State ex rel. Varney v. Ellis

• Decision Date: 18 May 1965
• Docket Number: No. 12438,12438
• Citation: 149 W.Va. 522,142 S.E.2d 63
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE ex rel. Walter VARNEY, an infant, etc., v. Claude ELLIS, Justice of the Peace, Logan District, Logan County, West Virginia.

Page 63

142 S.E.2d 63

149 W.Va. 522

STATE ex rel. Walter VARNEY, an infant, etc., v. Claude ELLIS, Justice of the Peace, Logan District, Logan County, West Virginia.

No. 12438.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted April 27, 1965.

Decided May 18, 1965.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Under Section 14 of Article III of the Constitution of West Virginia, it is mandatory that one charged with the commission of a crime be afforded a public trial.

2. One charged with a crime is not afforded a public trial within the meaning of Article III, Section 14, of the Constitution of West Virginia when his trial on said charge is held in the office of the county jailer.

3. In the absence of a statute providing otherwise, a justice of the peace is without jurisdiction to conduct a trial on a Sunday.

Phillips & Wilson, Amos C. Wilson, Logan, for relator.

C. Donald Robertson, Atty. Gen., Simon Bailey, Leo Catsonis, Asst. Attys. Gen., Charleston, for respondent.

CAPLAN, Judge.

This is an original proceeding in prohibition instituted in this Court in the name of the State of West Virginia at the relation of Walter Varney, an infant, who sues by his next friend, Jennings Varney. On March 8, 1965 this Court granted a rule to show cause, which rule was made returnable April 27, 1965. On the latter date the respondent filed an answer and a motion to confess error, together with a memorandum of authorities. This matter was then submitted for decision upon the petition and upon the aforesaid pleadings of the respondent.

It appears from the pleadings in this case that the petitioner on February 6, 1965, was arrested by a member of the Department of Public Safety on a charge of driving while intoxicated and was placed in the Logan County jail. At approximately 11:30 A.M. on the next day, Sunday, February 7, 1965, the petitioner was removed from his jail cell and was taken to the jailer's office. There he was confronted by the respondent who purported to conduct a trial on the charge lodged against him. He was then returned to his jail cell and later that evening was released from custody.

Subsequent to his release the petitioner was informed that he had been tried and had entered a plea of guilty to the charge of 'drunk driving', and that his uncle had paid his fine and costs. The petitioner here alleges that he did not receive a trial; that he did not enter a plea of guilty to any charge; and that the respondent abused and exceeded his powers in accepting the alleged guilty plea. He therefore prays that the respondent be prohibited from enforcing the purported plea of guilty allegedly made to the respondent in the office of the jailer of the Logan County jail.

The question presented here is whether a valid judgment could be rendered against the petitioner pursuant to the proceedings conducted by the respondent on Sunday, February 7, 1965. As noted in the respondent's motion to confess error, it is readily admitted that the trial of this petitioner was conducted in the office of the Logan County jailer. It is further admitted that such proceeding did not afford to the petitioner a public trial as contemplated by the laws of...