State ex rel. De Puy v. Evans

60 N.W. 433, 88 Wis. 255, 1894 Wisc. LEXIS 63
Wisconsin Supreme Court·Decided October 2, 1894·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

Cassoday, J.

In this state marriage “ between parties who are nearer of kin than first cousins, computed by the rule of the civil law, whether of the half or of the whole blood,” is expressly forbidden. R. S. sec.' 2330. Such a marriage, “ if solemnized within this state,” is “ absolutely void without any judgment of divorce or other legal proceeding.” R. S. sec. 2349. The statute, moreover, declares that: “Anyperson being within the degree of consanguinity within which marriages are prohibited or declared by law to be incestuous and void, . . . rvho shall commit adultery or fornication with each other, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than ten years, nor less than two years.” R. S. see. 4582. Of course the justice of the peace had no jurisdiction to hear, try, and determine the guilt or innocence of the accused for such a crime. R. S. sec. 4739. Rut he did have jurisdiction, upon proper complaint being made, to issue his warrant in proper [260] form and cause the accused to be brought before him, and to examine into the matter so charged, and if he found upon such examination that the offense charged had ’been committed, and that there was probable cause to believe the prisoner guilty, then to hold him to bail or commit him for trial. E. S. secs. 4715-4192.

■ The complaint upon which the relator was last arrested was subscribed and sworn to by the complainant before Justice Jewett, and is set forth in the foregoing statement. It purports to have been made after the complainant had been duly sworn, and hence must be regarded as a sufficient examination of the complainant on oath to satisfy the statute. State v. Nerbovig, 33 Minn. 480; State v. Dovie, 62 Wis. 305. It contains a substantial statement of the offense, in positive terms, and that seems to be sufficient. Ford v. State, 3 Pin. 449; Gallagher v. State, 26 Wis. 423. That complaint, therefore, gave to Justice Jewett jurisdiction to issue a warrant and cause the relator to be arrested and brought before him, and to examine whether the offense charged had been committed, and, if so, whether there was probable cause to believe the accused was guilty. He did issue a warrant and cause the relator to be brought before him for examination; and thereupon the relator made the statutory oath of prejudice, and demanded a change of venue, and the same was granted by sending the same to the defendant, as mentioned. It is claimed that the defendant, as justice, never got jurisdiction of the cause, because the're was another justice of the peace having an office nearer to Justice Jewett than the defendant. But the statute did not require Justice Jewett to send the cause to the nearest justice, but only to “transmit all the papers in the case to the nearest justice or other magistrate, qualified by law to conduct the examination.” E. S. sec. 4809. This clearly implies that the cause is not to be sent to any justice or other magistrate who is disqualified by law to [261] conduct such examination, even though he be the nearest. Manifestly the question whether such “ nearest justice or other magistrate ” is so qualified or disqualified must be summarily determined by some one. "We have no doubt that it must be determined, by the justice or other magistrate before whom such oath of prejudice is so filed; that is to say, in this case, by Justice Jewett. He necessarily did so determine that question in this case after hearing evidence pro and con. The authority to so determine includes the possibility of making a wrong determination. Nevertheless we must, upon the repeated decisions of this and other courts, hold that such determination of the justice or other magistrate so transmitting the cause is conclusive upon the parties and the justice or other magistrate to whom the cause is sent. Martin v. State, 79 Wis. 173; State v. Sorenson, 84 Wis. 31.

The jurisdiction thus acquired by Justice Jewett by virtue of the complaint so made before him was successfully invoked in favor of the relator by the filing of his oath of prejudice as mentioned. Upon the filing of such oath and the transmission of the papers, such jurisdiction was necessarily transmitted to and vested in the defendant, as such justice of the peace. The exercise of the jurisdiction so vested in the defendant was thereupon invoked by the relator’s asking the defendant, as such justice, to dismiss the proceeding on the ground that he had previously been put in jeopardy of punishment for the same offense, and upon the further ground that the cause should have been sent to Justice Kimball, instead of the defendant; but the defendant, as such justice, refused to dismiss upon either of those grounds.

The question whether the warrant issued' by Justice Jewett was sufficient in form and substance to authorize the arrest of the relator and the holding of him in custody, is entirely a different question. It is a question which [262] might have been properly submitted to and passed upon by either Justice Jewett or the defendant. If what purports to be a copy of the warrant, before us, is correct, then the warrant was certainly defective. It nowhere mentions any town, village, city, or county in which the alleged offense was committed or the proceeding instituted. The statute requires the warrant to recite “ the substance of the accusation and requiring the officer to whom it shall be directed forthwith to take the person accused and bring him before the said magistrate or before some other magistrate of the county, to be dealt with according to law.” K. S. sec. 4776. The statute does not require the complaint to be attached to or accompany the warrant, but the sheriff or other officer receives the warrant alone to be executed. The words said county,” in the warrant in question, are without significance, since no county is therein mentioned.

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State ex rel. De Puy v. Evans, 60 N.W. 433, 88 Wis. 255, 1894 Wisc. LEXIS 63 (Wis. 1894).

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