Suit v. State

207 S.W.2d 315, 212 Ark. 584, 1947 Ark. LEXIS 755
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 22, 1947
Docket4-8380
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 207 S.W.2d 315 (Suit v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Suit v. State, 207 S.W.2d 315, 212 Ark. 584, 1947 Ark. LEXIS 755 (Ark. 1947).

Opinion

Ed. F. MoFaddin, Justice.

Appellants — W. M. Suit and H. C. Suit — seek to reverse a circuit court judgment against them for $1,000 on two forfeited bail bonds. On August 14, 1947, the Montgomery Circuit Court entered •the judgment here involved, the germane portions of which recite:

“That on the 26th day of August, 1945, Bly Suit was indicted by the grand jury of Montgomery County, Arkansas, for child abandonment and . . . for wife abandonment; that on the 21st day of December, 1945, Bly Suit, W. M. Suit and H. C. Suit . . . executed two bonds of $500 . . . , conditioned that Bly Suit would appear in circuit court ... , to answer said charges and would render himself amenable to the orders and process of said court and if convicted render himself in execution thereof; that ... on the 6th day of August, 1946 . . . , defendant Bly Suit appeared in person and entered a plea of guilty to each of said indictments and charges; that the court then and there pronounced sentence or judgment upon him, fixing his punishment at $500 and six months in jail; the court suspended the execution of said judgment, at this time, to give the defendant an opportunity to comply with an order made by the judge of the chancei-y court of Garland county previously made, and ordered defendant to remain under the present bond; that on December 11, 1946, the court revoked the suspension order made on the 6th of August, and ordered a warrant for the arrest of defendant who is still at large.
“This court entered an . . . order . . . , declaring a forfeiture on the bond executed by W. M.Suit and H. C. Suit, and ordered the clerk to issue his summons for their appearance in this court to show cause why a judgment against them on said bonds should not be rendered; defendants . . . filed an answer, and after argument of attorneys, and without the introduction of any evidence, but considering the case from the record as made above, the court finds that plaintiff should have judgment against the defendants W. M. Suit and H. C. Suit in the sum of $1,000 with interest, and that execution should issue upon said judgment.
“It is therefore, by the court considered, ordered and adjudged, that plaintiff have judgment, against the defendants and each of them in the sum of $1,000; that execution be issued . . . ” ’

From that judgment there is this appeal.

I. Absence of Motion for Neiv Trial and Bill of Exceptions. At the threshold of this appeal, the State points out that the transcript contains neither a motion for new trial nor a bill of exceptions, and therefore urges affirmance, citing these cases: Eveland v. State, 189 Ark. 517, 74 S. W. 2d 221; Independence County v. Tomlinson, 93 Ark. 382, 125 S. W. 423; School District v. School District, 64 Ark. 483, 43 S. W. 501; and Good Samaritans v. Anderson, 171 Ark. 1033, 287 S. W. 194.

But appellants contend that the judgment here involved shows all the facts, and that the alleged error on which they rely — subsequently to be discussed — appears on the face of the judgment: therefore — they urge — that neither a motion for new trial nor a bill of exceptions is necessary; and they cite Ford v. State, 100 Ark. 515, 140 S. W. 734 * ; Burns v. Harrington, 162 Ark. 162, 257 S. W. 729; Buchanan v. Halpin, 176 Ark. 822, 4 S. W. 2d 510.

Ford v. State, supra, was a bond forfeiture case, just as this one, and we there said: “Counsel for appellee urges that the appeal should be dismissed because no motion for a new trial, or bill of exceptions has been filed. Neither a motion for a new trial nor a bill of exceptions is necessary where the errors complained of do not grow out of the evidence or instructions, but appear from the record itself. Independence County v. Tomlinson, 93 Ark. 382, and 95 Ark. 565, 125 S. W. 423; Norman v. Fife, 61 Ark. 33, 31 Ark. 740; Ward v. Carlton, 26 Ark. 662.” Language to the same effect may be found in each of the other cases cited by appellants. Since the question which appellants here urge is one that appears on the face of the judgment, we conclude that neither a motion for a new trial nor a bill of exceptions is necessary to present the question.

II. Were Appellants, as Sureties, Discharged When the Defendant Was Sentenced¶ That is the real question presented. The judgment, as previously copied, recites that the defendant Bly Suit appeared in court on August 6, 1946, and entered a plea of guilty, and “that the court then and there pronounced sentence or judgment upon him, fixing his punishment at $500 and six months in jail; the court suspended the execution of said judgment, at this time, . . . ” The appellants claim that, when the court pronounced sentence, such act terminated all liability of the sureties on the bail bond, and that the suspension of the execution of sentence was a judicial leniency that did not and could not continue the liability of tbe sureties on the bond; and they cite, inter alia, Ford v. State, supra, and Richardson v. State, 169 Ark. 167, 273 S. W. 367.

In Ford v. State, Ford and Pressly were sureties on the bail bond of Phillips, who appeared in court, and entered a plea of guilty. The court pronounced sentence, ‘ ‘ and upon motion of the defendant and leave of the court judgment was suspended” until the next term of the court. At the said next term Phillips failed to appear, and the court forfeited the bail bond, and rendered judgment against Ford and Pressly as the sureties. On their appeal to this court, we said: “Where a party is present in court and pleads guilty, and the sentence of the court is pronounced, he is no longer in the custody of the bail, but is in the custody of the proper officers of the law, and his sureties are thereby discharged by the operation of the law without a formal order to that effect. The reason is that the condition of the bond then will have been fully complied with. ’ ’

In Richardson v. State, supra, in speaking of the fact that the court had pronounced sentence in Ford v. State, we said: “The effect of this proceeding was to take the defendant out of the custody of the bail and place him in the custody of the proper officers of the law.”

In short, we have made the pronouncing of sentence to be the act that releases the sureties' on the bond. The statutory form of bail bond (§ 3765, Pope’s Digest) is the same in the case at bar as in the cases of Ford v. State, supra, and Richardson v. State, supra; and we adhere to the holding that the pronouncing of sentence is the act terminating the liability of the sureties on the bail bond.

Appellee contends that there is one fact in the case at bar which distinguishes it from Ford v. State; and that fact is, that here the court specifically directed that the defendant should remain on his present bond. Appellee points to this language in the judgment, supra: “ . . . the court suspended the execution of said judgment at this time . . . and ordered defendant to remain under the present bond.” It is cleai that the court, in suspending the enforcement of the sentence, attempted to keep the bail bond in full force. Was it within the power of the circuit court to so bind the sureties ? This precise question has not been decided by our court under facts identical to those here; but other courts have passed on such a situation.

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

Related

Magness v. State
2012 Ark. 16 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2012)
Liberty Bonding Co. v. State
604 S.W.2d 956 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1980)
Carver v. Rader
531 S.W.2d 114 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1975)
Clayton v. State
447 S.W.2d 319 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1969)
Smith v. State
411 S.W.2d 510 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1967)
State v. United Bonding Insurance
389 P.2d 867 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1964)
Taylor v. State
327 S.W.2d 6 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1959)
Hardin v. State
284 S.W.2d 111 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1955)
Watkins, Broomfield & Matlock v. State
261 S.W.2d 274 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1953)
State v. Radcliffe
44 N.W.2d 646 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1951)
Springdale Monument Company v. Allen
223 S.W.2d 802 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1949)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
207 S.W.2d 315, 212 Ark. 584, 1947 Ark. LEXIS 755, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/suit-v-state-ark-1947.