Grossi v. Long

• Decision Date: 11 September 1925
• Docket Number: 19200.
• Citation: 238 P. 983,136 Wash. 133
• Parties: GROSSI v. LONG, Warden.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

238 P. 983

136 Wash. 133

GROSSI v. LONG, Warden.

No. 19200.

Supreme Court of Washington

September 11, 1925

Department 2.

Appeal from Superior Court, Walla Walla County; Mills, Judge.

Petition by Guido Grossi, by Oscar R. Balducci, his next friend, for writ of habeas corpus, to be directed to Clarence E. Long, as Warden of the Washington State Penitentiary. From an order restraining the execution of petitioner, and remanding him to custody, the warden appeals. Affirmed.

John H Dunbar and E. W. Anderson, both of Olympia for appellant.

Herbert C. Bryson, of Walla Walla, and Peters & Buty and Harry Ellsworth Foster, all of Seattle, for respondent.

FULLERTON J.

On November 10, 1923, in Grays Harbor county, Guido Grossi shot and killed one Giuseppe Tolomei. He was charged with murder in the first degree, to which charge he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. On a trial before a jury he was convicted of the crime and sentenced to be hanged. From the judgment of conviction, he appealed to this court, wherein the judgment was affirmed. State v. Grossi, 131 Wash. 260, 230 P. 164. On the return of the remittitur from this court, the trial court issued a death warrant directing that the sentence be carried into execution by the warden of the state penitentiary at Walla Walla, on Friday, February 13, 1925. On February 12, 1925, the spiritual adviser of Grossi, acting as his next friend, petitioned the superior court of Walla Walla county for a writ of habeas corpus averring in the petition that Grossi was insane, and incapable of understanding his situation or understanding that he was about to face execution for the crime of which he was convicted. In the prayer of the petition, he asked that his sanity be inquired into, and that, if he be found insane, his execution be suspended until he was restored to his reason. The court issued a writ directed to the warden of the penitentiary, causing Grossi to be brought before it. It then appointed a commission of six physicians to inquire into his sanity and report their conclusions to the court. The physicians appointed acted, and unanimously reported to the court that the accused was insane. The court thereupon found him to be insane, and entered an order restraining the warden of the penitentiary from carrying into execution the death warrant; further ordering:

'That Guido Grossi be and he hereby is remanded to the custody of said Clarence E. Long, as superintendent of said penitentiary, to safely keep and hold said Guido Grossi until such time as said Guido Grossi shall have become sane or until such time as the superior court of Grays Harbor county, Wash., shall otherwise order, and without prejudice to a rehearing in any court of competent jurisdiction of the question of the present sanity or insanity of said Guido Grossi.'

The cause is before us on the appeal of the warden. It is his contention, made in his behalf by the Attorney General, that the superior court of Walla Walla county was without jurisdiction over the subject-matter of the inquiry, and hence, its order is a nullity. But, notwithstanding the very able argument of the Attorney General to the contrary, we cannot conclude that it would be of any avail to determine the question. The question is in a sense moot. The warden has obeyed the order, as if it were a valid order. The time fixed for carrying into...