State v. Moquin

• Decision Date: 07 June 1963
• Citation: 105 N.H. 9,191 A.2d 541
• Parties: STATE v. Joseph R. MOQUIN. STATE v. Jon L. HOUGHTON.
• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court

Page 541

191 A.2d 541

105 N.H. 9

STATE v. Joseph R. MOQUIN.

STATE v. Jon L. HOUGHTON.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

Argued April 2, 1963.

Decided June 7, 1963.

William Maynard, Atty. Gen., Elmer T. Bourque, Deputy Atty. Gen., and Irma A. Matthews, Law Assistant (Irma A. Matthews, Concord, Orally), for the State.

Devine, Millimet, McDonough, Stahl & Branch, Manchester (Bartram C. Branch, Manchester, orally), for defendant Joseph R. Moquin.

Eaton, Eaton & Ross, Manchester (Robert I. Eaton, Manchester, orally), for defendant Jon L. Houghton.

LAMPRON, Justice.

August 19, 1962, a motorcycle operated by Houghton on which Moquin was a passenger was involved in several violations of the motor vehicle laws. They eluded arrest at that time but were later apprehended. The defendants agreed between themselves that Moquin would assume responsibility for these offenses. Houghton had a record of prior violations and feared the loss of his license if he appeared in court charged with the present transgressions. Consequently the defendants led the interrogating police officers to believe that Moquin was the operator. This resulted in complaints being issued against Moquin for six violations in the operation of the motorcycle while it was in fact operated by Houghton.

Both defendants were present in the municipal court of Manchester when pleas of nolo contendere were entered by Moquin to the charges against him and accepted by the presiding justice and fines imposed.

Later the same day Moquin admitted he was not the operator and as a result complaints for these violations were issued against Houghton who pleaded guilty to the offenses charged. The prior complaints against Moquin for these same offenses were then brought forward and dismissed.

When questioned by the Court both defendants admitted that Moquin was not the operator of the motorcycle when the offenses occurred, that Houghton was, and that the two had agreed between themselves that Moquin would assume the responsibility for the violations to protect Houghton's license.

On the hearing to show cause why the defendants should not be adjudged in contempt, there were findings by the presiding justice that they had perpetrated a fraud upon the court, that their conduct constituted an obstruction of justice and that they were guilty of contempt.

The power to punish for contempt is inherent in the very organization of all courts and is essential to the functioning of our judicial system. State v. Matthews, 37 N.H. 450; State ex rel. Welsh v. Towle, 42 N.H. 540, 546; In re Opinion of the Justices, 86 N.H. 597, 601, 166 A. 640; State v. Jackson, 147 Conn. 167, 158 A.2d 166; Wood v. Georgia, 370 U.S. 375, 383, 82 S.Ct. 1364, 8 L.Ed.2d 569. The necessity for such powers in courts before which it is probable that more people appear than before all other courts combined is obvious. No reasons of precedent or policy compelling a contrary holding are suggested and none is apparent. Furthermore it is the duty and responsibility of courts to be alert to protect the judicial processes from being brought into disrepute and to act vigorously when confronted with acts or conduct which tend to obstruct or interfere with the due and orderly administration of justice. State v. Treon, 188 N.E.2d 308, 313 (Ohio App.1963).

In Berlandi v. Commonwealth, 314 Mass. 424, 50 N.E.2d 210, two persons were found guilty of contempt for their participation in a 'take-the-rap' scheme designed to secure the freedom of one of them who was guilty of a crime. It was held in State v. Jaffrin, 136 N.E.2d 436 (Ohio App.1956) that the taking of money in payment for a promise to 'fix' a traffic arrest so that without appearance or trial the person charged with the offense could avoid punishment constituted contempt even if no act in furtherance of this conspiracy was shown.

The facts in State v. Treon, supra bear a striking similarity in many respects to those in the case before us. It was there held that a newspaper reporter, who in cooperation with a police effort to trap someone suspected of fixing traffic tickets, participated in a plan to issue to him two tickets for nonexistent traffic violations which were entered on the court's docket, although not guilty of direct contempt could probably be found guilty of indirect contempt. It was so stated even though the fictitious citations were not prepared in the presence of the court but by an official in the traffic bureau and even though the defendant did not knowingly participate in an attempt to defraud the court. 17 C.J.S., Contempt § 8, p. 10.

The two defendants in our case could be found to have knowingly conspired to so conduct themselves as to have complaints issued against Moquin, who was innocent of the numerous traffic violations charged, instead of against Houghton, who had committed these offenses. Also that their motive for so acting was to obstruct the due administration of justice which would probably result in the loss of Houghton's license to drive a motor vehicle. It could be found further that their scheme was successful and did result in the issuance and presentation of complaints in the municipal court of Manchester against a defendant other than the perpetrator of the offenses. Moquin further aided this predetermined deception and obstruction of justice by pleading to these complaints in open court and Houghton, who was present, was equally a participant by his silence which constituted a tacit approval of Moquin's action.

We are of the opinion that their entire course of conduct could be found, as it was by the presiding justice, to constitute a fraud on the court, an obstruction of justice and contempt. State v. Treon, 188 N.E.2d 308, 313 (Ohio App.1963); State v. Jaffrin, 136 N.E.2d 436 (Ohio App.1956); Berlandi v. Commonwealth, 314 Mass. 424, 50 N.E.2d 210. See People v. Katelhut, 322 Ill.App. 693, 54 N.E.2d 590; Ex parte Clayton, 350 S.W.2d 926 (Tex.Cr.App.1961); Taylor v. State, 112 Neb. 259, 199 N.W. 509.

Remanded.

KENISON, C. J., and DUNCAN, J., dissented; the others concurred.

KENISON, Chief Justice (dissenting).

I can agree that the defendants' actions in this case were morally reprehensible, legally wrong and should be punished. But these conclusions do not decide the threshold question before us. The wrong question frequently begets a wrong answer as this case illustrates in assuming that municipal courts have jurisdiction to execute contempt decrees in motor vehicle cases. While some early cases in the Nineteenth Century held that the power of contempt was inherent in all courts independently of statute (State v. Matthews, 37 N.H. 450, 453; State ex rel. Welsh v. Towle, 42 N.H. 540), the matter was put into proper focus by the In re Opinion of the Justices, 86 N.H. 597, 602, 166 A. 640, 646, decided in 1933: 'As before pointed out, it is the law of the state that the power to punish for contempt is an essential attribute of a court of general jurisdiction.' (Emphasis supplied.) It is clear that the power of contempt is inherent in the Supreme and Superior Courts as courts of general jurisdiction. RSA 490:4; RSA 491:7, 19, 20; RSA 498:1. Probate courts have limited and special jurisdiction only so far as granted by the Legislature. N.H.Const., Pt. II, Art. 80; Wood v. Stone, 39 N.H. 572; Protective Check Writer Co. v. Collins, 92 N.H. 27, 23 A.2d 770. Consequently, it was deemed advisable to give probate courts authority to issue contempt decrees in 1911 (Laws 1911, c. 129, § 1...