144 P. 150 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1914
The defendant in this case in an information filed in the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco was charged with maintaining a public nuisance, in violation of the provisions of section
The defendant demurred to the information upon the ground that the offense charged was a misdemeanor which the superior court did not have original jurisdiction to hear and determine. The demurrer was allowed, upon the ground stated, and the people have appealed. The demurrer was well taken and properly allowed. The police and justices' courts have exclusive jurisdiction over all misdemeanors punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed six months; and, unless expressly provided to the contrary, every offense declared to be a misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed six months. (Pen. Code, secs.
Section
The fact that section
It will thus be seen that the Civil Code, in keeping with its general purpose, merely states the substantive law relating to the criminal remedy which may be directed against a public nuisance, and then very properly relegates the regulation of the remedy to the provisions of the Penal Code, which, containing the adjective law, provides the criminal procedure for the prevention and punishment of crimes. If the Penal Code has omitted to provide for the prosecution by indictment or information of a public nuisance, amounting only to an ordinary misdemeanor, this court cannot supply the omission.
The order appealed from is affirmed.
Richards, J., and Kerrigan, J., concurred.