18 S.W.2d 881 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1929
Dismissing appeals.
Williams and Gross were each proceeded against by information for violation of the law regulating motor transportation for hire (chapter 112, Acts 1926), and both were acquitted. The commonwealth has appealed both cases for a certification of the law. The records have been considered together and the two cases will be disposed of in a single opinion. Motions to dismiss the appeals were passed to the merits and must now be determined. The motions to dismiss were predicated upon the ostensible ground that no motions and grounds for new trials were filed, but the real basis for the motions must be that no power is conferred upon this court to certify the law in misdemeanor cases of this character.
In felony cases the commonwealth may appeal for a certification of the law, and is not required to await a final judgment. Criminal Code, Sec. 335; Com. v. Neal,
The misdemeanor cases, in which judgment of acquittal may not be reversed, are those in which, in case of conviction, the punishment that might be inflicted under the indictment is imprisonment (Criminal Code, Sec. 352), and those cases where an acquittal constitutes a bar to a future prosecution for the offense (Criminal Code, Sec. 339). A public offense, of which the only punishment is a fine, may be prosecuted by a penal action; the proceedings are regulated by the Civil Code (section 11, Criminal Code), and the appeal shall be similar in all respects to appeals in civil actions. Section 355, Criminal Code; Com. v. American Express Co.,
Where the highest penalty that may be imposed is a fine of $100 and imprisonment for not more than 50 days, the offense may be prosecuted by information. Constitution, Sec. 12; Ky. Stats., Sec. 1141; Lowry v. Com., 36 S.W. 1117, 18 Ky. Law Rep. 481; Ford v. Moss,
In Commonwealth v. Davis,
The plea of not guilty always supports a verdict of acquittal, as it constitutes a denial of every material allegation in the accusation. Crim. Code, sec. 175. The right of appeal is purely statutory (Constitution sec. 110; Com. v. Yungblut,
The informations in the cases before us charged Williams and Gross with violation of one of the sections of chapter 112 of the Act of 1926 regulating the transportation of passengers for hire by motor vehicles. The penalty prescribed by that act for violation of any provision thereof is a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $100. Section 2739j-39, 1928 Supp. Ky. Stats. In prosecutions under that statute, whether by penal action, information, or indictment, a judgment of acquittal is subject to appeal by the commonwealth (Crim. Code secs. 347, 348), and no authority is given this court for the certification of the law in cases of that character. It results that this court has no jurisdiction to certify the law in these cases.
The appeal in each case is dismissed. *75