State v. Barber

88 P. 418, 13 Idaho 65, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 14
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 5, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 88 P. 418 (State v. Barber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Barber, 88 P. 418, 13 Idaho 65, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 14 (Idaho 1907).

Opinion

STOCKSLAGER, C. J.

Appellant was indicted by a grand jury of Washington county, charged with the murder of one Charles Macomb on the twenty-third day of December, 1905. A trial was had in February, 1906, which resulted in a verdict of manslaughter. He was thereafter sentenced to serve a term of seven years in the state penitentiary. A motion for a new trial was overruled and the appeal is from this order and also from the judgment.

Counsel for appellant assigns twenty-eight errors, many of which relate to the giving of instructions and the refusal to give instructions requested on behalf of defendants.

The first assignment relates to the refusal of the coiirt to quash the indictment on the ground that it was found by a grand jury under circumstances not authorized by law. It appears from the record that on the twenty-second day of January, 1906, the court then being in session in Washington county, the following order was made by the court: “It appearing to the court that a necessity exists therefor, the prosecuting attorney being engaged in other matters, the court orders that Bertram S. Yarian is appointed prosecuting attorney to attend upon and perform the duties of prosecuting attorney with the grand jury during this term of court at a compensation to be - fixed hereafter by the [72]*72court.” It is insisted that this order was nutde without authority, and that the appearance of Mr. Yarian before the grand jury was illegal, and that the indictment so found and returned should have been quashed on the motion of counsel for appellant. The latest authority we find for the appointment of a county attorney is in the .Session Laws of 1897, page 74. This is the act that changed the system from district attorneys for each judicial district to a county attorney for each county. Section 2 of this act provides the way and under what conditions and circumstances the court may appoint an attorney to perform the duties of the county attorney. It is as follows: “Section 2. When there is no county attorney for the county, or when he is absent from the court, or when he is acting as counsel or attorney for the accused in relation to the matter of which the accused stands charged, and for which he is to be tried on a criminal charge, or when he is near of kin to the party to be tried on a criminal charge, or when he is unable to attend to his duties, the district court may, by an order entered in its minutes stating the cause therefor, appoint some suitable person to perform for the time being, or for the trial of such accused person, the duties of county attorney, and the person so appointed has all the powers of the county attorney, while acting as such.” It is shown that at the time this order was made, George P. Rhea was the county attorney of Washington county. It is urged by learned counsel for appellant that it is not shown by the order complained of that Mr. Rhea was in any manner disqualified from performing all the duties of county attorney of his county as contemplated by section 2 above quoted; hence, the order was without authority and in direct contravention of the statutes, illegal and void. Subdivision 4, section 3, provides that the county attorney shall “attend, when requested by any grand jury for the purpose of examining witnesses before them, to draw bills of indictments, informations and accusations; to issue subpoenas and other process requiring the attendance of witnesses. ’ ’ It would seem from this section that the county attorney can only be present with the grand jury “when re[73]*73quested.” In our view if the court had the authority to appoint Mr-. Yarian under section 2, supra, he was empowered to appear before the grand jury “when requested,” and for the purposes enumerated in section 3. The important question presented by this motion is: Was there any reason given in the order why Mr. Rhea should not perform all the duties of his office? The necessity therefor, as stated in the order, must be coupled with a reason based on some provision of the statute, and the fact that the “county attorney was engaged in other matters” is not one of the reasons given by section 2 for the appointment of an attorney who “has all the powers of the county attorney while so acting as such.” It was not the intention of the legislature that there should be a county attorney in the active discharge of his duties and at the same time an attorney performing a part of them in some other branch of the county government. The section requires that the order must show the disqualification or inability of the county attorney to act in some particular matter connected with his office or the duties thereof. If the theory of the prosecution is to be upheld, the county attorney of any county may shirk the responsibilities and labors of his office, have an attorney appointed to perform the labor, draw his salary, and the county will be required to pay two men for the labor enjoined upon the county attorney by statute. It is not enough to say that the court would not make the order unless there was good, reason for it; this is doubtless true, but the legislature, by section 2, was careful in fixing the only conditions under which the court may appoint an attorney to perform the duties of the county attorney, and the fact that the county attorney was otherwise engaged when the appointment was made does not bring it within the power of the court to appoint under section 2, supra.

It is insisted by the attorney general that State v. Corcoran, 7 Idaho, 220, 61 Pac. 1034, is decisive of this question. We think not. It is stated in the opinion by Mr. Justice Quarles that “the county attorney of said county [meaning Shoshone] stated in open court that -he was disqualified from [74]*74acting as county attorney, and that he was unable to attend to the duties of said office in matters connected with.or growing out of the alleged riots of April 29, 1899, in Shoshone county. It is evident to our minds that said county attorney was unable to discharge the duties of his said office within the meaning and intent of the act of February 2, 1899.”

It is nowhere apparent by the record in this case that Mr. Rhea was in any way disqualified or ever requested the appointment of an assistant in the performance of his duties. The court is aware that there could be no valid objection to the appointment of Mr. Varían so far as his character or ability is or was concerned, but the question is: Did the statute authorize the appointment of anyone under the showing? The attorney general quotes from the opinion in State v. Corcoran, supra, as follows: “It would be an idle thing to provide that in the case of the disability of the county attorney to perform his duties, the court should appoint a suitable person to discharge his duties and then hold that such appointee has no authority to act in the performance of such duty. The reason, object and necessity of the grand jury having the services and assistance of the county attorney continues, notwithstanding that the county attorney is incapacitated from acting before the grand jury. .... It is evident that it was the intention of the legislature that where the county attorney was disqualified from acting in a certain case, the person appointed to perform his duties should discharge all of them. It follows that the indictment should not be set aside, because the substitute for the county attorney appointed by the court was before the grand jury during the examination of the witnesses.” We are in full accord with all that this quotation contains.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 P. 418, 13 Idaho 65, 1907 Ida. LEXIS 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barber-idaho-1907.