State v. Dehler

102 N.W.2d 696, 257 Minn. 549, 89 A.L.R. 2d 496, 1960 Minn. LEXIS 561
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedApril 8, 1960
Docket37,897
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 102 N.W.2d 696 (State v. Dehler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dehler, 102 N.W.2d 696, 257 Minn. 549, 89 A.L.R. 2d 496, 1960 Minn. LEXIS 561 (Mich. 1960).

Opinion

Frank T. Gallagher, Justice.

This is a certification to this court by the district court, pursuant to M. S. A. 632.10, on the grounds that certain questions raised by the appellant, Richard Edward Dehler, on motions to set aside and quash certain indictments and to dismiss certain proceedings were so important and doubtful as to require a decision of this court.

Dehler was indicted on December 30, 1941, for the crime of murder in the first degree of his mother, father, brother, and sister. He was tried and convicted on January 23, 1942, on the indictment charging him with the murder of his mother and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was born on April 2, 1925. At the times of the commission of the offenses, the indictment, and the trial, Dehler was 16 years of age and is now 34 years old.

On February 7, 1942, he moved the court for immediate trial or dismissal of the remaining three indictments. Two of them arising out of the killing of his brother and sister were dismissed on February 13, and the third involving the death of his father was dismissed on December 7, 1942.

In May 1959 Dehler petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus which resulted in an order of that court determining that he was unlawfully confined and directing that he be discharged. The order was issued on the grounds that the proper proceeding in *552 juvenile court had not been followed when he was indicted in 1941 and that by reason thereof the district court did not have jurisdiction to try the offense in January 1942. See, State ex rel. Knutson v. Jackson, 249 Minn. 246, 82 N. W. (2d) 234; State ex rel. Pett v. Jackson, 252 Minn. 418, 90 N. W. (2d) 219.

Upon his discharge Dehler was re-arrested by the sheriff of Morrison County and on May 20, 1959, was arraigned on the 1941 indictment charging him with the murder of his mother. At that arraignment Dehler entered a plea of not guilty. He also claimed former jeopardy as a defense because of the fact that on January 23, 1942, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the 1941 indictment and he was then sentenced by the court. At the May 1959 arraignment he also moved the court to set aside, quash, and dismiss the 1941 indictment, which motion raised the questions presently certified to this court.

On June 8, 1959, the grand jury returned four separate indictments charging him with murder in the first degree of his mother, father, brother, and sister all committed on December 19, 1941. He was arraigned on these four separate indictments on June 10, 1959, at which time the same “not guilty” plea was entered as under the May 20, 1959, arraignment, and another motion to quash and dismiss the indictments was made. This motion was also included in the certification to this court.

Based on the holding in State v. Artz, 154 Minn. 290, 191 N. W. 605, the state, on oral argument, correctly withdrew from consideration the three indictments in connection with the death of Dehler’s father, brother, and sister, since he had moved the court for either a dismissal or immediate trial under those indictments, which motions resulted in dismissal of the indictments by the district court in 1942. Therefore, we shall consider only the issues raised under the 1941 indictment arising out of the death of his mother.

The indictment of June 8, 1959, involving the death of Dehler’s mother, may be disposed of on the basis of State ex rel. Dahlgren v. Riley, 109 Minn. 437, 438, 124 N. W. 13, where this court held as follows:

“* * * It is clear that the state could not prosecute relator twice for *553 the same offense, and, pending legally instituted proceeding for the purpose of his indictment and trial, could not arrest and restrain him of his liberty upon identically the same charge; and, though the pendency of another indictment upon the same charge is not a good plea in abatement (12 Cyc. 360), the fact that a previous warrant and preliminary hearing thereon had resulted in the holding of defendant to the grand jury, the warrant and proceedings thereon being in all things regular and valid, must necessarily bar a second proceeding upon the same charge and for the same purpose, until at least the first proceeding is determined and defendant has been discharged therefrom.”

We believe the same principle is applicable to a situation where a valid and subsisting indictment is pending, as in the instant case. The December 1941 indictment in connection with his mother’s death invalidates the Time 1959 indictment charging the same offense for the same acts. As a result the validity of any future proceedings must be determined with reference to the 1941 indictment.

Dehler raises nine points as to why that indictment should be dismissed, which points were accepted by the district court as the questions to be certified to this court. Some of those questions are lengthy and repetitious and we believe they are summarized and incorporated in the following four basic questions:

(1) Does the district court have jurisdiction to presently arraign and try Dehler for the offense charged under the indictment returned December 31, 1941, arising out of the death of his mother and does the 1942 trial constitute former jeopardy?

(2) If the district court does have jurisdiction to now try him for that offense, is he thereby deprived of his right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury and his right to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, which rights are guaranteed by Minn. Const, art. 1, § 6?

(3) Would any sentence rendered subsequent to this trial constitute cruel or unusual punishment, prohibited by Minn. Const, art. 1, § 5, in view of the fact that he has been tried for the offense by a court which lacked jurisdiction and pursuant thereto has been imprisoned approximately 18 years?

*554 (4) Would he thereby be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denied equal protection of the law in violation of U. S. Const. Amend. XIV?

Dehler asserts that a new trial under that indictment would place him in double jeopardy in view of the fact that he was tried and sentenced for that same offense in January 1942.

In State ex rel. Knutson v. Jackson, supra, we held that the requirement of M. S. A. 260.08 concerning a hearing in juvenile court is jurisdictional and, where notice required by that section was not given, the juvenile court order for prosecution in district court was invalid; also that where the discharge is upon the ground that the court which tried the accused lacked jurisdiction, then the accused may subsequently be tried before a court of competent jurisdiction and upon a valid charge without being subject to double jeopardy. In the instant case Dehler was discharged on a writ of habeas corpus because there was a failure to comply with the proceedings established by the Juvenile Court Act, M. S. A. c. 260. Therefore, as in State ex rel. Knutson v. Jackson, supra, the district court which subsequently tried him in 1942 lacked jurisdiction.

In State ex rel. Pett v. Jackson, supra,

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

Related

State v. Michael A. Armstrong
2024 VT 5 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 2024)
People v. Luis R.
924 N.E.2d 990 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009)
In re Luis R.
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009
In Re the Civil Commitment of Giem
742 N.W.2d 422 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2007)
In Re the Welfare of J.C.P.
716 N.W.2d 664 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2006)
State v. Rojas
569 N.W.2d 418 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1997)
Icgoren v. State
653 A.2d 972 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1995)
In re the Welfare of A.N.J.
521 N.W.2d 889 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1994)
Matter of Anj
521 N.W.2d 889 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1994)
State v. Stott
503 N.W.2d 822 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1993)
State Ex Rel. McMaster v. Benson
495 N.W.2d 613 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1993)
State v. Mastracchio
546 A.2d 165 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1988)
State v. Dwire
409 N.W.2d 498 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1987)
State v. Bias
352 S.E.2d 52 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1986)
Butler v. State
489 So. 2d 1093 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1986)
In Re the Welfare of C.A.N.
370 N.W.2d 438 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1985)
State Ex Rel. Elliot v. District Court
684 P.2d 481 (Montana Supreme Court, 1984)
Pueblo v. Agosto Vázquez
112 P.R. Dec. 57 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1982)
In Re the Welfare of S. V.
296 N.W.2d 404 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1980)
Taylor v. State
612 P.2d 851 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
102 N.W.2d 696, 257 Minn. 549, 89 A.L.R. 2d 496, 1960 Minn. LEXIS 561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dehler-minn-1960.