In re Stevenson

• Decision Date: 04 November 1903
• Citation: 125 F. 843
• Parties: In re STEVENSON.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

125 F. 843

In re STEVENSON.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, At Chambers in St. Louis, Mo.

November 4, 1903

S. C Price for petitioner.

James E. Humphrey, Asst. U.S. Atty., for the Indian Territory.

D. P Dyer, U.S. Atty., for respondent.

THAYER Circuit Judge.

The above-named petitioner made application to me, at chambers for a writ of habeas corpus to secure his release from the United States penitentiary at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., where he is now serving out a term of imprisonment which was imposed upon him May 13, 1901, by the United States court for the Southern District of the Indian Territory, sitting at Pauls Valley, in said district. He appears to have been convicted upon his plea of guilty of the offense of selling liquor within the Indian Territory, and was sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment in the United States penitentiary at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., and to pay a fine of $250. In his petition for the writ he alleged that he was unlawfully restrained of his liberty by the warden of the penitentiary for the following reasons: That is to say, for the reason that the term of court at Pauls Valley, as fixed by law and the order of court, had expired before the petitioner was brought to the bar of the court and required to plead to the indictment or was sentence, and that the judge of said court, Honorable John R. Thomas, had no authority of law for holding said court, either at the time the petitioner pleaded guilty to the indictment or at the time he was sentenced. His contention is that, as the term of court at Pauls Valley had ended at the time of his conviction, the sentence, when imposed, was, and ever since has been, utterly void, and that he is entitled to his discharge by the writ of habeas corpus.

The facts upon which this contention is based are not denied, but upon hearing before me were fully admitted, and are as follows: The United States court in the Indian Territory was created on March 1, 1889, with one judge (Act March 1, 1889, c. 333, 25 Stat. 783). The seventh section of that act provided that two terms of court should be held each year at Muskogee, in said territory, on the first Monday in April and September, 'and such special sessions as may be necessary for the dispatch of the business in said court at such times as the judge may deem expedient; and he may adjourn said special sessions to any other time previous to a regular term. ' By an act of Congress approved May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. 81, c. 182), and by the thirtieth section thereof, the Indian Territory was divided into three divisions, to be known as the first, second, and third. By the same act the United States court for the First Division was directed to be held at Muskogee, for the Second Division at South McAlester, and for the Third Division at Ardmore, The clerk of the court was required to appoint a deputy for each division in which the clerk did not himself reside, at the places in such division where the terms of court were to be held, The same section of the act further required the judge of said court to 'hold at least two terms of said court each year in each of the divisions aforesaid, at such regular times as said judge shall fix and determine. ' By another act of Congress approved on March 1, 1895 (28 Stat. 693, c. 146), the Indian Territory was divided into three judicial districts instead of three divisions, which were to be known 'as the Northern, Central, and Southern District,' in which districts 'at least two terms of the United States court in the Indian Territory 'were required to be held each year at each place of holding court in each district, 'at such regular times as the judge for such district shall fix and determine.' This act provided that the Southern Judicial District should consist of all the Chickasaw country, 'and the places of holding courts in said district shall be at Ardmore, Purcelle, Pauls Valley, Ryan, and Chickasha.' The act further provided for the appointment of two additional judges of the United States court in the Indian Territory, one of whom should be the judge of the Northern District, the other the judge of the Southern District, and that the judge of the United States court in the Indian Territory then in office should, from and after the appointment of the other two judges, be the judge of the Central District, and that said judges should reside in the judicial districts for which they were appointed. The act further declared that 'the judges shall have within the judicial districts for which they are appointed, all such authority both in term time and vacation, as to all matters and caused, both criminal and civil, pending or that may be brought in said districts and shall have the same superintending control over commissioners' courts therein and the same authority in the judicial districts to issue writs of habeas corpus,' etc., 'as is now by law vested in the judge of the United States court in the Indian Territory or in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States.' The eleventh section of said act created a Court of Appeals in the Indian Territory composed of nisi prius judges, to be presided over by the judge oldest in commission as Chief Justice of said court. By an act of Congress approved on June 7, 1897 (see 30 Stat. 62, 84, c. 3), provision was made for the appointment of one additional judge for the Indian Territory, and the act declared that 'the appellate court of said territory shall designate the places in the several judicial districts therein at which and at the places now provided by law and at the town of Wagner and at such places as shall be designated by said appellate court; and said judge shall be a member of the appellate court and shall have all authority, exercise all powers, perform like duties and receive the same salary as other judges of said courts and shall serve for a term of four years from the date of appointment.' In pursuance of this latter act, Hon. John R. Thomas was appointed as such additional judge on July 1, 1897. Judge Thomas appears to have been the judge who held the court at Pauls Valley when the petitioner was convicted and sentenced.

On January 20, 1900, an order was made by the United States court in the Indian Territory for the Southern District by Judge Townsend, judge of that district, fixing the terms of the United States court for the Southern District of the Indian Territory, and by that order it was directed that terms of court should thereafter be begun and held 'at Pauls Valley on the eighth Monday after the first Tuesday in October and the second Monday after the first Tuesday in April, and each term may continue in session three weeks.'

After the appointment of the Hon. John R. Thomas in the manner and form aforesaid, to wit, on April 4, 1901, the United States Court of Appeals for the Indian Territory made the following order: 'That the Honorable John R. Thomas, additional judge of the United States court for the Indian Territory shall, until otherwise ordered by this court, hold court in the Northern Judicial District of the Indian Territory at the places therein provided by law, at the times fixed therein by the judge of the Northern District, in pursuance of law, and in addition thereto said additional judge may hold court at Pauls Valley, in the Southern Judicial District of the Indian Territory, at a term of the United States District Court to begin on the 15th day of April, 1901. ' In pursuance of this order, Judge Thomas after the first Tuesday in April, and opened a term of court. At the expiration of three weeks, to wit, on Saturday, May 4, 1901, the court did not adjourn sine die, but arose until...