United States v. Reyes

3 P.R. Fed. 299
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJanuary 25, 1908
DocketNo. 394
StatusPublished

This text of 3 P.R. Fed. 299 (United States v. Reyes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Reyes, 3 P.R. Fed. 299 (prd 1908).

Opinion

Eodey, Judge,

delivered the following opinion:

This matter is before us on a motion of the sureties on an [300]*300appearance bond to quash the execution issued against them ok a forfeiture of the bond, because of the disapperaance of the defendant after a verdict of guilty against him, and before-sentence was pronounced.

Counsel for the defendant filed a carefully prepared brief before us in the premises, to which we have given our best attention. This brief was fully replied to by the United States, attorney, who also filed a carefully prepared brief in that behalf,, to which we have, in like manner, given our best attention.. This latter brief takes up seriatim the brief of counsel for defendant, point by point, and replies thereto, and is, on the whole,, such a fair statement of the whole controversy, that we here, adopt it as our own, and, for the reasons given in the same, the motion to quash the execution will be and it hereby is overruled.

The brief and argument is as follows:

Brief and Opposition to Motion of Sureties to Quash Execution. Issued Herein on Account of the Disappearance of the Defendant.

The bond for the appearance of the defendant contains the-following conditions:

“Now the conditions of this obligation are such that, if the-said A. Quintana Beyes shall duly appear before the district court of the United States for the district aforesaid, whenever called upon so to do by the said court in Porto Bico, then and there to answer to a certain indictment duly preferred against him, the said A. Quintana Beyes, and shall duly abide by any and all orders said court may make in this behalf, attending-the sessions of said court from day to day thereafter until the-final adjudication of said case, then and in that event, this ob[301]*301ligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and effect."

I.

The condition of the bond was not complied with by tbe appearance of the defendant in court, remaining in court during the trial of the case, being present until the verdict of “Guilty” was rendered, and being permitted to leave the court room by the court, of its own accord.

By a comparison with the first point in the brief filed herein on hehalf of the sureties a material difference in the statement of the facts will be noted. For the convenience of the court the language employed by counsel for the sureties is here set forth as follows: “According to the terms of the bond, the conditions thereof were complied with by the appearance of the defendant in court, and his placing himself in the custody of the officers thereof, remaining in the court under the custody of its .said officers during the trial of the case” etc., as stated above.

The defendant did appear at the time set for the trial of his case, but was never surrendered to the court by his sureties, nor placed in the custody of the marshal of this court. TTis attendance during the trial was under, and in pursuance of, the terms of his bond, and the only persons responsible for his appearance from the date of the execution of the bond to the present time have been, and still are, his sureties.

The bond contains not one condition, but three: (1) To appear and answer a certain indictment preferred against the defendant; (2) to duly abide by any and all orders of the court in this behalf; and (3) to attend the sessions of the court from day to day thereafter, until the final adjudication of said case.

[302]*302“A recognizance, in general, binds to three things: 1st, to appear to answer either to a specified charge, or to such matters as may be objected; 2d, to stand to and abide the judgment of the court; and 3d, not to depart without leave of the court; and •each of these particulars is distinct and independent. The party is not to depart until discharged, although no indictment should be found against him, or although he be tried and found not guilty by a jury.”. State v. Stout, 11 N. J. L. 124; 5 American Dig. Century ed. 2360.

The forfeiture was declared because the defendant broke two of the conditions of the bond. lie failed to obey the explicit order of the. court to appear at a. certain time and place for sentence; and he failed to attend the sessions of the court from day to day, after appearing to answer the indictment, and until the final adjudication of said case.

II.

The risk incurred by the sureties was not increased and varied without their knowledge and consent by reason of the order of the court permitting the defendant to leave the court after the verdict of “Guilty.”

Again attention must be called to the statement of facts as set forth in brief for the sureties, the part objected to being underlined in the following quotation: “The risk . . . was increased and varied by reason of the order of the court, permitting the defendant to leave the court and the custody of the officers thereof after the verdict of ‘guilty.’ ”

As already herein set forth, the defendant has never been in the custody of the officers of this court, in the sense intended [303]*303to be conveyed by the foregoing quotation, but has always remained in the custody of the sureties on his bond.

The statutes of the United States do not provide as to the terms and form of a bond to be given by a defendant in a criminal case other than as provided in § 1014 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 716), which reads as follows: “For any crime or offense against the United States, the' offender may by any justice or judge of the United States, . . or other magistrate, of any state where he may be found, and agreeably to the usual mode of process against offenders in such state and at the expense of the United States, be arrested and imprisoned, or bailed, as the case may be, for trial before such court of the United States as by law has cognizance of the offense.”

This section was construed by the circuit court of the United States for the western district of Wisconsin as follows: “This statute evidently refers the details of the proceeding to the state statute, and it is by that law that we must determine their regularity and validity. Under this statute, which is taken from the original judiciary act of September 24, 1789 (1 Stat. at L. 91, chap 20), it was held by Judge Curtis in United States v. Rundlett, 2 Curt. 41, Fed. Cas. No. 16,208, that it was the intention of Congress by the words ‘agreeably' to the usual mode of process against offenders in such state’ to assimilate all the proceedings for holding accused persons to answer before a court of the United States to the proceedings had for similar purposes by the laws of the state where the proceedings should take place; and that the prisoner is not only to be arrested and imprisoned, but bailed, agreeably to the usual mode of process in the state court. This decision has been recognized and followed in later cases. See United States v. Horton, 2 Dill. 94, [304]*304Fed. Cas. No. 15,393; United States v. Case, 8 Blatchf. 250, Fed. Cas. No. 14,742.” United States v. Keiver, 56 Fed. 422, 425.

Tbe Code of Criminal Procedure of Porto Eico provides fully as to the terms and form of the bond to be taken after information (there is no procedure by indictment) filed.

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Bluebook (online)
3 P.R. Fed. 299, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-reyes-prd-1908.