Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1897

Moseley v. State

Moseley v. State
Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · Decided January 13, 1897 · Hurt
38 S.W. 800; 37 Tex. Crim. 18; 1897 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 4 (South Western Reporter)

Counsel

Cleve Coffee and Browning Madden, for appellant. — The court erred in admitting, over the defendant's objections, the judgment nisi and bond herein; because, "1. Said bond appears to have been signed at a time when there was no indictment presented and filed in this cause, on April 2d 1894, and said bond and judgment nisi are, therefore, void. Code Crim. Proc., Art. 288; Holt v. State, 20 Tex.Crim. App., 271; Faubion v. State, 21 Tex.Crim. App., 494. "2. Said judgment appears to have been taken upon a bond executed on the 2nd day of May, 1894, and is not, therefore, supported by the bond offered in evidence, and there is no such bond as is described in the judgment nisi in the records of this case to support the same. Holt v. State, 20 Tex.Crim. App., 271; Faubion v. State, 21 Tex.Crim. App., 494; Avant v. State, 33 Tex.Crim. Rep.; Frost v. State, 33 Tex. Crim. 347 ; Hedrick v. State, 3 Tex.Crim. App., 571. "3. Said bond binds the defendant therein to appear at a term of court to be begun and holden at the courthouse in Roberts County, in the town of Parnell, on the 5th day of November, 1894,' when, under the law, no such term of the District Court of Roberts County could be then held; and said bond and judgment nisi are, therefore, void, and of no binding force or effect in law. Act's of 1889, p. 162; Calendar for 1894; Burnett v. State, 18 Tex.Crim. App., 283; Thomas v. State, 12 Tex.Crim. App., 417. "4. The said bond recites that it was executed on April 2d 1894, while the judgment nisi recites that it was rendered and a forfeiture thereby taken upon a bond executed on the 2nd day of May, 1894, an entirely variant and different bond from the one offered in evidence and described in the scire facias served on the defendants herein." Mann Trice, Assistant Attorney-General, for the State.

Moseley v. State

Opinion of the Court

HURT, Presiding Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment final on a forfeited bail bond, against Robert Moseley, J. W. Huber, and S. G. Carter, the two latter being sureties. The bail bond is in the sum of $200, but the judgment final was rendered for $50. Appellants, in their first bill of exceptions, raise the question as to the action of the court in permitting the State to show on the final ttral that the bond was in fact taken and approved on the 2nd day of May, 1894, instead of the 2nd of April, 1894, as recited in the scire facias. The scire facias in such case answers the purpose of a petition and citation. If there is a mistake in the date of the bond, this can be explained by proper allegations in the scire facias, and parol proof can be received to correct such mistakes. But where the scire facias alleges that the bond was executed on a certain day, without further explanations, no bond is admissible which does not bear the date set forth in the scire facias. In this case, the bond, as shown by the scire facias, bears date the 2nd of April, 1894; and, in the absence of some allegation, parol evidence was not admissible to show another date than that recited in the scire facias. *20 See, Avant v. State, 33 Tex. Crim. Rep., 312; Bailey v. State, 22 S. W. Rep., 40. Where a bond is dated, and is afterwards approved by the sheriff on a different day, the date of the bond, and not the date of the approval, controls. See, Holt v. State, 20 Tex. Crim. App., 271. The judgment nisi should show when the bail bond or recognizance requires the party to appear, etc. See, Willson’s Forms. This is not done' in the judgment before us. If we refer to the bond, it is shown that the principal was to appear before the District Court at a time when no court could be legally holden in Roberts County. Said bond was void on this account. Douglass v. State, 26 Tex. Crim. App., 248. The-judgment is reversed, and the prosecution ordered dismissed.

Reversed arid Ordered Dismissed.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.