In re Moragne
In re Moragne
Opinion of the Court
— The petitioner, after notice to th’e attorney general, made application for a writ of habeas corpus. The
There is no showing that evidence other than that considered by the grand jury can or will he presented to another grand jury; there is no showing that any additional light tending ro show the guilt of the accused can be produced, and there is no showing of improper conduct on the part of the grand jury or any of the grand jurors, or on the part of anyone else, intended to, or tending to, prevent the presentment of an indictment on said charge against the petitioner by said grand jury. "We must
“Sec. 8212. The court, unless good cause to the contrary is shown, must order the prosecution or indictment to be dismissed, in the following cases: 1. When a person has been held to answer for a public offense, if an indictment is not found against him at the next term of the court at which he is held to answer; 2. If a defendant, whose trial has not been postponed upon his application, is not brought to trial at the next term of the court in which the indictment is triable after it is found.
“Sec. 8213. If the defendant is not indicted or tried, as provided in the last section, and sufficient reason therefor is shown, the court may order the action to be continued from term to term, and in the meantime may discharge the defendant from custody on his own undertaking of bail for his appearance to answer the charge at the time to which the action is continued.”
The causes for submitting the charge against the petitioner, contemplated by said sections of our statutes, were not shown. In fact, no cause whatever for resubmitting said cause, ■ and holding the defendant to bail, was shown. Said statutes were enacted for the protection of both the state and the accused. But for a court to arbitrarily hold the accused to answer a charge of felony that has been fully and fairly investigated by a grand jury, and dismissed, in the absence of a showing that any further evidence can be produced, or a showing of improper conduct by the jury or jurors, by which a presentment by the grand jury has been defeated, would protect no right or interest of the state, but would work an unauthorized hardship and injustice upon the defendant. Inasmuch as the district court has submitted the charge against the petitioner to another grand jury, to be hereafter called, and this order is not before us for
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re JOSEPH H. MORAGNE
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Habeas Corpus — Holding Pap.ty to Bail After Charge is Ignored by Grand Jury. — It is error to hold a party to bail to answer a charge of felony after the charge has been fully and fairly investigated by a grand jury which ignored the charge, in the absence of a showing of improper conduct on the part of the grand jury, and it is not made to appear that other evidence than that considered by the first grand jury, which tends to prove the guilt of the accused, can, with reasonable diligence, be presented to another grand jury to be impaneled at the next term of the district court. Resubmission of Criminal Charge to Grand Jury. — To authorize the resubmission of a charge which has been ignored by one grand jury to another grand jury to be thereafter impaneled, good cause for so doing must be shown. (Syllabus by the court.)'