State ex rel. Merrill v. Superior Court
State ex rel. Merrill v. Superior Court
Opinion of the Court
This is an original application for a writ of prohibition. The application is based on the following facts: On October 14, 1913, an information was filed in the superior court of King county, charging the petitioner, Charles Merrill, with the offense of unlawfully conducting a building and loan association. On January 20, 1914, the petitioner was put upon trial for the alleged offense before one of the judges of the superior court named, sitting without a jury. At the conclusion of the trial, the court found the petitioner guilty, and forthwith pronounced judgment upon him, sentencing him to pay a fine of two hundred dollars. Two days thereafter, namely, on January 22, 1914, the petitioner moved for a new trial and in arrest of judgment,
We think the writ should issue. This court, alone, has power to determine the regularity and sufficiency of an appeal in any given case. Whether or not the appeal is properly taken, being a question of jurisdiction, the court could not recognize the power of another tribunal to determine it, without surrendering its authority as a court of final resort. Lester v. Howard, 24 Md. 233; Moore v. Randolph, 52 Ala. 530; Missouri K. & T. R. Co. v. Smith, 154 Mo. 300, 55 S. W. 470; State v. Dinnisse, 41 Mo. App. 22; Younger v. Pagles, 60 Cal. 517.
Such, also, is the rule of the statute. By § 1731 of Rem. & Bal. Code (P. C. 81 § 1215), it is provided that, upon the taking of an appeal by notice and the filing of a bond to render the appeal effectual, the supreme court shall acquire jurisdiction of the appeal for all necessary purposes, and shall have control of the superior courts and all inferior officers in all matters pertaining to the appeal, and may enforce such control by mandate or otherwise. By § 1733 (P. C. 81 § 1219), it is provided that a respondent may move in this court to dismiss an appeal either on the ground that the court has no jurisdiction of an appeal from the judgment or order from which the appeal is taken, or that the notice of appeal from the judgment or order was not
Let the writ issue.
Crow, C. J., Morris, and Mount, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.