Diaz Cintron v. People of Porto Rico, 2142.
| Citation | 24 F.2d 957 |
| Decision Date | 05 March 1928 |
| Docket Number | No. 2142.,2142. |
| Parties | DIAZ CINTRON v. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit) |
Leopoldo Feliu and Francis H. Dexter, both of San Juan, Porto Rico, for appellant.
William Cattron Rigby, of Washington, D. C. (George C. Butte, Atty. Gen. of Porto Rico, of counsel), for appellee.
Before BINGHAM, JOHNSON, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from the judgment of the Supreme Court of Porto Rico, affirming the judgment of the insular court for the judicial district of Ponce, Porto Rico, finding the plaintiff in error, hereinafter called the defendant, guilty of the offense of "carrying prohibited weapons."
The defendant was formerly district judge of the insular district court of Ponce, which court was abolished by Act of the Legislature of Porto Rico approved September 16, 1925; entitled "an act to abolish the district court for the judicial district of Ponce as at present organized, to create a new district court for the judicial district of Ponce, and for other purposes." Laws Porto Rico 1925, c. 106. This act contained the following declaration:
The court established by the act in place of the former court provided that two judges of the court should be appointed. They were appointed upon September 18, 1925, two days after the approval of the act, and took the oath of office.
The next day after the qualification of the new judges the defendant shot with a revolver a lawyer of Ponce upon one of its streets and he died a few days later. The defendant was arrested on a charge of "voluntary manslaughter," and was tried and acquitted by a jury on December 18, 1925. Upon the next day, December 19, 1925, he was rearrested upon the charge of "carrying prohibited weapons" in violation of an Act of the Legislature of Porto Rico approved January 25, 1924. The material portions of the act are:
* * *
The defendant was convicted in the insular district court and a sentence of three months in jail was imposed upon him, with the payment of costs. Upon appeal to the Supreme Court of Porto Rico the judgment of the district court was affirmed.
There are several assignments of error, but in his brief the defendant waives all except those set forth in the following statement:
"We limit ourselves to resting the right of plaintiff in error to the reversal of the judgment of the Supreme Court upon the unconstitutionality of Law 106 of September 16, 1925, (a) in attempting to abolish the then existing district court of Ponce and creating a new district court; and (b) in giving effect to the act immediately upon its adoption by reason of the emergency clause therein contained, thereby depriving plaintiff in error of the exemption accorded him as a judge of a court by section 6, subd. 9, of the act of 1924, prohibiting the carrying of arms.
The Organic Act for Porto Rico of March 2, 1917, 39 Stat. 951, known as the Jones Law, provides in section 40 (48 USCA § 861):
The defendant contends that by this provision no power was delegated to the Legislature of Porto Rico to establish other courts than those then in existence, and that therefore the power granted "to organize, modify, or rearrange the courts and their jurisdiction and procedure" was limited to the courts in existence at the time of the passage of the Organic Act.
The following, so far as material, is the Act of September 16, 1925, passed by the Legislature:
After the American occupation of Porto Rico, General Orders No. 118 were issued, October 16, 1899, which provided that the organization and functions of the courts of justice in Porto Rico should undergo reforms and certain changes. It established five judicial districts and provided for a district court in each district, composed of three judges.
On April 12, 1900, the first Organic Act of Porto Rico, known as the Foraker Act, was passed by Congress. Section 33 of this act (48 USCA § 861, note) provided in part as follows:
"That the judicial power shall be vested in the courts and tribunals of Porto Rico as already established and now in operation."
It gave to the Legislative Assembly "authority to legislate, from time to time as it may see fit, with respect to said courts and any others they may deem it advisable to establish, their organization, the number of judges and officials and attaches for each, their jurisdiction and procedure, and all other matters affecting them."
In 1904 the Legislature of Porto Rico reduced the number of judges of each ...
To continue reading
Request your trial