Farmers' State Bank of Texhoma v. State
Farmers' State Bank of Texhoma v. State
Opinion of the Court
In this case the plaintiff in error appeals from a judgment finding it guilty of indirect contempt, by reason of it having willfully and knowingly violated an injunction order of the district court of Texas county, enjoining it from selling or disposing of .certain property, a portion of which was situated in the State of Texas, just across the state line. And this charge of contempt is based solely upon the sale of the property situated in the State of Texas.
“Any person accused of violating or disobeying, when not in the presence or hearing -of the court, or judge sitting as such, any order of injunction, or restraint, made or entered by any court or judge of the state shall, before penalty or punishment is imposed, be entitled to a trial by jury as to the guilt or innocence of the accused.”
*286 Under this section, the province of the jury is specifically limited to the question of “the guilt or innocence of the accused.” . For • it provides, in matters of contempt growing out of the violation of injunction orders, not committed “in the presence or hearing of the court, or judge sitting as such,” that, “before penalty or punishment is imposed” the accused shall “be entitled to a trial by jury as to the guilt or innocence of the accused.” Under such conditions, the offense not being committed in the presence of the court, the court is wholly dependent upon evidence to establish the guilt or innocence of the accused. Hence it is provided that under these conditions a jury may be had, and may make a finding “as to the guilt or innocence of the accused” under the evidence introduced. But the province of the jury provided for -in that section is only to pass upon the guilt or innocence of the accused, and they have nothing to do with the penalty or punishment to be imposed, for that is not even fixed by law, but is, and should be, left to the sound discretion of the court.
Finding no reversible error, the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Farmers' State Bank of Texhoma v. State.
- Cited By
- 11 cases
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- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. CONTEMPT — Punishment—Jurisdiction. A 'contempt being an offense against the dignity and authority oí the particular court to which -the affront was offered, if the court has jurisdiction of the parties and the subject-matter out of which the contempt grows, it has jurisdiction to try and punish the contemnor, regardless of where or in what state the acts constituting the contempt may have been committed. 2. SAME — Jury—Indirect Contempt — Question for Jury — Jury Trial. A party charged with indirect contempt is entitled to have a jury pass upon the question of his guilt or innocence, 'before penalty or punishment is imposed. But the jury’s province is limited solely to the question of guilt or innocence, and they have nothing to do with the penalty to be imposed. 3. SAME — Violation of Injunction Order — Information. Where an information charging contempt for violating an injunction order is attacked upon the ground that it did not specifically plead that an injunction bond had been given, it is held that, since it did plead that the injunction order was “duly and legally issued,” it was sufficient as against demum-er, since the essentials of the legality of ail injunction order are so well understood and so thoroughly established.