Summary
In State v. Hoffmeister, 336 Mo. 682 [ 80 S.W.2d 195], the Supreme Court of Missouri had before it an application for a writ of certiorari to quash a judgment in a habeas corpus proceeding which discharged a paroled convict from the agent's custody.
Summary of this case from In re KimlerOpinion
March 9, 1935.
EXTRADITION: Habeas Corpus. In a habeas corpus proceeding to procure a release from an extradition warrant, the question of guilt or innocence of the person in custody will not be considered.
This applies to one who was charged with violation of his parole in Illinois and sought refuge in Missouri.
HABEAS CORPUS PROCEEDING QUASHED.
Roy McKittrick, Attorney General, Wm. Orr Sawyers, Assistant Attorney General, and Otto Kerner, Attorney General for the State of Illinois, for relator.
(1) In determining the case as presented by this writ of certiorari, this court should consider the record in the habeas corpus proceedings as it finds it, including the evidence, and this court has power to quash the habeas corpus proceedings held before the Circuit Court of St. Louis, Missouri, as a part of its general constitutional power to supervise inferior courts, in order to prevent unauthorized exercise of powers by such inferior courts which cannot be reached by appeal or writ of error. Mo. Const., Art. VI, Sec. 3; State ex rel. Shartel v. Skinker, 25 S.W.2d 472, 324 Mo. 959; State ex rel. v. Westhues, 286 S.W. 396, 315 Mo. 678; State ex rel. Walker v. Dobson, 36 S.W. 238, 135 Mo. 20; State ex rel. Shartel v. Skinker, 25 S.W.2d 472, 324 Mo. 961. (2) The demand of Governor Horner, demanding the return of Rosenberg, as a fugitive from justice, for the crime of armed robbery committed in Illinois, was sufficient in form and substance to call for action on the part of Governor Park, he being the Governor of the asylum state. U.S. Const., Art. IV, Sec. 2; Vol. 18, Secs. 662, 663, U.S.C.A.; Kentucky v. Dennison, 24 How. 108; Ex parte Reggel, 114 U.S. 649; 5 Sup. Ct. 1148, 29 L.Ed. 250; In re Hagan, 245 S.W. 336, 295 Mo. 444; Illinois R.S. 1933, chap. 38, sec. 515, p. 1058; Roberts v. Reilly, 6 Sup. Ct. 291, 116 U.S. 80, 29 L.Ed. 549; Marbles v. Creecy, 215 U.S. 68, 30 Sup. Ct. 32, 54 L.Ed. 92; Biddinger v. Commissioner of Police, 245 U.S. 134, 38 Sup. Ct. 41, 62 L.Ed. 193. (3) The rendition warrant in extradition issued by Governor Park, in this cause, shows upon its face all facts necessary to confer authority upon Thomas W. Cooney, the messenger from Illinois, to take custody of and return Rosenberg to Illinois. Ex parte Hagan, 295 Mo. 443, 245 S.W. 336; Ex parte Dawson, 83 F. 307, 28 C.C.A. 354, certiorari denied; Dawson v. Ruskin, 18 Sup. Ct. 941; 170 U.S. 705, 42 L.Ed. 1218. (4) A person who commits a crime in one state and departs therefrom and is found in another state is a fugitive from justice under the United States Constitution and Code regulating interstate extradition, and must be delivered up for extradition. Appleyard v. Massachusetts, 27 Sup. Ct. 122, 203 U.S. 226, 51 L.Ed. 161, 7 Ann. Cas. 1073; State ex rel. Gaines v. Westhues, 2 S.W.2d 615; Albright v. Clinger, 234 S.W. 59, 290 Mo. 83; Ex parte Nabors, 267 P. 60, 33 N.M. 324; People ex rel. Lyman v. Smith, 186 N.E. 159, 352 Ill. 501.
Certiorari to quash a judgment in a habeas corpus proceeding. Under an agreement in writing, and in accordance with the law of Illinois, Arthur Rosenberg, an inmate of a penitentiary in that state, was given permission to reside temporarily and conditionally in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and work for a citizen of that city. In accordance with said agreement and the law of Illinois he was to remain under the legal custody of the warden of the penitentiary until he received a final discharge.
Upon information that Rosenberg was under arrest for violation of a law of Missouri, the warden ordered him retaken and returned to actual custody in the penitentiary, pending a decision of the Department of Public Welfare of Illinois on the question of whether or not he had violated his parole. [Sec. 802, p. 1092, Cahill, Ill., R.S. 1933.] Thereupon the Governor of Illinois made requisition for his return to said state. The requisition was honored by the Governor of Missouri who issued an extradition warrant under which Rosenberg was taken into custody in Missouri by an agent of Illinois for return to the penitentiary. Upon application to the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis a judge of said court issued a writ of habeas corpus. Upon return to the writ and reply thereto, the case was tried and Rosenberg discharged from the custody of the agent of Illinois. Illinois seeks a review, on certiorari, of this ruling on habeas corpus.
At the trial it was admitted that the requisition conformed to the Federal statutes and presented a prima facie case. However, it was contended that Rosenberg had not violated his parole, and for that reason was not a fugitive from justice. The circuit court so found and discharged him. This was the only question presented.
Illinois contends that the courts of an asylum state are without jurisdiction on habeas corpus to determine the question of the guilt or innocence of the person in the custody of the agent of the demanding state. The contention must be sustained. It has been so ruled by all the authorities. [18 U.S.C.A., sec. 662, note 61, pp. 329, 330, 331.]
It follows that the proceedings and record of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis in the habeas corpus case should be quashed. It is so ordered. All concur.