Mabry v. Beaumont

6 Alaska 512
CourtDistrict Court, D. Alaska
DecidedApril 3, 1922
DocketNo. 2169-A
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 6 Alaska 512 (Mabry v. Beaumont) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mabry v. Beaumont, 6 Alaska 512 (D. Alaska 1922).

Opinion

REED, District Judge.

Thereupon the defendant presented this, his petition, for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that he is, for the several reasons set forth in his petition and above stated, unlawfully restrained of his liberty by thfe United States marshal. The return of the United States marshal alleges that the petitioner was in custody by virtue of the aforesaid judgment of the justicé and the order and judgment of this court, affirming the judgment of the justice. He further returned that the petitioner voluntarily surrendered himself into custody by virtue of said judgment. That part of the return of the United States marshal stating that the petitioner voluntarily surrendered himself to the United States marshal was controverted by the petitioner and thereupon testimony was taken, from which it appears that the surrender of the defendant to the custody of the United States marshal was not voluntary, but was made on demand of the United States marshal that he so do; the United States marshal having the' commitment in his possession.

The case has been ably argued by the counsel for petitioner, the United States Attorney appearing in contra. The United States attorney takes the position that the defects or errors pointed out by petitioner were not jurisdictional, and were such as could be corrected by writ of error or appeal in the original case, and that therefore the remedy by habeas corpus would not lie. It is well settled that the writ of habeas corpus cannot be put to the use of reviewing judgments or orders made by a judge'or court acting within his or its jurisdiction. [515]*515The functions of the writ, where a party who has applied for its aid is in custody, do not extend beyond an inquiry into the jurisdiction of the court by which it was issued and the validity of the process upon its face. See Savin, Petitioner, 131 U. S. 267, 9 Sup. Ct. 699, 33 L. Ed. 150; In re Coy, 127 U. S. 731, 8 Sup. Ct. 1263, 32 L. Ed. 274; Ex parte Yarbrough, 110 U. S. 653, 4 Sup. Ct. 152, 28 L. Ed. 274; Bailey on Habeas Corpus, par. 30.

The return of the United States marshal shows that the petitioner is held by him under restraint by virtue of the judgment of this court dismissing the appeal from and affirming the judgment of the lower court, and the contention of the United States attorney is that the petitioner is herein invoking the remedy by habeas corpus as an anticipatory writ of error; that if the lower court had jurisdiction of the case as disclosed and jurisdiction of the person, correction of errors and irregularities cannot be made by a writ of habeas corpus. Counsel for petitioner, on the other hand, contends that the judgment of the lower court was absolutely void in not disclosing with certainty the crime of which the defendant was convicted, and that the affirmance thereof by this court was equally void because the judgment of this court had no more force and effect than the original judgment of which it was an affirmance.

In this connection, the point was made by the government that the petitioner, in his position, is inconsistent even to the point of an estoppel, in that he sought to appeal from the judgment of the lower court and voluntarily sought to invoke the jurisdiction of this court to try the case de novo. Having done so, he stands now in an inconsistent position by placing himself apparently within the rule of employing the writ as an anticipatory writ of error.

In the case of Henry v. Henkel, 235 U. S. 228, 35 Sup. Ct. 56, 59 L. Ed. 203, the Supreme Court lays down the rule as to how far the court should go into the record on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, in the following language:

“In view, however, of the nature of the writ and of the character of the detention under a warrant, no hard and fast rule has been announced as to how far the court will go in passing upon questions raised in habeas corpus proceedings. In cases which involve a conflict of jurisdiction between state -and federal authorities, or where the treaty rights and obligations of the United [516]*516States are involved, and in that class of' cases pointed out in Ex parte Royall, 117 U. S. 241, Ex parte Lange, 18 Wallace, 163, New York v. Eno, 155 U. S. 89, and In re Loney, 134 U. S. 372, the court hearing the application will carefully inquire into any matter involving the legality of'the detention, and remand or discharge as the facts may require. But, barring such exceptional cases, the general rule is that, on such applications, the hearing should be confined to the single question of jurisdiction, and even that will not be decided in every case in which it is raised.”

The case of Ex parte Royall, 117 U. S. 241, 6 Sup. Ct. 734, 29 L. Ed. 868, was á case wherein a writ was prayed for on the ground that the petitioner was confined under a state statute alleged to be in conflict with the Constitution of the United States. The case of Ex parte Range, 18 Wall. 163, 21 L. Ed. 872, arose on the point as to whether a second sentence of imprisonment could be imposed by the court during the same term of court, after the court had theretofore imposed a sentence of fine and imprisonment contrary to law; the court holding that the authority of the lower court was ended with the first judgment. The cases of New York v. Eno, 155 U. S. 89, 15 Sup. Ct. 30, 39 L. Ed. 80, and In re Roney, 134 U. S. 372, 10 Sup. Ct. 384, 33 L. Ed. 949, are cases involving the question whether the offenses therein referred to were cognizable exclusively' under the laws of the state or the United States, or by both, and all turn to a large extent upon the question of the jurisdiction of the specific courts to entertain the original action.

In the case of Glasgow v. Moyer, 225 U. S. 420, 32 Sup. Ct. 753, 56 L. Ed. 1147, the Supreme Court, through Mr. Justice McKenna, uses this language, which is very pertinent in the instant case, as disposing of several grounds for the discharge of the prisoner urged by counsel for petitioner. Justice Mc-Kenna says:

“The writ of habeas corpus cannot be made to perform the office of a. writ of error. This has been decided many times, and, indeed, was the ground upon which a petition of appellant for habeas corpus to this court, before his trial, was decided. It is true, as we have said, that the case had not then been tried, but the principle is as applicable and determinative after trial as before trial.”

This was decided in one-of the cases cited, In re Lincoln, 202 U. S. 178, 26 Sup. Ct. 602, 50 L. Ed. 984, which cited other cases to the same effect. Harlan v. McGourin, 218 U. [517]*517S. 442, 31 Sup. Ct. 44, 54 L. Ed. 1101, 21 Ann. Cas.

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Bluebook (online)
6 Alaska 512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mabry-v-beaumont-akd-1922.