36 Pa. Super. 188 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1908
Opinion by
The Act of June 16, 1891, P. L. 303, applying to cities of the second class, provides that it “shall and may be lawful for any such police magistrate where vagrants may be found within the city in which such police magistrate resides or is appointed to commit such vagrants (being thereof legally convicted before him, on his own view or by confession of such offenders or by the oath or affirmation of one or more credible witnesses) to the workhouse of the county .... if such there be, otherwise to the common jail of such county, there to be kept at such hard labor .... for any time not less than thirty days nor more than six months.” It appears by the transcript of the magistrate that the defendant was charged with being a vagrant, and that after full hearing he was convicted and committed to the workhouse for thirty days. By special allowance of the court of quarter sessions, granted upon his petition, the defendant appealed from the conviction, and duly filed in that court a transcript of the proceedings before the magistrate and a copy of the commitment. The docket entries of the proceedings in the quarter sessions are very meager, but in addition to the foregoing there is the following: “October 3, 1907, judgment affirmed.” There is nothing in the record which expressly shows whether this judgment was based on a mere review of the proceedings sent up by the magistrate, or upon evidence produced on a hearing in court pursuant to the appeal. But
It may be questioned whether an appeal to the quarter sessions, duly allowed, from a summary conviction upon the charge of vagrancy is such a criminal case as is comprehended in sec. 1 of the Act of May 19, 1874, P. L. 219, relative to bills of exceptions in criminal cases. But as counsel for the commonwealth does not raise objection to the manner in which the ruling of the court was brought upon the record, but clearly waives it by the concession and argument above referred to, we do not feel required to raise it, and to presume from a record so uncertain as we have above indicated, and contrary to the admitted fact, that the judgment affirming the judgment of the magistrate was entered after the defendant had had a hearing in court, or an opportunity to be heard, upon the question of his guilt or innocence. If in such a case the defendant has been
The Act of April 17,1876, P. L. 29, which was passed to carry ■•into effect sec. 14, article V of the constitution,, provides, so far as material to be noticed here, as follows: “In all cases of summary conviction in this commonwealth before a magistrate or court' not of record, either party may, within five days after such conviction, appeal to the court of quarter sessions of the county .in which such magistrate shall reside, or court not of record, shall be held, upon allowance of the said court of quarter sessions, or any judge thereof upon cause shown; . . . . provided that all appeals from summary .... shall be upon such terms as to payment of costs, and entering bail, as the court or judge allowing the appeal shall direct.”
The clause of the constitution above referred to, which enlarges the right of appeal and secures it against infringement by future legislation, was adopted to remedy evils of considerable magnitude which had grown up under laws giving inferior magistrates and courts not of record the power to fine and imprison summarily. One of the evils was not that there was no mode whereby the court could review their proceedings for the purpose of ascertaining whether they had kept within the limits of their jurisdiction and had proceeded regularly; for there was such mode of review by certiorari prior to the adoption of the present constitution, which was preserved by sec. 10 of the same article. Hence, it is to be presumed that in thus enlarging the right of appeal the framers of the constitution had in view the correction of mischief for which the
The judgment is reversed and the record remitted to the court below with direction to hear the cause and to enter such judgment as the law and evidence require.