Tully v. Commonwealth

76 Ky. 142, 13 Bush 142, 1877 Ky. LEXIS 20
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedApril 7, 1877
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 76 Ky. 142 (Tully v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tully v. Commonwealth, 76 Ky. 142, 13 Bush 142, 1877 Ky. LEXIS 20 (Ky. Ct. App. 1877).

Opinion

CHIEF JUSTICE LINDSAY

delivered the opinion op the court.

The indictment in this case charges that one Benjamin Osborn, in the county of Scott, on the 10th day of August, 1873, 'willfully and with malice aforethought, and not in self-defense, killed and murdered one Jerry Burns, by shooting him with a pistol; that said Osborn wás indicted therefor, arrested under the charge, and confined in the Scott County jail; that he unlawfully escaped from the custody of the jailer; and that the appellant Tully, knowing all these facts, “ did, on the 6th day of March, 1874, in the county aforesaid, willfully and feloniously, and for the purpose of enabling the said Osborn to make good his escape from custody and from answering said crime, furnish said Osborn with money to enable him to escape trial and punishment, and knowing when he did so that said money was procured for said purpose, and would so be [149]*149used; and did secrete and shield him for said purpose from all detection and arrest, and did conceal his whereabouts from the knowledge of all citizens and officers of the Commonwealth whose duty it was to arrest him, thus knowingly, willfully, and feloniously enabling him to make good his escape, and to go and remain to this day at large.”

The facts thus charged constitute the offense of accessory after the fact to the murder of Jerry Burns, and, if guilty, Tully may (under the provisions of section 11,- article 1, chapter 28, Revised Statutes) be punished by fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the jury.

The indictment was returned by the grand jury of Scott County. On motion of the appellant the venue was changed to the Bourbon Circuit, where a trial was had, which resulted in a verdict of guilty and a judgment imposing a fine of $15,000 and confinement in the county jail for five minutes.

On this appeal the first question to be considered is, whether or not the Scott Circuit Court has jurisdiction of the offense. The murder of Burns was committed within the body of that county; but, according to the proof of the Commonwealth, the accessorial acts of furnishing money and assistance to the escaped murderer were done in the county of Logan.

It was a vexed question at the common law, when the principal felony was committed in one county and the accessorial acts done in another, in which, if in either county, the accessory could be tried and punished. On account of the existing doubt in this regard, Lord Hale said, “If a man were accessory before or after, in another county than where the principal felony was committed, at common law it was dispunishable.” (H. P. C., vol. 1, p. 623.)

Mr. East, however, was of opinion that “at common law the coroner might, upon view of the body where the fact happened, inquire of all accessories or procurers, though in another county.” (1 East’s P. C. 360.)

[150]*150The question was finally settled by section A, chapter 24, of the statute of 2 and 3 Edward VI, which provided “that where any murder or felony hereafter shall be committed and done in one county, and another person or more shall be accessory or accessories, in any manner of wise, to any such murder or felony in any other county, that then an indictment found or taken against such accessory and accessories, upon the circumstances of such matter, before the justices of the peace or other justices or commissioners, to inquire of felonies in the county where such offenses of accessory or accessories in any manner of wise shall be committed or done, shall be as good and effectual in the law as if the said principal offense had been committed or done within the same county where the same indictment against such accessory shall be found.”

This statute applied to and included as well accessories after as before the fact, and fixed the jurisdiction as to either offense by restricting it to the county in which the substantive accessorial acts were done. It is true, Mr. East says that after this enactment “it seems from some authorities that the election to try in either county still continues.” (1 East’s P. C. 361.) But Mr. Bishop takes a different view (Crim. Procedure, vol. 1, sec. 74), and Lord Hale, in construing the statute, says, “ If a man were accessory before or after, in another county than where the principal felony was committed, at common law it was dispunishable; but now, by the statute of 2 and 3 Edward VI, chapter 24, the accessory is indictable in that county where he was accessory, and shall be tried there as if the felony had been committed in the same county; and the justices, before whom the accessory is, shall write to the justices, etc., before whom the principal is attainted, for the record of the attainder.” (Hale’s P. C., vol. 1, page 623.)

In considering this question the Supreme Court of New York, in the case of Baron v. People (1 Parker, 246), said: “Our statute (2 R. S. 727, sec. 45) provides that the accessory [151]*151may be indicted and tried in the county where the offense of the accessory was committed, notwithstanding the principal offense was committed in another county. But there is no statute or rule of law allowing the accessory to be indicted and tried in the county where the principal offense was committed, unless his offense as accessory was committed there.”

If this New York statute was not regarded as but the mere legislative crystallization of the common law as modified by the statute of Edward VI, then the court was evidently of opinion that the common law, after being so modified, did not permit the accessory to be tried in any other county than that in which he committed the unlawful act; and in this conclusion we think it is supported by the decided weight of authority.

As early as 1796 the legislature of this state, following the example of Virginia, and pursuant to the common-law principle embodied in our state constitution, that a person accused of crime shall be entitled to “a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage,” provided that “an accessory to murder or felony committed shall be examined by the court of that county and tried by the court in whose jurisdiction he became accessory, and shall answer upon his arraignment, and receive such judgment, order, execution, pains, and penalties as is used in other cases of murder or felony.” (1 Stat. Law, p. 530.)

So much of this statute as relates to the jurisdiction of the offense has never been expressly repealed. To this extent it was excepted from the repealing clause of the act adopting the Revised Statutes (subsec. 5, sec. 1, p. 177, vol. 1, Stanton’s Rev. Stat.), and to the same extent it is in perfect harmony with the 15th section of the Criminal Code of Practice, which provides that “the local jurisdiction of circuit courts and justice’s courts shall be of offenses committed within the respective counties in which they are held.”

It is immaterial whether resort be had to the act of 1796 [152]*152or the statute of Edward VI, which is common law with us, to ascertain at what place, in estimation of law, the offense of being an accessory to a felony is committed, we find it to be where the substantive accessorial act is done. We may here remark that the adoption of the General Statutes did not change this rule, it being therein provided that “all offenses shall be tried in the courts or by the tribunals of that county or city having jurisdiction of them in which they were committed, except in cases otherwise provided for.” (Chap. 29, art. 1, sec. 5.)

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Bluebook (online)
76 Ky. 142, 13 Bush 142, 1877 Ky. LEXIS 20, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tully-v-commonwealth-kyctapp-1877.