24 S.E.2d 861 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1943
1. The court has the power and authority to hold the documents, the subject-matter of the proceedings, in the protection of the law, pending such proceedings, even though jurisdiction be eventually denied.
2. It is contempt of court to remove, conceal, or destroy, for the purpose of defeating the court's jurisdiction, documents which are known to be the subject-matter of proceedings pending before the court. This is true even if the proceeding is one where the court in which it is pending eventually determines that there is a want of jurisdiction.
When said subpoenas duces tecum were served on Mrs. Vines, she *179
had in her possession, custody, and control many of the books, papers, and documents called for by said subpoenas, and was in a position to produce them before the grand jury in response to said subpoenas. On February 27, while the hearing on said motions was pending and while Mrs. Vines was out of the office, Mrs. Evans, with the approval and direction of Mr. Evans, took said books, papers, and documents, and removed them beyond Mrs. Vines' reach and control. This was admitted by Mr. and Mrs. Evans at a contempt hearing against Mrs. Vines on March 26, 1942. While the contempt hearing against Mrs. Vines was being tried, a contempt citation was issued against Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Counsel for both sides agreed that the evidence in the Vines case would be used in the latter hearing. Mrs. Vines, the witness who had been served with the subpoenas duces tecum, and who had come into court seeking a ruling on some phases of said subpoenas, never raised any question as to the manner in which the subpoenas had been issued. This objection was first raised by the Evanses in their answer to the citation for contempt. The court declined to require the restoration of the documents to the custody of Mrs. Vines, and adjudged the plaintiffs in error in contempt for removing and concealing the documents after the subpoenas had been served, and while the motions to quash were pending before the court. To this judgment the plaintiffs in error excepted.
Constitutional courts have the inherent power to fine and punish contempt, and this authority is not limited by the Code, § 24-105. Bradley v. State,
The legality of the subpoena duces tecum was not attacked by Mrs. Vines on the ground that the clerk signed them in blank, to be filled out by the solicitor-general, or some one acting for him, before they were served on her; but on the contrary she appeared and submitted to the jurisdiction of the court for it to determine matters other than the manner of issuing the subpoenas as above indicated. It would be a useless and a vain thing for the court to pass on the question whether the documents should be produced and introduced in evidence, if Mrs. Vines, or the Evanses, or any of them, could conceal or destroy the documents which would be the subject-matter of the court's decision. We think the documents were in gremio legis, which is defined in Black's Law Dictionary, 3d ed., as being "in the bosom of the law; in protection of the law; in abeyance." "The power to punish for contempts is inherent in every court of justice. It is absolutely necessary that a court should possess this power, in order that it may carry on the administration of justice and preserve order and decorum in the court. As far as we can ascertain, this power has existed since courts were first established. Judge Wilmot, in 1795, in a treatise upon the subject, said he had been unable to find where it was first exercised, but in his opinion it was as old as the courts themselves. All the courts in their decisions, and all the text-writers, lay down the same doctrine, — that this power is necessary to all courts and is inherent in them." Bradley v.State, supra. Such power is necessary for the self-preservation of the courts.
Where the evidence showed that the deputy clerk signed the subpoenas in question, and the solicitor-general or some one acting for him filled in the blanks therein, and the subpoenas when served on Mrs. Vines were directed to her and stated the case or cases in which she was required to produce the documentary evidence, leaving out of view the technical defenses stated above, the testimony clearly showed that Mr. and Mrs. Evans were guilty, and that the Evanses as well as Mrs. Vines knew the case in which the documents *181
were wanted as evidence and were sought to be brought before the grand jury by said subpoenas. Under such a statement of facts the court is not inclined to give technical objections any more weight than they are entitled to strictissimi juries. Scott v.
State,
The plaintiffs in error rely strongly on Dobbs v. State,
Judgment affirmed. Broyles, C. J., and Gardner, J., concur.