Travis v. State
Travis v. State
Opinion of the Court
This case is before us on appeal from an order of the Circuit Court of Grenada County directing the issuance of an alias capias for the arrest of the appellant, Henry Clay Travis, on a charge of unlawfully operating a motor vehicle, in District No. 4 of Grenada County, while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and directing that ho be required to execute bond in the sum of $500 conditioned for his appearance before D. W. Pickle, Justice of the Peace of District No. 4 of said county, there to be tried de novo on said charge.
The record before us is incomplete. It appears from the record, however, that on April 16, 1956, an affidavit
It does not appear from the record that we have before us, that the justice of the peace who tried the case ever certified to the record of the proceedings in his court, or filed the same with the circuit court.
The final order of the circuit judge, which was entered on July 22, 1956, recites that the court had examined into the matter, and that it appeared to the court that the trial had been held in District No. 1, in Grenada County, when the proper venue was in District No. 4, where the alleged crime was said to have been committed, and that, therefore, the circuit court had no jurisdiction of the cause, and that the cause should be returned to the justice of the peace of District No. 4 for trial. The final order of the court directed that the clerk issue an alias capias for the arrest of the defendant and that the defendant give bond, as stated above, in the sum of $500 conditioned for his appearance before
The finding of the circuit court that the case was tried by the justice of the peace of District No. 1 is conclusive on that point, even though the judgment entered in the justice of the peace court appears to have been signed by the justice of the peace for District No. 4. This Court has held in numerous cases that venue in a case of this kind is jurisdictional, and that the question of venue may be raised for the first time on appeal. Winborn v. State, 213 Miss. 322, 56 So. 2d 885; Crum v. State, 216 Miss. 780, 63 So. 2d 242. Since there was a justice of the peace qualified to try the appellant in the district where the offense was committed, the justice of the peace of District No. 1 had no jurisdiction to try the case, and the judgment entered in the justice of the peace court was a nullity. Ivy v. State, 141 Miss. 877, 106 So. 111; Childres v. State, 136 Miss. 829, 101 So. 857; Farrar v. State, 191 Miss. 1, 2 So. 2d 146; Winborn v. State, supra. The circuit court therefore acquired no jurisdiction to try the case on appeal, and the court should have entered an order discharging the appellant.
The judgment of the lower court is therefore reversed and judgment will be entered hero discharging the appellant, without prejudice to the right of the state to file a new affidavit and have the case tried on its merits in the justice of the peace court of the proper district.
Reversed and appellant discharged.
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