Case Name: Ex Parte Torres
Court: Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Jurisdiction: Puerto Rico
Decision Date: 1903-07-23
Citations: 4 P.R. 147
Docket Number: No. 14
Parties: Ex Parte Torres.
Judges: 
Reporter: Puerto Rico Reports
Volume: 4
Pages: 147–151

Head Matter:
Ex Parte Torres.
Application for a writ of habeas corpus.
No. 14.
Decided July 23, 1903.
Jury Trial — Right op — Time op Demand — A defendant charged with a felony must claim his right to he tried hy a jury at the time of arraignment, otherwise it shall he deemed as having heen waived.
STATEMENT OP THE CASE.
This application for a writ of habeas corpus was presented to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and in it the petitioner sets forth the facts in the following manner. First — In the month of May of the present year, the Justice of the Peace of Isabela issued a warrant for the arrest of Paulino Torres Portalatin by virtue of proceedings instituted against him for the alleged seduction of Catalina Mercado. Second — On the 22nd of aforesaid month, Francisco Chaves Reverón and Felipe Alfaro appeared before the same justice and executed the necessary bail bond for the release of the prisoner. Third — On the 9th of June last Paulino Torres was arraigned in the District Court of 'Mayagiiez, upon an information filed by the representative of the People of Porto Rico, charging him with seduction. The court thereupon ordered the detention of the accused until the approval of the bail bond executed before the Justice of the Peace of Isabela, which having been approved four days later by the court, the accused was again released temporarily. Fourth — When arraigned Paulino Torres was notified of his right to be tried by a jury. Fifth — Notwithstanding this notification of his rights, and although the defendant had not asked for a trial by the court, nor had his case been placed on the jury docket, nor the first call thereof been made, the court ordered the trial of the case to be had on the 10th day of the present month before the court. Sixth — On said day, before the beginning of the trial, counsel for the defendant filed with the clerk of the court a petition requesting that Paulino Torres be allowed a trial by jury, as provided for by section VI of the Constitution of the United States and section 178 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Seventh — The court before beginning the trial, denied the request, thereby reviving section 3, now repealed, of the old law providing for trial by jury in Porto Rico, wherein it is prescribed that the demand for a trial by jury should be announced two days before the time set for the trial. Upon denying the request the court ordered the trial to be immediately proceeded with. Eight — After the trial the court set the 14th of last month as the day upon which sentence would be passed, and before it was pronounced, counsel for' the defendant, with the latter’s consent, alleged that the court was without jurisdiction as an exception which precluded the rendering of judgment, inasmuch as the jury was the only tribunal having jurisdiction to take cognizance of the case. Ninth — Notwithstanding this, the court rendered judgment sentencing the accused to one year at hard labor in the penitentiary for the crime of seduction. Tenth— The judgment being then and there entered for enforcement, Paulino Torres who had been admitted to bail, was remanded to prison by order of the court and taken by the police to the Mayagiiez jail, where he is confined under the custody of Marcelo del Rio, warden of said penal institution.
Mr. de Diego, for petitioner.
Mr. del Toro, Fiscal, for the People.

Opinion:
' Me. Chief Justice Quiñones
delivered the following opinion:
The writ ordering Paulino Torres to be brought before me having been duly executed, the hearing was had, the applicant and his counsel being present, as also the Fiscal, who opposed the petition for the discharge of the prisoner.
The petitioner, Paulino Torres has not been deprived of the right allowed him by the Code of Criminal Procedure in force in this Island, to demand a trial by jury, hut as he did not avail himself of this right at the time the information was read, when he could have done so with full knowledge of the charge, his right thereto must, be deemed to have been waived, for which reason the district court had jurisdiction to try the case, and render such judgment as it thought proper, in accordance with the provisions of section 178 of aforesaid Code of Criminal Procedure.
Inasmuch, then, as the District Court of Mayagiiez had jurisdiction to take cognizance of the matter, said court has not exceeded its jurisdiction, nor does the case come within any of the provisions of section 483 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, cited in support of the appeal. It is hereby declared that the discharge of Paulino Torres, cannot be granted, and the prisoner is remanded to the Mayagiiez jail under the custody of the warden thereof, with costs against the petitioner.