73 Mo. 588 | Mo. | 1881
This is a proceeding by habeas corpus in which Amos S. Kaufman, the petitioner, alleges he is illegally restrained of his liberty in the State penitentiary by the warden thereof. The warden, in his return avers that, at the April term, 1881, of the criminal court within and for Pettis county, said petitioner was convicted of larceny in a dwelling house, in said county, and by the judgment of the court was sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for the term of two years, a copy of which sentence and judgment he files with his return as his authority for holding the petitioner. The said judgment of said criminal court, under which defendant is held, being a final judgment rendered by a court having jurisdiction n such matters, our duty in the premises is prescribed by section '2648, Revised Statutes 1879, which provides that in proceedings by habeas corpus, the court or magistrate before which the case is pending, shall “ forthwith remand the party, if it shall appear that he is detained in custody by virtue of the final judgment, order or decree of any competent court of criminal or civil jurisdiction.” Under this plain provision of the statute, which interprets itself, it is our duty to remand the petitioner, which is hereby done.
The only ground urged upon us for the discharge of the petitioner, is base'd upon the alleged fact, and for the first time here asserted, that the petitioner, at the time o
