State v. Hutton
| Decision Date | 31 October 1966 |
| Citation | 223 A.2d 416,107 N.H. 426 |
| Parties | STATE v. Thomas E. HUTTON. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
George S. Pappagianis, Atty. Gen., William J. O'Neil, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Emile R. Bussiere, County Atty., for the State.
Sullivan, Gregg & Horton, Nashua, for defendant.
The principal question in this case is whether the Superior Court had the authority to allow bail for the defendant, who has been convicted and has served a part of his sentence, pending his appeal. We conclude the question requires an affirmative answer.
Bail before conviction is a right guaranteed by statute in non-capital cases. 'All persons arrested for crime shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses where the proof is evident or the presumption great.' RSA 597:1. This is a common provision in most jurisdictions. Freed and Wald, Bail in the United States: 1964, p. 2. Bail pending appeal from a conviction is generally regulated by statute or rule of court (Annot. 45 A.L.R. 458), but in this state there is no statute which expressly permits or prohibits such bail. Cf. RSA 597:39. However this omission to deal with the problem of bail pending appeal from a conviction has not left the judiciary impotent to act. State v. Chaplinsky, 91 N.H. 527, 31 A.2d 49; Wyman v. DeGregory, 100 N.H. 513, 132 A.2d 133; Wyman v. DeGregory, 102 N.H. 564, 162 A.2d 612; State v. LaPalme, 104 N.H. 97, 179 A.2d 284. In all of these cited cases bail was allowed after conviction pending appeal to a higher court.
Too little is known about the actual operation of bail practices in this state. Silverstein, Bail in the State Courts-A Field Study and Report, 50 Minn.L.Rev. 621, 628-632, 636-637 (1966); Bail: An Ancient Practice Reexamined, 70 Yale L.J. 966 (1961). 'Disenchantment with the operation of the bail system in the United States dates back many years.' Freed and Wald, Bail in the United States: 1964, p. 9. As was recently pointed out in Doe v. O'Brien, 107 N.H. 79, 83, 217 A.2d 189, 193, the 'problem is plainly in need of legislative re-examination in the light of present-day conditions.' In the meantime trial courts will continue to exercise a sound discretion in allowing bail after conviction pending appeal. This is a discretion that will be rarely overturned by this court and only upon evidence of a compelling nature. This discretion includes the authority to determine not only the amount of bail and its type but also such other conditions as may tend to safeguard the rights of the accused as well as the security of society. N.H.Const. Part I, art. 33.
A twentieth century thought was expressed in the nineteenth century decision of State v. McNab, 20 N.H. 160 (1849), that the Superior Court...
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State v. Booton
...(Supp.1973). Its exercise of discretion will be overturned by this court only on evidence of a compelling nature. State v. Hutton, 107 N.H. 426, 428, 223 A.2d 416, 417 (1966). In determining whether this discretion has been abused, we have referred to the American Bar Association's Standard......
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State v. Marini, 7550
...the trial court's decision only on evidence of a compelling nature. State v. Booton, 114 N.H. 152, 317 A.2d 18 (1974); State v. Hutton, 107 N.H. 426, 223 A.2d 416 (1966). However, discretion must be exercised in accordance with the legislature's intention, as expressed in RSA 597:1-a (Supp.......
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...104 N.J.Super. 429 ... 250 A.2d 168 ... Bernard J. DOOLEY, Plaintiff, ... METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a corporation of the ... State of New Jersey, Defendant ... No. L--8036 ... Superior Court of New Jersey ... Law Division ... Feb. 10, 1969 ... [250 A.2d 169] ... ...
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Patten v. State, 7222
...grant or refusal of bail is discretionary with the trial court (State v. Booton, 114 N.H. 152, 317 A.2d 18 (1974); State v. Hutton, 107 N.H. 426, 428, 223 A.2d 416, 417 (1966). See also Moses v. Helgemoe, 115 N.H. 672, 348 A.2d 354 (1975)), and the trial court's exercise of discretion will ......