State v. Winbauer

143 N.W. 387, 26 N.D. 43, 1913 N.D. LEXIS 43
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 30, 1913
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 143 N.W. 387 (State v. Winbauer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota 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. Winbauer, 143 N.W. 387, 26 N.D. 43, 1913 N.D. LEXIS 43 (N.D. 1913).

Opinion

KNbesiiaw, Special Judge.

Tbe record discloses tbe fact that tbe defendant, Winbauer, was indicted by the grand jury of Morton county on tbe 3d day of December, 1907, for tbe crime of keeping and maintaining a common nuisance in a certain building on lot 11 in block 8 in tbe city of Mandan. To this indictment the defendant plead not guilty, and thereupon such proceedings were bad that tbe case was transferred to Barnes county, in the fifth judicial district for trial.

On February 7, 1908, tbe case was brought on for trial in tbe district court of Barnes county before Honorable E. T. Burke, presiding judge, and a jury. Tbe state being represented by T. P. McOue, attorney general, and B. W. Shaw, the state’s attorney of Morton county, and the defendant by L. A. Simpson, James M. Iianley, and A. T. Eabcr; and on tbe 8th day of February, 1908, the case was concluded and tbe jury brought in a verdict of guilty as charged in tbe indictment. On February 13, 1908, judgment and sentence was pronounced against tbe defendant by tbe court for a term of ninety days’ imprisonment and a fine of $200. On February 11, 1909, or just two days less than a year after tbe pronouncing of sentence and rendition of the judgment against tbe defendant as aforesaid, tbe defendant appealed [46]*46to tlie supreme court from said judgment rendered in said cause on the 13th day of February, 1908, and from the whole of said judgment. Such appeal was accompanied by an undertaking, which was a super-sedeas, and a certificate of probable cause granted by the trial judge on December 24, 1909, and after the notice of appeal to the supreme court had been served, and while said appeal was pending in the supreme court, the Honorable E. T. Burke, judge of the fifth judicial district made and filed in said action an ex parte order, which order was in words and figures as follows'

“Whereas, this court did on the 13th day of February, 1908, duly pronounce and render a judgment and sentence against defendant upon his conviction of the crime of keeping and maintaining a common nuisance, and therein and thereby sentence the defendant to be imprisoned in the county jail of IVIorton county, North Dakota, for the period of ninety days, and that he pay a fine of $200, making a total judgment of $200, which said judgment was and is in the words and figures of the copy hereto attached and made a part hereof.
“Whereas it appears to the court that such judgment and sentence of the court was, by inadvertence and oversight, not entered in the office of the clerk of this court, as required by law, at the time of its rendition, as aforesaid,
“Now, therefore, it is ordered by the court that the clerk enter such judgment by filing the copy thereof hereto attached, and by entering the same upon the minutes of this court as required in and by § 10106, and by docketing such judgment as required by § 10105 of the Revised Codes.
“And it is further ordered by the court that such judgment be entered as of the 13th day of February, 1908, the date on which the same was pronounced by the court, and that all acts in relation thereto be had and done as of said date.
“Dated this 24th day of December, 1909.
Edward T. Burke, Judge.”

On March 9, 1910, on application of the defendant, the supreme court ordered that the defendant be granted leave to withdraw the said appeal, and the supreme court then ordered that the cause be remanded to the district court for further proceedings according to law. After the remittitur was filed in the lower court, the defendant applied to [47]*47tbe district court of Barnes county, on motion, for an order declaring and adjudging that tbe purported and pretended judgment rendered as of date February 13, 1908, be declared void from tbe very time of its attempted inception. Tbe matter was brought on for bearing on motion, and based upon a notice of motion to vacate judgment, wbieb notice of motion was supported by tbe affidavits of tbe defendant, Win-bauer, and of J. E. Campbell.

Upon tbe bearing of tbe motion to vacate judgment, before Judge Coffey, at Valley City, tbe state was represented by Alfred Zuger, assistant attorney general of North Dakota, and tbe defendant by J. E. Campbell. After the bearing of said motion and tbe argument of counsel, Judge Coffey made bis order dated November 10, 1911, adjudging that said judgment and sentence as of date February 13, 1908, was void from tbe very time of its inception, and that tbe same be set aside, vacated, and annulled, and declared absolutely void. And from such order vacating tbe judgment and sentence of February 13, 1908, tbe state of North Dakota appeals to this court.

Tbe record in this case is regular and valid on its face. It is, however, contended by tbe affidavit of tbe defendant, used upon tbe motion to vacate tbe judgment, that be was convicted on tbe 7th day of February, 1908, in tbe district court of Barnes county, and on tbe 8th day of February, 1908, that tbe term of court at which defendant was convicted was adjourned without tbe defendant being sentenced, and that tbe court announced that at Bismarck, on tbe 13th day of February, 1908, it would pass sentence on tbe defendant, and that on the 13th day of February, 1908, in tbe bouse of representatives chamber of tbe state capitol, tbe judge of said court, and in absence of court officials, sentenced tbe defendant to ninety days in jail, and to pay a fine of $200. The affidavit of tbe defendant has not been controverted or denied, and, therefore, for tbe purposes of this appeal this court will assume that judgment and sentence on tbe conviction of tbe defendant was pronounced at Bismarck, in tbe sixth judicial district, on tbe 13th day of February, 1908, by E. T. Burke, judge of tbe fifth judicial district.

Tbe attack on this judgment by motion is a direct, and not a collateral, attack. Therefore, tbe only question involved is, Was tbe judgment and sentence pronounced at Bismarck in tbe sixth judicial dis-[48]*48fcrict, on the 13th day of February, 1908, void ? If absolutely void, then the order appealed from must be affirmed; otherwise reversed. When the place of trial in a criminal action is changed to another judicial district, the court to which the action is removed for trial has full jurisdiction and authority to hear, try, and determine the action, and upon conviction to impose the punishment provided by law, and the trial shall be conducted the same in all respects as if the action had been commenced in said court; and on the trial of the action the judge of the district to which the action has been transferred acts as the judge of said district, and not as the acting judge of the judicial district from which the action was transferred, or at the written request of said judge.

It is contended by the respondent that the judgment is void by reason of § 6Y65 of the 1905 Code, which provides that no judge of the district court shall hear or determine any action, special proceedings, motion, or application, or make any order or give any judgment in any action or proceedings not pending in the judicial district for which he is elected, — except in certain cases therein enumerated. As Judge Burke was the judge of the fifth judicial district, and said action was in fact and at that time pending in his judicial district, the action of the court was not in violation of said section. And § 6Y66, Bev.

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Related

In re Writ of Habeas Corpus in behalf of Schantz
144 N.W. 445 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1913)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
143 N.W. 387, 26 N.D. 43, 1913 N.D. LEXIS 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-winbauer-nd-1913.