Murray v. People ex rel. Saguache County

49 Colo. 109
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedSeptember 15, 1910
DocketNo. 6154
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 49 Colo. 109 (Murray v. People ex rel. Saguache County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murray v. People ex rel. Saguache County, 49 Colo. 109 (Colo. 1910).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Musser

delivered the opinion of the court:

This action was upon the recognizance of one H. F. Surles with W. H. Murray as surety. Surles had been arrested and brought before a justice of the peace upon a charge of larceny. The recognizance is as follows, in the obligatory part:

“Be it remembered, That on the 4th day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four, H. F. Searles of the county of Saguache, personally came before J. R. Hicks, justice of the peace in and for the said county of Saguache, and H. F. Searles acknowledged to -owe and be indebted unto the people of the state of [110]*110Colorado, in the penal sum of Five Hundred Dollars, lawful money of the United States, to be levied of their and each of their goods and chattels, lands and tenements, to the use of the said people, if .default be made in the following conditions, to wit:”

Then follow the conditions binding Surles to appear before the justice on the 13th day of April, 1904, with the signatures at the foot, H. F. Surles (Seal) and W. H. Murray (Seal). Among the recitations was one saying that Surles had been required to give bail with security. The appellant contends that this recognizance was fatally defective 'and wholly insufficient to bind him.

1. The appellant says that his name does not appear in this recognizance, except where signed by him, .and that, therefore, he did not acknowledge himself' to be indebted in any sum whatever, and that the acknowledgment of indebtedness was by Surles alone. The authority for taking such a recognizance is conferred upon a justice of the peace by sec. 3878 Rev. Stats., which is as follows:

“Any justice of the peace, before whom any person is brought on .complaint for any crime, misdemeanor or other offense, bailable by the laws of this state, may take the recognizance of such person or persons, with surety or sureties in a reasonable sum, for his appearance before said justice for further examination at a future time,” etc.

The words of .this statute indicate that the recognizance ' to be taken is that of the accused. It is not the recognizance of the surety. The person recognized is the person accused, for the next section starts out: “If the person thus recognized shall not appear before the said justice at the time appointed for further examination,” etc. The person who is to appear before the justice is the accused. Taking the statute literally, there is no reason why [111]*111the name of the surety should appear'on the instrument in any other capacity than that of surety. Under the statute, it is not his recognizance, nor is he the person recognized, hut he is simply a surety. In -the latter capacity, there is no better place for his name to appear on the instrument than at the foot, after the name of the accused. It is not .to be understood from this that his name could not appear in the instrument, or that if it should so appear the recognizance would be invalid. If this should not be the correct view to take of the statute, the authorities are abundant that the name of the surety need not appear in the body of the instrument. The situation in this case is covered in the following quotation from Neil v. Morgan, 28 Ill. 524-527:

“In this case the securities must have known that they were executing a bail bond, not as principals, but as securities, as they were not sued or arrested, and the instrument recited that the principals had been. They also knew, that the object of the bond was to procure the release of the principal from custody. This they no doubt intended to do, and when they read the bond and condition, and executed it, they must have intended to become liable if the condition of the bond was not performed. By executing the bond they obtained the release of the principal, and the plaintiff in the original action no doubt relied upon it as good and sufficient. In the administration of justice, mere technicalities, unless positively required by the law,- should not .be regarded, especially when they-stifle justice, defeat the intention of the parties, and tend to no beneficial end.”

This language, which is exactly applicable to the present case, was written in a case where the names of the sureties did not appear in the body of the bail bond.

[112]*112In Leith v. Bush, 61 Pa. St. 395, the bond was: “I, William Bush, am held, etc., * * * to which payment, etc., # * * I do bind myself, my heirs, etc., and every of them, * * * sealed with my seal, etc.” The conditions followed and the bond was signed by Bush and four others, and it was held that it was the joint and several bond of all.

“An obligation which, in its terms, purports to be that of one person, as ‘I hereby bind myself,’ etc., and is executed by more than one, may be treated as the several, obligation of each person who signs it, or the joint obligation of all.” — Scheid v. Leibshultz, 51 Ind. 38-41.

In Burton v. State, 6 Blackf. 339, the recognizance commenced: “Be it remembered that on the seventh day of April, in the year * * * John Burton and William Watkins, of Yigo County, personally appeared,” etc. The recognizance was conditioned for Yarnell’s appearance in a certain court. The latter defaulted. Yarnell’s name was omitted in the body of the recognizance, but he signed and sealed it with the others. The court held that it was to be considered as the recognizance of all of the defendants.

In Holmes v. State, 17 Neb. 73, the recognizance, upon its face, bound only the sureties and did not bind the accused, but the accused signed it, the only objection being that the name was not written in the body of the instrument. The court said that, “it was not necessary that the names of any of the obligors should be so written,” and quoted from Stewart v. Carter, 4 Neb. 566: “The character of the instrument, the obligation which the parties respectively assume, and their relation to each other, are all apparent from a reference to its terms alone. There is no ambiguity or want of certainty in any essential particular.” From these authorities, it ap[113]*113pears that the omission from the body of the recognizance of the name of the appellant who, as a surety, signed the recognizance of the accused, did not affect the liability of the surety, he having signed it with the intention plainly apparent of becoming a surety to procure the release of the accused from custody.

2. The appellant says that the recognizance does not recite a continuance of the case from April fourth to April thirteenth, the day on which the accused was to appear. The instrument says: “The hearing upon said charge being this day, upon the application of the said H. F. Searles, Thos. C. Brown was continued to the thirteenth day of April, A. D. 1904, at one o’clock P. M.,” and it further says that if Surles appear before the justice on the 13th day of April, 1904, at one o’clock, and remain and abide the order of the court, the recognizance would be void. While the language is not the best and clearest that could be used, it is beyond question that the name Thos. C. Brown is mere .surplusage and the words “was continued” plainly refer to the word “hearing.”

3. Objection is made to. the recognizance because the name of the accused in the body is “H. F. Searles,” while the signature at the bottom is “H. F. Surles.” In Lytle v. The People, 47 Ill.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Dilworth v. Leach
515 P.2d 1130 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1973)
Gonzales v. Gauna
206 P. 511 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1922)
Darrow v. People
67 Colo. 595 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1920)
State v. Bandy
22 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 65 (Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Franklin County, Civil Division, 1919)
West v. State
75 Fla. 342 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1915)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
49 Colo. 109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murray-v-people-ex-rel-saguache-county-colo-1910.