Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-08-25
Habeas Corpus Case.


nected with person arrested for drunk
eness, report of which we find in tn
Rutland Herald of Tuesday, and whicl
we copy as follows;
"On the 9Th day of August, Hamlil
G, Knowltoc, while intoxicated, was ar
rested for another offence, and admitting
the charge alleged against him, plead
ed in extenuation thereof that he was in
such state of intoxication that he did
not know what he was doing, Knowl.
ton was then committed to Jail under the
provisions Of section 80 of Chapter "a OF
the General Statutes, which provides
that whenever any person within this
state shall be found in such state of in
toxication as to disturb the public or do
nestle tranquility" any proper officer
may, without warrant app ehend such
intoxicated person and detain him in
custody, until in the opinion of such
officer, the person so detained shall be
capable of testifying properly in a court
ofjustice, and as soon as may be there
after bring him before some justice of the
county" The next day Knowlton was
brought before Benjamin w. Marshall,
Esq, a justice of the peace of the Coun-
ty of Rutland, and the accordance with
the provisions of the same section, exam
ined ION oath" and required to disclose
the place where and the person of whom
the liquor so producing intoxication, was
obtained, and all the circumstances at
tending it." Upon this examination he
disclosed" in substance that he obtain
ed the liquor Of some person to him I'M
known, also stated among other things
that the liquor so obtained was all that
he had drank.
The justice decided that the disclosure
was unsatisfactory, and ordered him re-
committed to Jail, under the provision of
the same statute, that upon "the refusal
or neglect of such persons to so disclose,
THAT is, the place where, etc., he may,
by such justice, be committed to the ex-
pense Of the State, until he shall so dis
close or by said justice, be committed to
the common Jail of the country, at the
expense Of the state, until he shall so dis
close or by said justice be discharged"
On the 10th, Knowlton, at his own re-
quest, was again brought before the same
justice and further disclosed that he OBJ |
tanned liquor of another person, naming
him. This disclosure was also decided |
to be unsatisfactory, and he was recon-
mitteG to jail until such time as he should
make satisfactory disclosure, warrants
of commitment being issued in both in
stances.
From this timeh he remained in jail I'M
til yesterday, when writ of habeas cor
pus, issued by Chief Justice Pierpoint,
was served on Sheriff Field, in the usual
form, requiring that Knowlton, with the
day and cause of his commitment, ETC.,
be produced before him at Vergennes
forthwith.
The only question raised by the petit
ton and writ of habeas corpus, was the
right of justice of the peace to commit
and detain in Jail a person arrested as
intoxicated after disclosure when the
Justice decides that the disclosure is not
tull and satisfactory. Upon the hearing
which was at Chambers in Vergennes, !
Walter G. Dunton and H. B. Monaghan
appeared for the petitioner, and Joel c.
Baker for the State.
Alter hearing the counsel for the petit $
ioner, Chief Justice Pierpoint, in refus-
ng TO discharge Knowlton, remarked
hat it appeared to him that he had no
in the premises, that the pro-
,eeding of the magistrate appeared to be
I'll fair, and that he could not review the
decision of the officer in whom the stat
lte placed the exclusive power of adjudg-
ng upon that question. That the act of
he Justice in deciding as to the disclos-
ire was judicial act, upon which the
Judgment of the Justice was final, and
hat upon habeas corpus be had no pow
r to say that the judgment was wrong,
md that the question of whether dis
closure of that kind was full and true
must be left where the law leaves it, to
he Justice before whom the prisoner was
brought. Therefore the judgment must
De that the proceedings upon the babeas 4;
corpus be dismissed and the prisoner be
to the Jail from which he is
!
The illustrated Christian Weekly for
August 10Th is promptly at hand with a {
Taried table of contents, and an unusual
lumber of fine enpra wings. The great