State v. Stickney

75 P. 201, 29 Mont. 523, 1904 Mont. LEXIS 21
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 8, 1904
DocketNo. 2,003
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 75 P. 201 (State v. Stickney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana 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. Stickney, 75 P. 201, 29 Mont. 523, 1904 Mont. LEXIS 21 (Mo. 1904).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE HOULOWAY

delivered tbe opinion of tbe -court.'

Tbe defendant, Robert Stickney, was convicted of the crime -of kidnapping, and sentenced to- imprisonment in tbe state prison for tbe term of seven years. From tbe judgment he •appeals.

Bound together as tbe record, and filed in this court, are a -copy of tbe original information, tbe demurrer filed thereto, tbe order of tbe district court sustaining tbe demurrer, tbe first amended information, tbe demurrer thereto, tbe order of tbe •district court sustaining it, tbe second amended information— being the one upon which the defendant was tried — a motion by defendant to dismiss tbe prosecution against him, tbe order ■of tbe district court overruling tbe motion, tbe defendant’s pleas, tbe minute entries of tbe trial, including a copy of tbe verdict, tbe instructions given to tbe jury, tbe judgment, a bill of exceptions embodying tbe testimony given at tbe trial, a stipulation, tbe notice of appeal, and tbe certificate of tbe clerk. Counsel for tbe state has moved this court to strike out all that portion, except tbe information upon which tbe defendant was [525]*525tried, the record of his pleas, the minute entries of the trial, the instructions given, the judgment rendered, the notice of’ appeal, and the clerk’s certificate. The motion'to strike the-original and first amended informations, together with the demurrers thereto, and the orders of the court with reference to the same, together with the motion to dismiss the prosecution, and the order of the court overruling the same, and the stipulation of the attorneys respecting the time for the presentation of the bill of exceptions for settlement, is made upon the ground' that the several papers just enumerated are not a part of any bill of exceptions, and therefore not properly a part-of the record in this case.

Section 2229 of the Penal Code designates the papers which shall constitute the judgment roll or record of the action in a criminal case, where a conviction has been had. Subdivision 1 is, “The indictment or information, and a copy of the minutes-of the plea or demurrer.” It is contended by appellant that the motion to dismiss the prosecution was in effect a demurrer, and' properly a part of the judgment roll. However, Session Laws 1903, page 47, Chapter 34, has amended Subdivision 1 of Section 2229, above, by providing that motions to- set aside indictments or informations, or demurrers to indictments or infor-mations, shall be embodied in a bill of exceptions, and further-provides that they cannot be reviewed in any other manner. The information which is made a part of the judgment roll has. reference only to- the information upon which the defendant was tried. If he was tried on an amended information, that amended information succeeds all prior informations filed, and' they cease to have any effect whatever as pleadings. It is apparent that the defendant recognized this rule, for he sought to have the original and first amended informations introduced in evidence as exhibits, but upon objection they were excluded,, and are not copied in the bill of exceptions.

It appears, then, that the judgment roll or record of the action in this case is composed of copies of the following papers, only: (1) The information, and defendant’s pleas thereto;-. [526]*526(2) tbe minutes of the trial; (3) the instructions given; and (4) the judgment. Section 2 of Chapter '34, Act of 1903, above, among other things, provides: “The only method of preserving for review by the supreme court on appeal, any proceeding, evidence or matter not designated by the Penal Code as part of the record on appeal without bill of exceptions, shall be by bill of exceptions prepared and settled under either Section 2171 of the Penal Code or this Act, as the one or the other may: be appropriate.” It is apparent, then, that with reference. to the original information, the demurrer thereto, the order of the court sustaining it, the first amended information, the demurrer thereto, and the order of the court sustaining it, the defendant’s motion to dismiss the prosecution, and the order of the court overruling’ the same, and the stipulation of the attorneys, none of which are embraced in the bill of exceptions, nor are a, part of the judgment roll, are not part of the record before this court for any purpose whatever, and must therefore be stricken out.

It is contended by the attorney general that the bill of exceptions should be stricken from the record, for the reason that it does not appear affirmatively from it that the same was presented to the judge for settlement on two days’ notice to the •county attorney.

Section 2171 of the Penal Code provides: “When a party desires to have the exceptions taken at the trial settled in a bill ■of exceptions the draft of a bill must be prepared by him and presented, upon notice of at least two days to the county attorney, to the judge for settlement within ten days after judgment has been rendered against him, unless further time is granted by the judge, or by a justice of the supreme court, or within that period the draft must be delivered to the clerk of the court for the judge. * * *” In State v. Gawith, 19 Mont. 48, 47 Pac. 207, this same question was before the court; and it was there held that the provisions of Section 2171, quoted above, are mandatory, and, where the record on appeal does not show ■affirmatively that such notice was given, the bill of exceptions [527]*527will not be considered. In State v. Moffatt, 20 Mont. 371, 51 Pac. 823, tbe same question was presented, and the doctrine announced in State v. Gawith reaffirmed, so> that it may be said to have become a settled rule of practice in this state. Eliminating therefore from the record the bill of exceptions and those papers which are not properly a part of the judgment roll, and there remains for consideration only the judgment roll as provided for in Section 2229 as amended by the Act of 1903.

The only question presented for determination is, does, the information state a public offense?

The information is drawn and the prosecution had under the provisions of Subdivision 3 of Section 380 of the Penal Code, as amended by the Seventh legislative assembly (Session Laws 1901, p. 169). So much of that section as is. applicable to this case reads as follows: “Every person who willfully * * * (3) abducts, entices or by force or fraud unlawfully takes or carries away another, at or from a place without the state * * * and afterwards sends, brings, has or keeps such person, or causes him to- be kept or secreted within this state, is guilty of kidnapping and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one year.”

The information is in three counts, but upon the trial the first count was abandoned by the prosecution, and consideration of it withdrawn from the jury by an appropriate instruction. The second count charges that the defendant on Dteeember 11, 1902, by means of false and fraudulent representations, which are detailed at length, did unlawfully, willfully and feloniously entice one Hallie Wolcott from Denver, Colorado, and after-wards, on December 18, 1902, did, by means of such false and fraudulent representations, willfully, unlawfully and feloni-ously bring the said Hallie Wolcott into this state, and into a certain place in the city of Great Palls. • The third count charges the defendant with willfully and feloniously taking the said Hallie Wolcott from Denver, Colorado, and afterwards unlawfully and feloniously bringing her into Montana.

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Bluebook (online)
75 P. 201, 29 Mont. 523, 1904 Mont. LEXIS 21, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stickney-mont-1904.