1 Indian Terr. 638 | Ct. App. Ind. Terr. | 1898
One Charles Keifer, having been duly •rested upon a charge for introducing spirituous liquor to the Indian Territory, upon examination was held to iil in the sum of $200 to appear at the December, 1895, rm of the United States court for the Northern district of
That the United States Court for the Northern district f the Indian Territory had no jurisdiction over the offense f introducing and selling intoxicating liquor in the Indian ferritory, and consequently no power to cause the arrest of, nd admit to bail, parties charged with that offense, is aban-oned by appellants, as is also the position taken by their lotion to quash — that the bond was void because not taken nd approved as the law directs. The only question pre-ented, therefore, to be decided, is, is the record upon which re summons was based void and insufficient to support the idgment?
The statute in force in this jurisdiction (Mansf. Dig.) rovides:
“Sec. 2064. If the defendant shall fail to appear for ■ial or judgment, or at any other time when his presence l court may be lawfully required, or to surrender himself i execution of the judgment, the court may direct the fact*642 to be entered on the minutes, and thereupon the bail-bond o money deposited in lieu of bail, is forfeited.
‘ ‘Sec. 2068. No pleadings are required on the par of the state, but the clerk shall issue a summons against th bail, requiring them to appear on the first day of the nex term of the court to show cause why judgment should no be rendered against them for the sum specified in the bai] bond on account of the forfeiture thereof, which summon shall be executed as in civil actions, and the action procee as an ordinary civil action. ”
By the above section (2068) no pleadings are require by the government. What, then, is to be taken as i1 declaration or complaint? If it ,be true that the entry c the forfeiture made by the clerk upon the record is the con plaint of the state, then the entry made in this case is cleai ly and wholly insufficient. The amount sued for does nc appear, the names of the defendants are not mentionec and nothing is shown connecting them with the particuk bond in suit. Nothing is mentioned in the order except th fact that the defendant in the suit in which the bond we executed had failed to appear when called, and that his ba was forfeited. And yet this is all that is required by tl law. Section 2064, above set out, calls for nothing mor-The language is: “If the defendant fail to appear * * the court may direct the fact to be entered on the minutes and thereupon the bail is forfeited. Under the old practici a scire facias upon forfeiture of a bail bond answered tl the purpose of both declaration and writ, and, if the fac alleged did not constitute a cause of action, would not su tain a judgment by default. Miller vs State, 35 Ark, 27 It is quite clear that the summons mentioned in section 20( is not intended to be the writ of scire facias, because sch facias, besides being a writ, was also a pleading. It wA the declaration, and, by the terms of the statute, in cases A
What, then, is to be taken as the government’s complaint in this class of cases? In Kentucky, under a like statute, it has been decided that, as the bail bond or recog - lizance itself is the basis of the action, it must, in connec-ion with the order of forfeiture, present a perfect cause of ,ction. Roberts vs Com., 7 Bush, 430; Com. vs Fisher, 2 Duv. 376. And the supreme court of Arkansas, passing up-m this very statute, has adopted the same interpretation. Ihomm vs State, 35 Ark. 327. And, inasmuch as this de-ision of the supreme court of Arkansas was rendered prior o the extension of the statute over the Indian Territory uner the rule laid down by the circuit court of appeals for the lighth circuit in the case of Sanger vs Flow, 4 U. S. App. 2, 1 C. C. A, 56, and 48 Fed. 152, it is binding upon lis court, as being the interpreted law as it came > us. The test, then, in this case, is: Does the bail ond, taken, in connection with the order of forfeiture ntered upon the record, present a perfect cause of stion; or, in other words, do the two, taken togeth- :, make a good complaint at law, of course omitting re caption, the prayer, the signature of counsel, and the ffidavit required by the statue? The bond is not before us, it, inasmuch as no objections were offered to it in the court alow, we assume that is was a valid bail bond in the usual >rm.
In this jurisdiction the requirements for the state-ent of a cause of action in the complaint is contained in lie third paragraph of section 5026 of Mansfield’s Digest, must be a statement, in ordinary and concise language, Lthout repetition, of the facts constituting the plaintiff’s /use of action. The bond on file in the clerk’s office is the strument sued on. It contains: (1) After the caption
“United States
“No. — — vs
“John Doe.
“Now, on this day, this cause coming on for trial, and íe United States, being present by its attorney,-Esq., mounces ready for trial; and the defendant, John Doe, be-Lg called in open court comes not, but wholly makes default. rherefore the appearance bond (or recognizance) of him, the kid John Doe, is declared forfeited. Whereupon John knith and Richard Roe, his sureties in the said bond (or ¡cognizance), were thrice duly called in open court to bring Le body of the said defendant, John Doe, into court, and bve their recognizance, but they answered not.
“Wherefore it is ordered that the clerk of this court sue a summons, citing the said John Doe and his said sure-js, John Smith and Richard Roe, to appear at the next guiar term of this court, to show cause why a judgment in vor of the United States, for the sum of $-, this being e penalty named in the said bond (or recognizance), shall >t be rendered against them, and that a bench warrant issue r the said defendant- ”
If the forfeiture shall occur after the cause is called r trial or otherwise, the form can be. changed to suit the 'cumstances. The judgment of the United States Court for e Northern district of the Indian Territory is affirmed.