State v. McEvoy
State v. McEvoy
Opinion of the Court
The information was filed originally before J. W. Morrison, j ustice of the peace. When the defendant was brought before the justice he filed a motion for a change of venue, on the alleged ground that the justice was so prejudiced against him that he could not obtain a fair and impartial trial before him. It was also alleged in the affidavit filed by defendant in support of his motion that E. ITuff, the next nearest justice to Justice Morrison, was a material witness in the case for defendant, and that D. D, McOullum, the mayor of the town of Sibley, was an attorney in the case for defendant. The motion was sustained, and the cause sent to Justice Blood, of Gilman township, and the trial was had before that justice.
The record shows that the order sending the cause to Justice Blood was made with the consent, and at the request, of defendant. When the cause reached the district court defendant filed a motion to strike it from the docket on the ground that the justice who rendered the judgment appealed from had no jurisdiction of the cause. Fie also sought to raise the same objection by a demurrer. But the motion and demurrer were overruled, and the only qnestion presented by the record is as to the correctness of this ruling.
The position of counsel for defendant is that the fact that Justice Huff, who was the next nearest justice to Justice Morrison, was a material witness for defendant did not disqualify him to try the case, and did not afford any legal grounds for sending it to a justice living at a greater distance from the justice before whom the action was brought than he d,id; and hence, as it was the duty of that justice to send the papers and records in the case to the next nearest justice to
The judgment of the district court will be .
Affirmed.
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