138 Iowa 195 | Iowa | 1908
The material facts are not in dispute. The defendant Dougherty having been indicted by the grand jury of Fayette county and held to bail in the sum of $1,000, there was deposited with J. W. Winston, clerk of the district court, in lieu of a bail bond, the sum of $1,000 in cash. The respective plaintiffs in these actions are judgment creditors of said Dougherty, and on executions issued they caused Winston to be garnished. Hpon being called to answer Winston thus deposed: “ I have in my possession $1,000 cash, appearance bond in case of State of Iowa v. M. P. Dougherty.” John Harrington appeared in the garnishment proceedings and filed a pleading setting up the fact of the indictment of Dougherty and the order for bail in the sum of $1,000. The pleading then continues: “ That on December 2, 1901, the said John Harrington put into the hands of C. L. Culver, sheriff of said county, $1,000 as bail for said Dougherty, by whom the said money was turned over to said Winston, clerk; and that the same is now, and has at all times been, the sole property of said Harrington, the said Dougherty having no right of ownership therein.” It
The field of inquiry is limited, and the precise question would seem to he fairly stated thus: Where money is deposited with the clerk of the court by a friendly third person, the object being simply to secure the release from custody of a defendant held to answer to an indictment, does such money become the property of the indictment defendant from the time of the deposit to the extent and in the sense that the same becomes subject to seizure in satisfaction of the demands of his judgment creditors ? In support of the judgments entered below, counsel for the appellees insist that the question should have an affirmative answer — not, as we understand, because of any rule existing at the common law, but in virtue of the provisions of the statute of this State governing the subject of the deposit of money in lieu of bail. The provisions of the statute upon which reliance is placed are as follows: “ The defendant, at any time after an order admitting him to bail, instead of giving bail, may deposit with the clerk of the district court . . . the sum mentioned in the order,” etc.; and “ when money has been deposited by the defendant . . . the clerk . . . shall apply the money in satisfaction of the judgment . . . and shall refund the surplus, if any, to him,” etc. Code, sections 5524-5527. As giving construe