Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/97468/stephan-vs-united-states
Timestamp: 2018-02-23 20:45:21
Document Index: 789716321

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 681', '§ 6', 'art 1', 'art 1', '§ 681', '§ 54']

Stephan Vs United States - Citation 97468 - Court Judgment | LegalCrystal
Stephan Vs. United States - Court Judgment
LegalCrystal Citation legalcrystal.com/97468
Case Number 319 U.S. 423
Appellant Stephan
stephan v. united states - 319 u.s. 423 (1943) u.s. supreme court stephan v. united states, 319 u.s. 423 (1943) stephan v. united states no. ___ decided june 1, 1943 319 u.s. 423 on application for allowance of appeal from the united states district court for the eastern district of michigan syllabus 1. a conviction in a capital case in the district court is not appealable directly to this court. judicial code (1911), 36 stat. 1087. p. 319 u. s. 426 . 2. where the united states code and the statutes at large are inconsistent, the latter prevail. p. 319 u. s. 426 . application denied. application for allowance of a direct appeal from a conviction in the district court in a capital case. see .....
Stephan v. United States - 319 U.S. 423 (1943)
U.S. Supreme Court Stephan v. United States, 319 U.S. 423 (1943)
1. A conviction in a capital case in the District Court is not appealable directly to this Court. Judicial Code (1911), 36 Stat. 1087. P. 319 U. S. 426 .
2. Where the United States Code and the Statutes at Large are inconsistent, the latter prevail. P. 319 U. S. 426 .
Application for allowance of a direct appeal from a conviction in the District Court in a capital case. See 49 F.Supp. 897.
This case is before us on an application for the allowance of a direct appeal as of right from a judgment of the district court sentencing applicant to death, it being contended that such an appeal may be taken pursuant to the section appearing in the United States Code (1940 edition) as § 681 of Title 18. The application was presented to MR. JUSTICE REED, and by him referred to the full Court. Cf. Budlong v. Budlong, 296 U.S. 550; Brown v. Lane, 232 U. S. 598 , 232 U. S. 600 ; Spies v. Illinois, 123 U. S. 131 , 123 U. S. 143 ; Bess v. West Virginia, 308 U.S. 509. A similar application has been denied by the trial judge on the ground, among others, that the section relied on to establish the jurisdiction of this Court has been repealed. 49 F.Supp. 897.
This section of the Code has its origin in § 6 of the Act of February 6, 1889, 25 Stat. 655, 656, which granted a writ of error as of right from this Court to any federal trial court "in all cases of conviction of crime the punishment of which provided by law is death." This provision preceded the creation of circuit courts of appeals by the Act of March 3, 1891, 26 Stat. 826. See United States v. Rider, 163 U. S. 132 , 163 U. S. 138 . Section 5 of the
S.Rep. No. 388, Part 1, 61st Cong., 2d Sess., p. 77, and also H.R.Doc. No. 783, Part 1, 61st Cong., 2d Sess., p. 81.
Such a plain purpose, established both by language of the Judicial Code and its legislative history, cannot be ignored. Our appellate jurisdiction is defined by statute ( Ex parte McCardle, 7 Wall. 506, 74 U. S. 512 ; The Francis Wright, 105 U. S. 381 , 105 U. S. 386 ; St. Louis, I.M. & S. Ry. Co. v. Taylor, 210 U. S. 281 , 210 U. S. 292 ), and it is evident that, since 1911, the statutes have not authorized a direct appeal to this Court in capital cases. The fact that the words of 18 U.S.C. § 681 have lingered on in the successive editions of the United States Code is immaterial. By 1 U.S.C. § 54(a), the Code establishes " prima facie " the laws of the United States. But the very meaning of " prima facie " is that the Code cannot prevail over the Statutes at Large when the two are inconsistent. Cf. Warner v. Goltra, 293 U. S. 155 , 293 U. S. 161 ; Cloverleaf Butter Co. v. Patterson, 315 U. S. 148 , 315 U. S. 164 n. 16.