Young v. Stoutamire

176 So. 759, 129 Fla. 805, 1937 Fla. LEXIS 1191
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedNovember 4, 1937
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 176 So. 759 (Young v. Stoutamire) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Young v. Stoutamire, 176 So. 759, 129 Fla. 805, 1937 Fla. LEXIS 1191 (Fla. 1937).

Opinion

Brown, J.

Upon separate petitions for writ of habeas corpus filed October 27, 1937, one of the Justices of this Court issued two writs of habeas corpus against the Sheriff of Le.on County, Florida, returnable forthwith. The sheriff filed a return in each case stating that he held the respective petitioners in custody by virtue of a warrant of extradition issued by the Governor of Florida on October 27, 1937, attaching a copy of said. Governor’s warrant of rendition which commanded the apprehension and arrest of both petioners and their delivery to a named agent of the State of Indiana, which warrant of rendition was in all respects regular and valid upon its' face. A hearing was accorded by this Court to the petitioners on the afternoon of October 27, *807 1937, but was continued over to October 30th, 1937. Upon motion of the petitioners the two cases were consolidated and heard together.

One of the questions raised by the petitioners is that the warrant of rendition purporting to have been executed and signed by the Governor of this State was not personally signed by him, nor its issuance directed by him, he being absent from the City of Tallahassee on that date. Another question raised by petitioners is that there was no sufficient basis for the issuance of the executive warrant of rendition because the requisition made oh the Governor of this State by the Governor of Indiana was predicated upon an application made to the Governor of Indiana by one Herbert M. Spencer, but was sworn to as being true by one John Dugan, whose oath thereto purports to have been administered by the said Herbert M. Spencer; that therefore the Governor of Indiana had not sufficient basis for the requisition made by him upon the Governor of Florida for the extradition of the petitioners.

Considering these questions in their reverse order, it appears that no attack is made upon the sufficiency of the requisition made by the Governor of Indiana, attested by the Secretary of State and the State seal, upon the Governor of Florida, which requisition states that the petitioners stand charged by an indictment pending in Marion County, Indiana, with the crime of grand larceny committed therein and that it had been shown to the Governor that the defendants in said indictment had fled from justice of that'State and had taken refuge in the State of Florida. Attached to this requisition by the Governor of Indiana was a copy of an application made to such Governor reciting the fact of the indictment of these petitioners and that such indictment was pending in the Criminal Court of Marion County, charging *808 them with grand larceny, and that after the commission of the offense charged in the indictment the defendants therein had left the State of Indiana and had taken refuge in the State of Florida, and that both of the defendants were present in the State of Indiana at the time said offense was committed. This requisition was signed “Herbert M. Spencer,” without any added words showing his official character. This' was immediately followed by an affidavit, certifying to the truth of the facts stated in the application thus signed by Spencer, which affidavit was signed by John Dugan and was subscribed 'and sworn to before “Herbert M. Spencer, Prosecuting Attorney.” Following this on the same page appears the following:

“To the Governor:

• “Having carefully examined the foregoing application and accompanying papers, and from my knowledge of the case and circumstances of the case I believe sufficient evidence can and will be produced on the trial of said cause to secure a conviction,, and in my opinion it would be proper for you to issue the requisition asked.”

This was signed, “Herbert M. Spencer, Prosecuting Attorney.”

Attached to this application was a copy of the indictment against these petitioners which substantially charges them with the offense of grand larceny, which indictment had endorsed thereon the names of the State’s witnesses and an endorsement of filing purported to have been signed by the Clerk of the Court. The indictment shows that it was found by the grand jury of Marion County and was signed by Herbert M. Spencer as Prosecuting Attorney. There was also attached a copy of the capias issued upon said indictment for the arrest of the petitioners.

Following this was a certificate under seal signed by the *809 Clerk of the Criminal Court of Marion County, Indiana, certifying that “the foregoing is a true and complete copy of the proceedings had in said court and entered in the records thereof, in the above entitled cause.” This was followed by a certificate signed by the Judge of said Criminal Court, certifying that Glenn B. Ralston, whose name was signed to the preceding certificate as Clerk, etc., was at the time of making such certificate Clerk of said Criminal Court of Marion County, Indiana, and that the clerk’s said attestation and certificate was in due form of law, which last certificate was signed by the Judge under the seal of the Court.

If the authentication of the indictment by the Governor of Indiana in his requisition upon the Governor of Florida should be held not sufficient, nevertheless, considering the foregoing papers together, we think it sufficiently appears that the application made to the Governor of Indiana for the issuance of requisition was signed by the Prosecuting Attorney of the Criminal Court of Marion County, Indiana, and showed with sufficient certainty that these petitioners had been indicted by the grand jury of that county for the crime of grand larceny.

Section 2 of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States reads in part as follows:

“A person charged in any State with treason, felony or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.”

Shortly after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, in 1793, the Congress adopted a statute which is still in full force and effect, Section 5278 U. S. Rev. Gen. Stats., and now appearing as Section 662, title 18, of the U. S. Code Annotated. This statute, which is brief, is set *810 out in full in the opinion of this Court in the case of State, ex rel. Peck, v. Chase, Sheriff, 91 Fla. 413, 107 So. 541. The first headnote to the case just cited reads as follows:

“Proceedings in 'extradition are sui generis, finding their origin and existence, as between different nations, wholly in treaty obligations, and as between the States of this Union wholly by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and effectuating statute.”

In the case of Chase, Sheriff, v. State, ex rel. Burch, 93 Fla. 963, 113 So. 103, the holdings of this Court as set forth in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th and 12th headnotes, read as follows:

. “Where the executive warrant of rendition is regular and' sufficient upon its face and complies with the essential requirements of the Congressional Act, it constitutes prima facie

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

Related

Cano v. Crawford
503 So. 2d 366 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1987)
Perry v. Culbreath
6 Fla. Supp. 181 (Hillsborough County Circuit Court, 1953)
People Ex Rel. Poncher v. O'Brien
39 N.E.2d 994 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1942)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 So. 759, 129 Fla. 805, 1937 Fla. LEXIS 1191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-v-stoutamire-fla-1937.