17 Kan. 221 | Kan. | 1876
The defendant, Reuben Janies, was charged before the police judge of the city of Burlington with violating a certain ordinance of said city prohibiting the keeping of billiard tables. He was tried, found guilty, and sentenced before said police judge, and then he appealed to the district court. In the district court he moved to quash the complaint, because, as he claimed, the same did “not set forth facts sufficient to constitute a public offense against the ordinance of the city of Burlington.” The court sustained the the motion, to which the plaintiff excepted. The plaintiff then asked “leave of the court to file an amended complaint,” which leave was granted, and an amended complaint was accordingly filed, to all of which the defendant excepted. This amended complaint stated several facts not contained in the original complaint. The defendant was then tried, convicted, and sentenced upon this amended complaint, to all which he duly objected and excepted. The defendant then brought the case to this court on appeal. The plaintiff moved in this court to dismiss the -appeal, but the motion was overruled. It has been the practice to bring this class of cases to this court on appeal, and the supreme court has sustained such practice. (Neitzel v. City of Concordia, 14 Kas. 446, 448, and cases there cited; City of Olathe v. Adams, 15 Kas. 391, 394; City of Leavenworth v. Booth, 15 Kas. 627; City of Salina v. Seitz, 16 Kas. 143.) There is therefore nothing for this court now to do but to determine whether the district court committed any substantial error in any of its proceedings or not.
The first question arising in the case is, whether the court below erred in permitting the defendant to be tried, convicted and sentenced on an amended complaint, after the original complaint had been quashed for insufficiency. We know of no authority in the statutes or elsewhere permitting such a proceeding. In criminal cases brought by appeal
The judgment of the court below will be reversed, and cause remanded for further proceedings.