LAW.coLAW.co

STATE EX REL. CLAUDE C. CURRY v. JOHN WAGENER, SHERIFF OF RAMSEY COUNTY

Minnesota Supreme Court1920-04-23No. No. 21,862
145 Minn. 377

Summary

Holding. The extradition warrant was properly issued and Curry's habeas corpus petition was denied. The relator was remanded to custody for extradition to Ohio.

Claude Curry was indicted in Ohio for embezzlement allegedly committed in July 1919. After leaving Ohio, he was arrested in Minnesota and held under an extradition warrant issued by the Governor. Curry sought habeas corpus relief, arguing he was not a fugitive from Ohio justice because he had settled the matter with the complaining witness and left with permission. The court rejected his arguments, holding that the specific date of the crime and the circumstances of his departure were immaterial to extradition proceedings. The court emphasized that a private party's settlement with an accused criminal cannot shield that person from prosecution, as allowing such arrangements would undermine the state's enforcement of criminal law.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether the alleged date of the crime is material in extradition proceedings
  • Whether settlement between the accused and complaining witness prevents extradition
  • Whether departure with the victim's consent defeats fugitive status
  • Admissibility of settlement evidence in extradition hearings

Procedural posture

Curry petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge an extradition warrant issued by Minnesota's Governor in response to Ohio's demand for his return on embezzlement charges.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

Brown, C. J.

Habeás corpus in resistance by relator of a warrant of extradition issued by the Governor in response to a demand of the Governor of the state of Ohio.

■Relator was duly indicted by the grand jury of the county of Cuyahoga, Ohio, and thereby formally charged with the crime of embezzlement, alleged to have been committed in that county and state on the sixteenth day of July, 1919. Subsequent to that date relator departed from Ohio, and was later apprehended in this state. The executive warrant for his return to Ohio was duly and properly issued, and relator is now .held in custody thereunder. In support of the writ of habeas corpus for his release relator contends that he is not a fugitive from the justice of the state of Ohio and should therefore be discharged from further restraint.

The case in all its essential respects is controlled by State v. Boekenoogen, 140 Minn. 120, 167 N. W. 301, and State v. Gerber, 111 Minn. 132, 126 N. W. 482. All thé substantial questions here presented were there involved, and were determined adversely, to the contention of relator.

The date on which the crime is alleged to have been committed is not material, and whether relator was within the state of Ohio on that date, namely, July 16, 1919, is of no importance. It stands conceded that he received the money charged to have been embezzled in March preceding, and that he was within that state for a considerable time thereafter and as late as July 15, 1919. Evidence of the embezzlement on any day during that period, and within the statute of limitations, will be admissible under the indictment. State v. Boekenoogen, supra; State v. Gerber, 111 Minn. 132, 126 N. W. 482.

The evidence offered by relator tending to show a settlement and adjustment , of the matters in controversy with the complaining witness was not admissible for any purpose. The guilt or innocence of the accused cannot be inquired into in proceedings of this kind. State v. Gerber, 111 Minn. 132, 126 N. W. 482.

There is no special merit in the further contention that relator is not a fugitive from the justice of the state of Ohio, for the reason that after the settlement referred to he left the state with the consent and permission of the complaining witness, and not with a view of avoiding a prosecution in that state. The same contention was rejected in the case of State v. Gerber, 111 Minn. 132, 126 N. W. 482. On no sound reason can tbe prosecuting witness in criminal proceedings be permitted thus to interfere with the due administration of the criminal laws, or with the prosecution of persons charged with crime. The law condemns the suppression of crime, and, except as to civil rights and remedies, prohibits the settlement thereof by the parties concerned therein. The case of Ex parte Tod, 12 S. D. 386, 81 N. W. 637, 47 L.R.A. 566, 76 Am. St. 616, insofar as it may be construed as holding to the contrary, should not be followed. In re Galbreath, 24 N. D. 582, 139 N. W. 1050; Leonard v. Zweifel, 171 Iowa, 522, 151 N. W. 1054.

Writ discharged .and relator remanded to the custody of respondent.