Smiser v. State

1921 OK CR 88, 198 P. 110, 19 Okla. Crim. 86, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 33
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 25, 1921
DocketNo. A-3685.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1921 OK CR 88 (Smiser v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smiser v. State, 1921 OK CR 88, 198 P. 110, 19 Okla. Crim. 86, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 33 (Okla. Ct. App. 1921).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff in error, Garnett Smiser, attempts to appeal from a judgment of conviction of manslaughter rendered against him in the district court of Atoka county on the 18th day of July, 1919. The attempted appeal is lodged in this court by filing on the 15th day of January, 1920, a purported ease-made, and also a duly certified transcript of the record, with petition in error attached.

The Attorney General has filed a motion in effect to strike the ease-made and consider the appeal on the transcript alone. The Attorney General’s motion is as follows:

“It is disclosed by page 7 of the ease-made that this case was tried before Hon. A. A. McDonald, judge of the district court of the Twenty-Seventh judicial district of this state, under an order of the Chief Justice to hold court at Atoka *88 in the Twenty-Sixth district for two weeks beginning Monday, July 7, 1919, and including Saturday, July 19, 1919. 'Judgment was rendered and a motion for a new trial overruled on July 18, 1919. (Record, 215.) In the order overruling the motion for a new trial plaintiff in error was given 90 days from that date in which to prepare and serve case-made, and the 90 days expired on the 16th day of October, 1919. The ease-made was not served upon the county attorney or upon •counsel for the state until the 29th day of October, 1919 (Record, 225), which was 13 days after the time allowed had ■expired. On page 222 of the record is a purported order to ■extend the time in which to have the case-made prepared, which order is entered on October 1, 1919, giving plaintiff in error until November 1st of that year in which to prepare and serve case-made, and which order was signed by Judge McDonald.
"It is our contention that this order attempting to extend the time in which to prepare and serve case-made is a nullity for the reason that Judge McDonald had no authority to sign the same. The court in numerous cases has laid down the rule .that the regular judge of the district court, and not a judge pro tempore, is the only judge who may extend the time in which to prepare and serve case-made, and that an extension made by a judge pro tempore is void. Rasberry v. State, 4 Okla. Cr. 613, 103 Pac. 865; Steen v. State, 5 Okla. Cr. 295, 114 Pac. 343; Dobbs v. State, 5 Okla. Cr. 475, 114 Pac. 358, 115 Pac. 370; Johnston v. State, 6 Okla. Cr. 354, 118 Pac. 674.
"On page 226 of the record is a certificate of the court clerk to the effect that the record is a true transcript of the pleadings, motions, and proceedings had in the cause. Therefore the only matters in the record which may be properly considered by this court are the indictments, the court minutes of the trial, the instructions given by the court', the indorse-ments thereon, if any, the verdict of the jury, and a copy of all orders and judgments of the court on the ease. Jones v. State, 9 Okla. Cr. 189, 130 Pac. 1178.”

Counsel for defendant has replied to the motion, and, while admitting that the assigned trial judge made an order *89 attempting to extend the time in which to serve the ease-made after his term as assigned judge had expired for holding court in Atoka county under the order of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, nevertheless counsel contends, under authority of Curlee et al. v. Ruland, 47 Okla. 519, 149 Pac. 1149, the assigned judge, being a regular district judge and a state officer, had authority and jurisdiction to make said order.

The case of Curlee et al. v. Ruland, supra, is not directly in point, but has reference to the authority of an assigned judge to sign, settle, and certify to the correctness of a case-made in a cause tried before him, while assigned to hold court in another district than his own and after the expiration of the time fixed by the Supreme Court for holding court in the outside district.

It is evident from the decision in Curlee et al. v. Ruland that the Supreme Court makes a distinction as to the authority of an assigned district judge to sign, settle, and certify to the ease-made after the expiration of the time fixed for holding court in the district other than his own, and the authority of such judge to grant additional extensions of time to make and serve case-made after the expiration of the time fixed in the order of the Supreme Court; for, in speaking of the case of Dobbs v. State, 5 Okla. Cr. 480, 114 Pac. 358, 115 Pac. 370, decided by this court, the Supreme Court in the body of the opinion in the Curlee Case say:

“The precise question decided in that case (Dobbs Case) was that the trial judge, who had been assigned to hold court, outside of his district, after he had vacated the bench, and after an order allowing an extension of time made by him had expired, was without power to grant an additional extension of time to make and serve ease-made, which holding is in harmony with the former decisions of this court.”

*90 In the later ease of First National Bank of Mountain Park v. School District No. 65, Tillman County, 65 Okla. 233, 164 Pac. 102, the Supreme Court, speaking by Hardy, Justice (the justice who wrote the opinion in Curlpe et al. v. Ruland, supra), held:

“A district judge who has been assigned by order of the Chief Justice to hold court in a county outside of the district in which he is elected has no authority, after the expiration of the time fixed in the order assigning him to hold court in said county, to grant an extension of time in which to prepare and serve case-made, in a case tried before him while lawfully holding court in such county.”

To the same effect is the decision of the Supreme Court in Osborne v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co., 45 Okla. 817, 147 Pac. 301.

The decisions of this court and of the Supreme Court both support the contention of the Attorney General that the assigned judge was without authority, after the expiration of the time fixed in the order assigning him to hold court in Atoka county, to grant an extension of time in which to prepare and serve a case-made. These decisions were rendered long prior to the time the purported order made by the assigned judge extending the time for such service was entered in the instant case.

The motion of the Attorney General to strike the case-made is therefore sustained, and the purported case-made is stricken from the files.

This leaves the appeal to be considered upon the transcript of the record alone.

The record proper only includes the following papers: (1) The indictment and a copy of the minutes of the plea or demurrer; (2) a copy of the minutes of the trial; (3) the *91 charges given or refused and the indorsements, if any, thereon; (4) a copy of the judgment. Section 5960, Revised Laws 1910; Reed v. U. S., 2 Okla. Cr. 652, 103 Pac. 371; Humphrey v. State, 3 Okla. Cr. 506, 106 Pac. 978, 139 Am. St. Rep. 972; Day v. State, 7 Okla. Cr. 276, 123 Pac. 436.

The only matters in the record, therefore, which may be properly considered by the court under this appeal are the foregoing papers, which constitute the record proper. Day v. State, supra.

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

Related

Sparks v. State
1941 OK CR 100 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1941)
Smith v. State
1933 OK CR 43 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1933)
Boswell v. Ingram
1924 OK 1048 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Tracy v. State
1923 OK CR 201 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1923)
Bowles v. State
1921 OK CR 173 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1921)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1921 OK CR 88, 198 P. 110, 19 Okla. Crim. 86, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 33, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smiser-v-state-oklacrimapp-1921.