People v. Barney

217 Ill. App. 322, 1920 Ill. App. LEXIS 62
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided April 21, 1920·No. Gen. No. 6,703·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

Mr. Presiding Justice Niehaus

delivered the opinion of the court.

The plaintiff in error, Frank Barney, was indicted in the circuit court of Boone county for selling intoxicating liquor in anti-saloon territory. The indictment contains fifty counts. The fiftieth count is a nuisance count. The indictment was certified to the county court for trial, and the plaintiff in error pleaded not guilty to the indictment and waived a trial by jury, and agreed to have the issues tried by the court. The cause was thereupon set for trial for March 31, 1919, and on that day was called for trial. The plaintiff in error then asked for a continuance until 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and this motion was denied, but the court postponed the hearing until 11 o’clock a. m. Five minutes before 11 a. m., plaintiff in error filed a petition' for change of venue, alleging as a ground therefor that the judge of the county court, before whom the ca.se was pending, was prejudiced. The change of venue was denied, and thereupon the case proceeded to trial and the court heard the evidence, and found the plaintiff in error guilty on all the counts of the indictment including the nuisance count, and sentenced the plaintiff in error to hard labor on the streets and alleys of any city, town or public road of the county, for a period of 30 days consecutively on each of the first forty-nine counts, and to pay a fine of $100 on each of said forty-nine counts, the sentence to labor on the streets and alleys of any city, town or the public roads of the county on each of the first forty-nine counts to follow consecutively on each and every one of said counts at the expiration of the sentence on the next preceding count. And the court also ordered as a part of the sentence that the plaintiff in error be required to labor on the streets and alleys of any city, town or on the public roads of the county for 50 days on the fiftieth count, and that the sentence to hard labor on the streets and alleys of any city, town or public road of the county on said fiftieth count beginning at the expiration of the term imposed for the forty-ninth count, making a total sentence to labor of 1,520 consecutive days, and a total fine of $5,000. The court also ordered that he pay the costs of the suit. And as a part of the sentence to labor on the streets and alleys of any city or town or on the public roads of the county, if said fines and costs were not paid, that the plaintiff in error work out the same, on the streets and alleys of any city or town, or on the public roads of the county, at the rate of $1.50 per day, until such fine and costs were paid. The court also ordered as a part of the sentence that when the plaintiff in error was not at labor, as in the senténce directed, he should be confined in the county jail of the county. It is estimated that if the plaintiff in error be unable to pay his fine and therefore compelled to work it out, his imprisonment will extend over a period of 14 years. From this judgment of conviction and sentence, a writ of error is now prosecuted.

A question is raised concerning the action of the court in refusing to grant the change of venue, and it is contended that it was error to refuse to grant it. The right to a change of venue is provided by the statute, under certain conditions. It being a statutory matter, the party insisting on the change of venue must bring himself within the statutory requirements. Hutson v. Wood, 263 Ill. 376. One of the requirements of the statute is that reasonable notice be given the State’s Attorney of the application for change of venue. What is a reasonable notice is left to the discretion of the judge to whom the application is made in the particular case, and the exercise of this discretion will not be interfered with unless it is abused. Glos v. Garrett, 219 Ill. 208. In this casej however, the record does not disclose that any notice at all was given the State’s Attorney of the application, which of itself was sufficient legal ground for a denial of the change of venue.

An objection to the sentence is made that the punishment, which is cumulated, is excessive. The record shows that the plaintiff in error was convicted on each count for a third offense, and the punishment fixed by the court is the minimum punishment provided by the statute for a conviction for a third offense. The contention is therefore in effect that the punishment, which is fixed by the statute, is out of proportion to the nature of the offense and involves the determination of a constitutional question, which this court is unable to adjudicate for lack of jurisdiction.

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People v. Barney, 217 Ill. App. 322, 1920 Ill. App. LEXIS 62 (Ill. Ct. App. 1920).

217 Ill. App. 322 (People v. Barney) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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