Young v. Appelgate
Young v. Appelgate
Opinion of the Court
The defendant in error, Appelgate, was arrested upon a warrant issued by the plaintiff in error on a charge of violating the prohibitory law. He desired a continuance of the case for trial, which was allowed by the justice,.and he was required to enter into a recognizance in the sum of $200. He was unable to furnish sureties thereon to the satisfaction of the justice,'and in lieu thereof, with the consent of the justice^ he deposited $200. The recognizance tendered was thereupon approved by the justice. Subsequently, by stipulation of counsel for the respective parties, another continuance was taken until the 14th of June, 1898, and a recognizance of $200 required, which the defendant was unable to give, and he again agreed with the justice to leave on deposit the sum of $200 in lieu of bail, and a second recognizance was approved. Upon the day set for the trial the defendant in- error failed to appear, and his recognizance or bail was declared forfeited and an order made directing the county attorney to proceed to collect the money thereon. In October following, a warrant having been issued in the case for the defendant’s apprehension, he was arrested and brought before the magistrate, and thereupon moved the court for an order directing the return of the $200 to him, upon the ground that at the time of his last arrest he was coming to the magistrate to surrender himself. He did not, however, offer any excuse for his failure to appear on the day designated for trial. This application being refused, and a motion to quash the warrant upon which he was arrested being denied, he applied for and was granted a change of venue to another justice, where he was tried and acquitted. Sub
Section 144 of chapter 102, General Statutes of 1897 (Gen. Stat. 1899, §5895), makes special provision for the deposit of money in place of giving bail. Section 18 of chapter 104, General Statutes of 1897 (Gen. Stat. 1899, § 5633), provides as follows:
“All proceedings, including the mode of procuring and the grounds for a change of venue upon the trial of misdemeanors before a justice of the peace, shall be governed by the provisions of the code of criminal proceedure, so far as the same are in their nature applicable, and in respect to which no provision is made by statute.”
Section 6 of the same chapter (Gen. Stat. 1899, § 5618) provides that the justice may postpone a trial of a misdemeanor to a day certain, and that he shall in such cases require the defendant to enter into a recognizance with sufficient surety, conditioned that he will appear before the j ustice at the time and place appointed, to answer the charge against him. Section 7 (Gen. Stat. 1899, §5619) provides that if he fail to give the recognizance he shall be committed to the
There is no provision in the justices’ code by which a surety upon a recognizance may surrender his principal after a default, and yet the defendant in error sought by his motion in this case to be relieved from the default by having the only surety he had given the state for his appearance, of any value, returned to him. Nor is there any provision in the justices’ code covering the ground covered by section, 155 of the criminal code (Gen. Stat. 1897, ch. 102; Gen. Stat. 1899, §5405), which provides that a recognizance forfeited by a prisoner is collectable although he is afterward arrested on the original charge, unless remitted by the court for good cause shown, and yet we do not think that counsel for defendant in error would say that this provision is not applicable to a justice’s court. None of these matters can be said strictly to be proceedings upon the trial, to which counsel for defendant seek to restrict the provisions of section 18. The provisions of section 154 of the criminal code (Gen. Stat. 1897, ch. 102; Gen. Stat. 1899, §5404) doubtless would apply to an action upon a recognizance taken by a justice of the peace upon a misdemeanor trial, although it is not a provision governing the trial its.elf. The legislature of 1868, which framed and passed the codes of criminal law for the district court and justice’s court, had the two bills under consideration at the same time. Concurrent jurisdiction is given to the two courts in cases of misdemeanor. It was necessary to adopt the two.
We are of the opinion that the justice of the peace, under the statute referred to, had authority to accept money in lieu of bail for the appearance of the der fendant in error, and that by his failure to appear he forfeited the same to the state, and that the answer of the defendant stated a good defense to his action to recover the same. Our conclusion upon this point renders it unnecessary more than to refer to the cross-petition in error of the defendant. His suit herein was upon the official bond of the justice of the peace, and he joined with the plaintiff in error the sureties
The judgment of the district court is reversed, and cause remanded for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.