Continental Casualty Co. v. Miller
| Decision Date | 04 January 1940 |
| Docket Number | No. 2177.,2177. |
| Citation | 135 S.W.2d 501 |
| Parties | CONTINENTAL CASUALTY CO. v. MILLER. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from District Court, San Patricio County; W. G. Gayle, Judge.
Action by Stephen Miller, by next friend, Claud Miller, against the Continental Casualty Company and George Reader, for damages for alleged unlawful arrest and imprisonment. From a judgment for the plaintiff against both defendants, the Continental Casualty Company appeals.
Judgment reversed as to the appealing defendant and judgment rendered in its favor.
Boone, Henderson, Boone & Davis, of Corpus Christi, for appellant.
Jas. G. Cook, of Sinton, and Jules J. Delambre, Jr., of Houston, for appellee.
This suit was brought by Stephen Miller, a minor fourteen years of age, by his father as next friend, against George Reader, a constable of San Patricio county, and Continental Casualty Company, the surety on said constable's official bond, for damages for the alleged unlawful arrest and imprisonment of the plaintiff. A trial before a jury resulted in judgment for the plaintiff against both defendants for the sum of $100. The Surety Company alone appealed.
On the occasion in question the constable went to the boy's house, and, without a warrant, arrested the boy for investigation with reference to his connection with a misdemeanor which the boy was suspected of having committed the previous day. The boy was taken to Aransas Pass and placed in a calaboose over night and then carried to Sinton and placed in jail with adult prisoners, where he so remained for about two days before being released. The first material question to be determined is whether or not the constable had authority to make the arrest under the circumstances without a warrant. A peace officer, other than a municipal police, is not authorized to make an arrest without a warrant except in the case of a felony or breach of peace committed in his presence or in the presence of a magistrate, or when a felony has been committed and the offender is about to escape. Code of Criminal Procedure, Arts. 212-215; 4 Tex.Jur. 743. The fact that the person arrested or attempted to be arrested is a minor within the juvenile age does not alter the case. He has the same right to be secure in his person from all unreasonable seizures as is guaranteed by the Constitution, Art. 1, sec. 9, Vernon's Ann.St. as does an adult person. While Art. 1088 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that "when any male child under seventeen years of age * * * is arrested on any charge, with or without warrant, such child instead of being taken before a justice of the peace or any police court, shall be taken directly before the county or district court * * *," this does not confer on peace officers any...
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