State v. Potts
| Decision Date | 31 May 1875 |
| Citation | 60 Mo. 368 |
| Parties | STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent, v. JOHN A. POTTS, et al., Appellants. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Appeal from Caldwell Circuit Court.
J. M. Hoskinson, for Appellants.Jno. A. Hockaday, Att'y Gen'l, with Crosby Johnson for Respondent.
The record shows that one James Potts entered into a recognizance before a justice of the peace, with defendants as his sureties in the sum of one hundred dollars, for his appearance at the Circuit Court to answer to an indictment for petit larceny. The grand jury found and returned into court a true bill against him, but he failed to appear, and a forfeiture of his recognizance was taken. A scire facias was thereupon sued out, and the principal was not found; but the sureties, the appellants here, were served. They appeared and filed a demurrer to the record and proceedings, which was overruled and judgment absolute was rendered against them.
The demurrer deals in generalities, and ought to have been disregarded. Without stating particular facts of objection, it merely deduces or asserts conclusions of law. It is claimed that the recognizance is uncertain and indefinite, in the condition as to when the principal should appear; but this does not seem to be borne out by the instrument itself.
The condition is, that Potts shall appear at the Circuit Court on the first day of the next term thereof, to be holden on the _____ day of June next. This was not a material defect. He was bound to take notice of the time the court met, and his obligation was to appear on the first day. Even had there been anything substantially defective in the recognizance, it could not have been taken advantage of by demurrer; for a demurrer to a scire facias on a forfeited recognizance is not taken as to what appears in the writ or recognizance, but to what appears of record. (State vs. Randolph, 22 Mo., 474.)
The whole proceedings, so far as we have been enabled to discover, are regular enough, and the judgment will be affirmed.
The other judges concur.
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State v. Morgan
... ... contended for by the counsel for defendants that the demurrer ... filed by them to the scire facias went to the whole ... record. An examination of the authorities cited by him in his ... brief (State v. Randolph, 22 Mo. 474; State v ... Potts, 60 Mo. 368; State v. Poston, 63 Mo. 521; ... State v. Rogers, 36 Mo. 138; State v ... Furguson, [124 Mo. 475] 50 Mo. 470; State v ... Heed, 62 Mo. 559) will show that not one of them goes so ... far as to hold that the sufficiency of an indictment can be ... inquired into in a proceeding on ... ...
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State v. Haverstick
...some valid reason why the judgment should not be made absolute and execution awarded.' State v. Adank, Mo.Sup., 256 S.W. 768; State v. Potts, 60 Mo. 368, 369; State v. Whitsell, 55 Mo. 430; Kelley's Criminal Law and Procedure, 4th Ed., Sec. The rule applied in the State of Illinois is state......
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State v. Austin
... ... be answered or demurred to, but brings up the whole record, ... and the defense must set forth valid and substantial reasons, ... and not rely upon technical omissions and irregularities ... State v. Riley, 34 Mo.App. 426; State v ... Potts, 60 Mo. 368; State v. Poston, 63 Mo. 521; ... Kelly's Criminal Law [2 Ed.], sec. 102. (9) It is not ... error to receive extrinsic evidence from an officer of the ... court to substantiate the record when the truth of the record ... is denied in defendant's answer to the writ. State v ... ...
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The State v. Abel
... ... by Abel, nor indeed could it be, as no judgment was rendered ... against him, and the proceedings are altogether regular as to ... the two defendants against whom the judgment was rendered ... The ... case is on all-fours with that of State v. Potts et ... al., 60 Mo. 368, and this court in that case affirmed ... the judgment against the sureties. [See, also, State v ... Woerner, 33 Mo. 219.] ... The ... recognizance was the joint and several obligation of Abel and ... his sureties, and the State could have proceeded ... ...