Montgomery v. Palmer

59 N.W. 148, 100 Mich. 436
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMay 22, 1894
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 59 N.W. 148 (Montgomery v. Palmer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montgomery v. Palmer, 59 N.W. 148, 100 Mich. 436 (Mich. 1894).

Opinion

Montgomery, J.

On the 7th day of October, 1893, Judge Albert Dickerman, then presiding judge of the Muskegon circuit court, made an order directed to Herman O. Lange, requiring him to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt of court, the offense charged being an interference with and inducing witnesses for the [438]*438plaintiffs to leave the jurisdiction of the court during the trial of a cause in which the relators were plaintiffs and the Muskegon Booming Company was defendant. Judge Dickermam’s term having expired, Judge Palmer, of the twenty-seventh circuit, sitting in place of Judge Bussell, the present incumbent of the fourteenth circuit, heard and determined a motion ’to quash the contempt proceedings for the following reasons:

1. That the order was improvidently granted.
2. That the order was made upon affidavits made1 for another and a different purpose, and upon what purported to be testimony of two witnesses, not taken in the proceedings, but purporting to have been taken before the stenographer of the court.
3. That there was no lawful evidence showing that Lange had been guilty of any contempt.
4. That there was no evidence tending to show that he caused the removal of the witness Edward Bennett beyond the jurisdiction of the court, or participated in such removal.
5. That, as to the witness Frank Burd, said Herman O. Lange has not been guilty of any contempt, for the reason that it does not appear that said Burd had been served with any subpoena issued in said cause, and it does affirmatively appear' from the petition and affidavits upon which the order was made that no subpoena was or could have been lawfully issued for said Frank Burd at the time he is alleged to have left the State of Michigan.
6. That the affidavits are entitled in the cause pending before the court, and not in the contempt proceedings..
7. That, the alleged contempt having been committed at a time when another judge was presiding, the judge now presiding has no jurisdiction.
8. That, if the respondent is guilty as claimed, plaintiffs in the civil case have an adequate remedy at law, and, under such circumstances, the court will not entertain the proceeding.

The order was granted dismissing the proceedings, and an order is now asked to require the circuit judge to set aside that order, and to proceed to hear and determine the question of coRtempt.

[439]*439' There are returned with the answer certain affidavits from the files of the case, which, it is claimed, tend to negative the showing made by the affidavits upon which the order was based. But we do not consider these affidavits of any special importance, for the reason that the question which Judge Palmer was called upon to decide was not 'whether the respondent was able to purge himself of contempt, but whether there was enough before Judge Diokerman to warrant him in citing the respondent in to answer the charge of contqmpt. This consideration also applies to the suggestion that the Court will not by mandamus review the decision of a trial judge in contempt proceedings. This is the rule in any case where the determination of the judge calls for the exercise of judgment in determining the fact. State v. Horner, 16 Mo. App. 191; Heilbron v. Superior Court, 72 Cal. 96. But, where the question which the judge determines is whether there is jurisdiction to proceed to try the question of fact, his ruling is open to review, and, as mandamus is the only adequate remedy, it may properly be employed. Ex parte Chamberlain, 4 Cow. 49; Ortman v. Dixon, 9 Cal. 23; Kimball v. Morris, 2 Metc. 573.

It is unnecessary to set out at length the reasons that influenced the action of the circuit judge, and which are set forth in his opinion. But we will refer briefly to those urged by counsel for respondent as justifying the ruling.

1. It is claimed that certain of the affidavits upon which the order to show cause was based had already been used in the same case on a motion for a new trial, and that they were funclus officio, and could not be made the basis of other action. We think the objection not tenable. The authorities sustain the action of Judge Diokerman in treating these affidavits as a basis for the order made. Langston v. Wetherell, 14 Mees. & W. 104; Barnard v. [440]*440Heydrick, 49 Barb. 70; Mojarrieta v. Saenz, 80 N. Y. 553. The case of Sherwood v. Circuit Judge, 80 Mich. 270, does not sustain respondent's position. The opinion of Mr. Justice Ohaiiplin recognizes the rule as herein stated, but distinctly bases the conclusion reached upon the peculiar wording of the statute relative to certiorari. See page 274, 80 Mich.

2. It is claimed that the affidavits fail to show a contempt. As to the alleged contempt in counseling and inducing Frank Burd to depart from the jurisdiction of the court, to avoid the service of subpoena, it appears sufficiently that the plaintiffs' counsel learned on Sunday that Burd was a material witness in the plaintiffs' behalf; that Lange, for some reason, made inquiry of the deputy-sheriff if he had a subpoena for Burd, and was told by the deputy that he had not; that, early on Monday morning, two men, who were afterwards recognized as Lange and Burd, were seen with a livery team at Kent City and Cedar Springs; that there Lange gave Burd monej'’; that Lange was conveyed to Grand Iiapids by a liveryman, and Burd was driven to Gowan, a station on the Detroit, Lansing & Northern road, from which point he proceeded to Chicago. It is said by respondent that, after the discovery that Burd was a witness, plaintiffs could not lawfully have obtained a subpoena for him before, he left, and that, before Lange left Muskegon with Burd, he was informed by an officer that he did not have a subpoena for Burd; that it does not appear that Lange had any knowledge or reason to believe that plaintiffs desired the attendance of Burd as a witness, nor that they had procured, or had any intention of procuring, a subpoena for him; and that charges must be supported by positive statements in affidavits made by persons having knowledge of the facts, — that statements on information and belief are not sufficient. This is true, but the rule does not exclude [441]*441the drawing of inferences from established facts. Each of the facts recited was shown by positive testimony, and the inference to be drawn from these statements was one which Judge Dickerman certainly had the right to draw; and his decision as to whether there was sufficient basis for issuing the order to show cause can only be reversed in case of a total absence of a showing of facts justifying such action.

3. It is contended that the attempt to prevent the attendance of one not yet subpoenaed as a witness is not a contempt of court. The statute (How. Stat. § 7257) provides that—

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Bluebook (online)
59 N.W. 148, 100 Mich. 436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montgomery-v-palmer-mich-1894.