidavit.” §2150, Burns, etc., 1926, §9-908, Burns 1933, §2131, Baldwin’s 1934, Acts 1905, etc., §118.

*521 This section was amended in 1927 to read as follows:

(E) “All public offenses, except treason and murder, may be prosecuted in the circuit or criminal court, by affidavit filed in term time, in all cases except when a prosecution by indictment or affidavit for the same offense is pending at the time of the filing of such affidavit.
“And such affidavit may be filed in vacation time as in term time, but only with the approval of the judge of such court, who may arraign and admit to bail as in term time, or may receive a plea of guilty and proceed forthwith as in term time.” §2150, Burns, etc., Supp. 1929, §9-908, Burns, etc., 1933, §2131, Baldwin’s 1934, Acts 1927, ch. 132, §4, p. 411.
(F) “When any such affidavit has been made, as provided in the last section, the prosecuting attorney shall approve the same by indorsement, using the words ‘approved by me’ and sign the same as such prosecuting attorney and indorse thereon the names of all the material witnesses; after which such affidit shall be filed with the clerk, who shall indorse thereon the date of such filing, and record the same as in the case of an indictment; as provided in section one hundred and thirteen of this act. . . .” §2151, Burns, etc., 1926, §9-909, Burns, etc., 1933, §2132, Baldwin’s 1934, Acts 1905, etc., §119.

The foregoing sections reveal a legislative intent to require that prosecutions in the criminal or circuit court be based upon affidavits which have the sanction of the personal approval of the prosecuting attorney. When (C) is considered with (D), (E), and (F), supra,

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Related

Williams v. State
383 N.E.2d 416 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1978)
Watson v. State
125 N.E.2d 793 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1955)
Lynn v. State
193 N.E. 380 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
191 N.E. 338, 207 Ind. 515, 1934 Ind. LEXIS 248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gunderman-v-state-ind-1934.