State v. Stoesser

• Decision Date: 07 June 1962
• Citation: 5 Storey 70,183 A.2d 824,55 Del. 70
• Court: Delaware Superior Court
• Parties: , 55 Del. 70 STATE of Delaware v. Edward J. STOESSER.

Page 824

183 A.2d 824

5 Storey 70, 55 Del. 70

STATE of Delaware v. Edward J. STOESSER.

Superior Court of Delaware, New Castle County.

June 7, 1962.

Thomas Herlihy, III, Deputy Atty. Gen., Wilmington, for the State of Delaware.

Henry A. Wise, Jr., Wilmington, for defendant.

LYNCH, Judge.

The essential facts of this case show that defendant was arrested on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, 21 Del.C. § 4111(a). On August 18, 1961 he entered a plea of guilty before a Justice of the Peace to such charge, whereupon he was adjudged guilty, sentenced to and paid the minimum fine and costs. Under the provisions of Title 21 Del.C. § 708, any appeal would have had to have been taken within 15 days 'from the time of conviction'. Defendant did not appeal from that judgment of conviction. If defendant had appealed this Court would have been limited to a review of the sentence imposed; it could not consider the merits, State v. Stevens, 3 W.W.Harr. 479, 139 A. 78 (1927); Martin v. State, 10 Terry 344, 116 A.2d 685 (1955) and State v. Gale, 11 Terry 354, 130 A.2d 786 (1957) and compare Short v. State, Del., 181 A.2d 225, decided May 4, 1962 by the Supreme Court. The reasoning underlying these cases is that a plea of guilty is a waiver of all defects except the fact that the Court lacks jurisdiction. See annotation in 42 A.L.R.2d 995.

Notwithstanding what had transpired on August 18, 1961, the defendant, about December 27, 1961, moved to set aside his conviction and for permission to withdraw his guilty plea and in connection with his motions he filed an affidavit, reciting therein that on the day of his arrest defendant had not eaten anything since lunch; that he was ill; that his illness was such that he 'was not able to think clearly' and thus he was not 'able to understand the meaning of the' charge; that he was found to be suffering from hepatitis and was placed in a hospital. The affidavit also stated that 'petitioner suffers from emphysema' and that the 'emphysema and hepatitis have a definite effect on the accuracy of any intoximeter reading'. The affidavit went on to state:

'* * *. That your petitioner is advised that the amount of alcohol which he had consumed, even assuming none of it had left the blood stream, would not have caused him to have a reading which would have reflected that he was presumably under the influence of intoxicating liquor.'

Continuing, the affidavit stated further:

'Your petitioner acknowledges that, based on what he now knows, he was not in a fit condition to operate a motor vehicle but this was due to the unfortunate physical malady he was suffering from which not only impairs physical coordination but impairs the ability to properly think and evaluate a situation. This condition continued and existed at the time your petitioner appeared before this Court and petitioner believes that had this Court known of your petitioner's condition this Court would not have permitted him to enter any plea because this Court would have recognized that petitioner was incapable of fully understanding what he was doing.'

It would appear then that, notwithstanding the fact defendant had pleaded guilty, had been convicted on such plea back on August 18, 1961, and had paid his fine and the costs imposed, the Justice of the Peace purportedly granted the motion to reopen the conviction and then permitted defendant to withdraw his plea of guilty. He was retried and found guilty again by the Justice of the Peace. It is from this conviction the defendant took the appeal, to which the Motion to Dismiss is addressed.

Whether the Attorney General's Motion to Dismiss the Appeal should be granted will depend on the existence of power in the Justice of the Peace to reopen a judgment of conviction entered some four months before, to permit defendant to withdraw his plea, and then to be retried on an offense for which defendant had previously been convicted, sentenced, and paid his fine.

An examination of the law generally does not reveal any case holding that Justices of the Peace have the power which purportedly was exercised by a Justice of the Peace under the circumstances of this case. Of course, the absence of a precedent is not fatal or determinative if logic and justice otherwise dictate a person should have a remedy. I may say that there is no logic in the action which defendant took before the Justice of the Peace and I see no justice in what the Justice of the Peace purported to do.

