Williams v. Hert

110 F. 166, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4847
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Indiana
DecidedJuly 25, 1901
DocketNo. 10,005
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 110 F. 166 (Williams v. Hert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Hert, 110 F. 166, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4847 (circtdin 1901).

Opinion

BAKER, District Judge.

'This is an application for a writ of ha-beas corpus. The statute (Rev. St. U. S. 1878, § 755) provides:

“The court, or justice hr judge to whom such application is made shall forthwith award a writ of habeas corpus, unless it appears from the petition itself that the party is not entitled thereto.”

• Hence it becomes the duty of the court to examine the petition, and to determine whether the case made by it is sufficient to justify [167]*167the issuance of the writ. It is firmly settled that the writ of habeas corpus cannot be made to perform the office of an appeal or of a writ for the correction of errors. If a competent court has acquired lawful jurisdiction of the person and of the subject-matter, intervening errors committed during the progress of the trial will not deprive the court of jurisdiction and render its judgment void. Such intervening errors can only be reviewed and corrected on appeal or by writ of error. Williams v. Hert (Ind. Sup.) 60 N. E. 1067; Koepke v. Hill (Ind. Sup.) 60 N. E. 1039; Winslow v. Green, 155 Ind. 368-369, 58 N. E. 259. As was said in the case last cited:

“Tlie law is firmly established that, jurisdiction being once obtained over the person and subject-matter, no error or irregularity in its exercise will make the judgment void.”

This proceeding is a collateral attack on the judgment of the Madison circuit court committing the petitioner to the Indiana reformatory, and it cannot be sustained unless the judgment is absolutely void. Crawford v. Lawrence, 154 Ind. 288-290, 56 N. E. 673; Winslow v. Green, supra; Lee v. McClelland (Ind. Sup.) 60 N. E. 692; Koepke v. Hill, supra. The writ of habeas corpus cannot be used for the correction of errors and irregularities in the trial of the criminal cause which resulted in the conviction and sentence of the petitioner to the Indiana reformatory. The Madison circuit court had full and complete jurisdiction of the criminal offense with which the petitioner was charged, as well as jurisdiction of his person, and the judgment against him is not void. Indeed, in the case of Williams v. State, 60 N. E. 942, the supreme court of this state (Had-ley, J., delivering the opinion) held the judgment against the petitioner impervious to a direct attack, and affirmed the judgment of the trial court. The supreme court, per Monks, C. J., held on a petition for habeas corpus by the petitioner in the case of Williams v. Hert, 60 N. E. 1067, that the petitioner had been lawfully convicted, and was not entitled to the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus. These cases decided bv the supreme court of the state settle the question that under the constitution and laws of this state the petitioner was rightfully tried upon an information by the court without a jury.

But, if the prosecution and trial were proper under the constitution and law's of this state, still, if they were in violation of the constitution and laws of the United States, it would be the duty of this court to disregard the judgments of the supreme court and to set the petitioner at liberty. The petitioner alleges that he is unlawfully restrained of his liberty and imprisoned by the defendant, who is the superintendent of the Indiana reformatory, in violation of the constitution and laws of the United States. He alleges that he was tried and convicted of petit larceny, it being a felony, in and by the circuit court of Madison county, Ind., and sentenced to imprisonment in the Indiana reformatory for a term of not more than three years nor less than one year. The petitioner alleges that in his trial and conviction he was denied rights secured to him by the constitution of the United States, in the two following particulars: (i) That he was tried for a felony on an information filed by the prose[168]*168cuting attorney, and not on an indictment presented by a grand jury; (2) that he was tried by the court, and, although he demanded to be tried by a jury, his demand was refused. The question presented is as to the right of a court of the United States tó wrest from the custody of the state a person who has been lawfully convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, under-the constitution and laws of the state, for a violation of its criminal laws. The question is one of the gravest concern to the dignity,' peace, and security of the state. The fifth article of amendment to the constitution of the United States provides that “no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury.” The sixth article of amendment provides that “in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.” The grand jury provided for by the constitution and laws of the United States consists of not less than 16 nor more than 23 men, at least 12 of whom must concur in finding an indictment. The grand jury provided for by the constitution and laws of this state consists of 6 men, 5 of whom must concur in finding an indictment. The constitution and laws of this state do not provide for such a grand jury as is known to the common law or to the constitution of the United States. Every criminal convicted of a felony and undergoing imprisonment in this state has been tried either on an information or an indictment found by a grand jury composed of six men. Hence, if a person charged with a felony in a court of the state must be indicted by a grand jury constituted as required by the constitution of the United States, no one of the many hundred felons incarcerated in the prisons of the state is lawfully imprisoned. If the petitioner is entitled to be set at liberty because he was prosecuted on an information, so is every person imprisoned for a felony in the penal institutions of' the state entitled to his liberty. The petitioner’s contention that his trial for a felony on an information is in violation of the constitution and laws of the United States is unfounded. The constitution of the United States was not intended to deprive the states of the power to provide for the trial and punishment of criminal offenses committed in violation of their laws. These articles of amendment have reference to powers exercised by the government of the United States, and not to those of the states. The first eight articles of amendment are limitations on the powers exercised by the general government, and not on those exercised by the states. Eilenbecker v. District Court, 134 U. S. 31-34, 10 Sup. Ct. 424, 33 L. Ed. 801. Nor does the fourteenth article of amendment require an indictment by a grand jury in a prosecution for murder 'or other felony in the courts of the state. The state ma}'- authorize such prosecutions in its courts by information without violating the constitution of the United States. Hurtado v. People, 110 U. S. 516, 4 Sup. Ct. 111, 28 L. Ed. 232.

Counsel for the petitioner, however, strenuously contend that the principle ruled in the above cases is not applicable to prosecutions for felonies in the courts of this state. They base their contention on the ordinance of 1787, and on other acts of congress and of the [169]*169convention which formed the first constitution of the state. So much of these various acts as is material is as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
110 F. 166, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4847, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-hert-circtdin-1901.