State v. Reeves

Decision Date27 February 1911
Docket Number18,658
Citation54 So. 415,128 La. 37
CourtLouisiana Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE v. REEVES. Ex parte REEVES

Application of Augustus Reeves for a writ of habeas corpus. Writ made peremptory.

Hunter & Hunter and Blackman & Overton, for relator.

Walter Guion, Atty. Gen. (G. A. Gondron, of counsel), for respondent.

OPINION

MONROE, J.

Relator alleges that he is illegally confined in the state penitentiary, and prays that the board of control of that institution be ordered to produce his body in court or show cause why he is detained. The board, through its president, answers that it is advised that the detention is legal, and it refers to a judgment of the district court for the parish of Rapides, annexed to relator's petition, and to the commitment and warrant from the court annexed to its return. The facts are that relator was prosecuted by indictment upon a charge of shooting with intent to kill and murder, a crime which under section 791 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by Act No. 43 of 1890, is punishable by "imprisonment at hard labor, or otherwise," and, under article 116 of the Constitution, must be tried by a jury of five, or, in case the jury is waived, by the judge of the district court; and that, instead of having been so tried, he was tried and convicted by a jury of twelve, a tribunal which was absolutely without jurisdiction in the premises.

"The objection that a court has no jurisdiction of the subject-matter is not waived by plea or going to trial, and may be raised on motion in arrest of judgment, on appeal, or by petition for writ of habeas corpus." State v. Beebe, 127 La. 493, 53 So. 730; Michaelson v. Beemann, 72 Neb. 761, 101 N.W. 1007; 12 Cyc. pp. 228, 229.

It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the writ herein issued be made peremptory, and that the respondent board deliver the relator to the proper authorities of the parish of Rapides in order that his case may be restored to the docket of the Thirteenth judicial district court in and for said parish, to be proceeded with as if no trial had been had.

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12 cases
  • State v. Jones
    • United States
    • Louisiana Supreme Court
    • February 22, 2006
    ... ... Smith, 367 So.2d 857 (La.1979); State v. Nedds, 364 So.2d 588 (La.1978); State v. Rabbas, 278 So.2d 45 (La.1973); State v. Bennett, 270 So.2d 840 (La.1972); State v. Hill, 171 La. 277, 130 So. 865 (La.1930); State v. Bailey, 154 La. 536, 97 So. 851 (La.1923); and State v. Reeves, 128 La. 37, 54 So. 415 (La.1911). Today we re-examine the correctness of this pronouncement where a greater than required number of jurors unanimously vote to convict a defendant ...         Daniel Jones was charged with violation of La. R.S. 14:98(E), a felony for which the offender ... ...
  • State v. Jones
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
    • September 24, 2004
    ...was defective, see e.g., State v. Rabbas, 278 So.2d 45 (La.1973), or that the court lacked jurisdiction, see e.g., State v. Reeves, 128 La. 37, 54 So. 415 (1911), or both, see e.g., State v. Bailey, 154 La. 536, 97 So. 851 Without analyzing the breakdown of the respective verdicts of indivi......
  • State v. Jones
    • United States
    • Louisiana Supreme Court
    • December 28, 2004
    ...was defective, see e.g., State v. Rabbas, 278 So.2d 45 (La.1973), or that the court lacked jurisdiction, see e.g., State v. Reeves, 128 La. 37, 54 So. 415 (1911), or both, see e.g., State v. Bailey, 154 La. 536, 97 So. 851 Without analyzing the breakdown of the respective verdicts of indivi......
  • State v. Hataway
    • United States
    • Louisiana Supreme Court
    • April 2, 1923
    ...a jury of 12, by the defendant's consent, any more than it could be thus conferred upon a jury of 3 or a mob of 50. And in State v. Reeves, 128 La. 37, 54 So. 415, the defendant, having been indicted for a crime for which penalty was "imprisonment at hard labor or otherwise," was, without o......
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