Clubine v. City of Merrill, 83 Or. 87, 163 P. 85 (1917) is the closest case that could be found to the circumstances in the case at bar. There Clubine had been charged before a Justice of the Peace with the crime of selling liquor on an election day. The entries in the Justice's records included references to Clubine's acknowledging commission of the crime,--following his entry of a plea of not guilty. Clubine's attorney moved to strike such references from the record, but this motion was denied. The jurisdiction of the Justice to try the crime alleged was then challenged by demurrer. The demurrer was overruled.

The Justice of the Peace declined at first to grant Clubine the right of a trial on the theory that the references in the Justice's records were sufficient evidence of Clubine's guilt, and he was convicted. An appeal was taken from such refusal to grant a trial. Several days thereafter the Justice of the Peace, on his own motion, set aside the judgment of conviction and ordered the accused to appear for trial. The accused then sued out a writ to review the conviction.

The Oregon Supreme Court, in determining the appeal and the writ of review, held, 163 P. at page 86:

'If no appeal were pending the [Justice's] court had a right to vacate its judgment if void; the rule being that while a justice's court cannot set aside a judgment because it is erroneous, it may vacate a void judgment and proceed as though no such apparent judgment had ever been entered. * * *.' (Emphasis supplied)

It is to be noted that 51 C.J.S. Justices of the Peace § 113, p. 205 and in 35 C.J. Justices of the Peace § 308, p. 678, discuss the existence of the power of Justices of the Peace to reopen or vacate judgments. The statement is made that:

'* * * In some jurisdictions a justice has no power to open, set aside, or vacate a judgment rendered by himself, while in others he has such power in certain cases, as where the judgment is void for want of jurisdiction or otherwise.'

Examination of the cases cited in both texts under the second grouping invariably points--as the treatise states--to a void judgment or to a statute which gave Justices of the Peace some power to vacate or reopen judgments. I found no cases where the existence of the power generally was recognized under any other circumstances; from my study of the treatises and digests I consequently entertain considerable doubt it there is any reported case which is authority for the proposition that, apart from statute, a Justice of the Peace has general power to vacate or reopen a judgment,--whether it be in a civil case or in a criminal case--except in those instances where the judgment is void or entered without authority of law, unless a statute grants some power to act. The holding of the Oregon Supreme Court in Clubine v. City of Merrill, supra, is quite logical. Surely a Justice of the Peace should be permitted to cause his records to reflect that any void act, taken on his part, should be stricken from his records.

It seems desirable then to examine our statutes ^* to determine if our General Assembly has, by statute, vested any such powers in Justices of the Peace.

Turning now to a consideration of the statutory and case law in Delaware relating to the jurisdiction and power of Justices of the Peace in criminal and civil cases, I find that Article IV, § 28, Del.C.Ann., of the present Constitution of Delaware provides:

'The General Assembly may by law give to any inferior courts by it established or to be established, or to one or more justices of the peace, jurisdiction of the criminal matters following, that is to say--assaults and batteries, carrying concealed a deadly weapon, disturbing meetings held for the purpose of religious worship, nuisances, and such other misdemeanors as the General Assembly may from time to time, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members elected to each House, prescribe.

'The General Assembly may by law regulate this jurisdiction, , and provide that the proceedings shall be with or without indictment by grand jury, or trial by petit jury, and may grant or deny the privilege of appeal to the Superior Court; provided, however, that there shall be an appeal to the Superior Court in all cases in which the sentence shall be imprisonment exceeding one (1) month, or a fine exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).' (Emphasis supplied)

Title 11 Del.C. § 2701(a) made provision for the general jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace in criminal matters:

'The justices of the peace shall have original jurisdiction to hear, try and finally determine misdemeanors alleged to have been committed, only when such jurisdiction is expressly conferred by law. * * *.'

It does not appear, other than this statute, that 'the General Assembly' has acted to 'regulate the jurisdiction' of criminal matters or to prescribe the manner in which it is to be exercised. See, however, Title 10 Del.C. § 9505.

Over the years, by the enactment of a number of statutes, the General Assembly has vested specific jurisdiction in Justices of the Peace over a number of and various crimes. Nowhere, however, do I find any provision whatsoever in any statute, granting to or vesting in Justices of the Peace the power to vacate or reopen judgments in criminal matters, or even grant new trials in such cases. It is otherwise in civil causes.

By Title 10 Del.C. § 9542 Justices of the Peace are empowered to vacate default...