State v. Woodson

• Decision Date: 18 March 1913
• Citation: 154 S.W. 705,248 Mo. 705
• Parties: STATE v. WOODSON et al.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

154 S.W. 705

248 Mo. 705

STATE v. WOODSON et al.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

March 18, 1913.

CRIMINAL LAW (§ 1019) — APPELLATE JURISDICTION.

The Supreme Court, which has appellate jurisdiction of felonies only, has no jurisdiction in a case where the indictment charged a felony by receiving stolen goods of greater value than $30, but the jury found the value to be less than $30, which reduced the offense to a misdemeanor.

Appeal from Criminal Court, Lafayette County; John A. Rich, Judge.

William and Martha Woodson were convicted of receiving stolen property, and took an appeal to the Kansas City Court of Appeals, which transferred the case to this court. Case retransferred to the Kansas City Court of Appeals on motion of the Attorney General.

Clarence Vivion and Chiles & Chiles, all of Lexington, for appellants. The Attorney General, for the State.

PER CURIAM.

The defendants were jointly charged with having knowingly received stolen property aggregating the value of $37, under section 4554, R. S. Mo. 1909. Upon a trial they were convicted in the circuit court of Lafayette county, and their punishment assessed at a fine of $100. They appealed to the Kansas City Court of Appeals, which court transferred the case here on the ground that the information charged a felony, and hence the court did not have jurisdiction. The Attorney General now moves to retransfer the case to the Kansas City Court of Appeals for the reason that this court has no jurisdiction, because the conviction was for a misdemeanor.

A review of the statutory provisions and the authorities of our court on the subject of jurisdiction in cases of this character is not improper in this connection. In criminal cases the appellate jurisdiction of this court is governed by the grade of the offense and is limited to felonies. Article 6, § 12, Const. Mo., and section 5 of the amendment of 1884 thereto; State v. Zinn, 141 Mo. 329, 333, 42 S. W. 938.

The term "felony," under our Code, means any offense for which the offender, on conviction, shall be liable to be punished with death or imprisonment in the penitentiary. Section 4923, R. S. Mo. 1909. The term "misdemeanor" includes every offense punishable only by fine or imprisonment in a county jail, or both. Section 4925, R. S. Mo. 1909. The well-known meaning of these terms would render reference thereto unnecessary, except to present an orderly statement of the law in regard to the matters under consideration. In a long line of decisions, beginning with Johnston v. State, 7 Mo. 183, it has been held by this court, where no classification is made of the offense other than the fixing of the penalty, that a felony is an offense for which the accused may be imprisoned in the penitentiary, although the jury may, if authorized by statute, inflict punishment by fine or imprisonment in a county jail, or both, and that such finding does not deprive this court of appellate jurisdiction. State v. Melton, 117 Mo. 618, 23 S. W. 889; Id., 53 Mo. App. 646; State ex rel. v. Foster, 187 Mo. 596, 603, 86 S. W. 245; State v. Herrick, 158 Mo. App. 487, 139 S. W. 258. But where the statute has classified offenses other than by fixing the penalty, and has prescribed that, under a charge of a felony, the accused may be convicted of a misdemeanor, as in felonious assaults, where the punishment may be for a common assault (section...