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36 Ala. App. 216

Denson v. State

Alabama Court of Appeals

Decided August 21, 1951

Alabama Court of Appeals · decided 1951-08-21

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“I, GEORGE C. WALLACE, Governor of the State To any SHERIFF, CORONER, CONSTABLE or other OFFICER authorized by Law to make Arrest send GREETING: WHEREAS, His Excellency, DOLPH BRISCO Governor of the state of TEXAS, by requisition dated the 16TH day of DECEMBER, 1977 has demanded of me, as Governor of the State of Alabama, the surrender of DOYLE SHIRLEY who, it appears, is charged by INDICTMENT CAPIAS, in the county of CHAMBERS in said State, with the crime of MURDER WITH MALICE (a duly certified copy of which INDICTMENT CAPIAS accompanies said requisition) and it appearing that said DOYLE SHIRLEY has fled from justice in said State and taken refuge in the State of Alabama. . . .”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 363 So. 2d 104 - Shirley v. State

““The fact of the establishment of the prima facie case does not preclude the petitioner from showing that the governor issued the warrant without authority of law. The bar to a right so vital to the liberty of a citizen would be deemed extremely unfair. “The Supreme Court of South Carolina in the case of Ex parte Murray, 112 S.C. 342, 99 S.E. 798 , 5 A.L.R. 1152 , held that a refusal to allow the petitioner to inspect the requisition and accompanying papers, or, after demand, refusal to produce them (or copies) will rebut the prima facie sufficiency of the governor’s warrant.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including Johnson v. State

Relies on 32 Ala. App. 651 - State v. Smith · 34 Ala. App. 477 - Tucker v. State · Murray v. Harris

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1951-08-21

How this case has been cited

Cited by 18 later decisions — most recently August 1994

18 state decisions

6019511960197019801990decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

CARR, Presiding Judge.

¶1This appeal is based on an extradition proceeding. In the court below the petitioner was denied his discharge on habeas corpus.

¶2In oral argument and in brief it is insisted by appellant’s attorney that the State failed in its case by emitting to introduce in evidence the affidavit and warrant which accompanied the requisition. Title 15, Sec. 52, Code 1940. This is the sole question of critical concern for our review.

¶3To make out its case in this aspect the State introduced in evidence the warrant of the Governor of Alabama which recites in part:

¶4“Whereas, His Excellency, Fielding L. Wright, Governor of the State of Mississippi, by requisition dated the 27th day of June 1950 has demanded of me, as Governor of the State of Alabama, the surrender of Owel Denson who, it appears, is charged by Affidavits and Warrants, in the county of Hinds in said State, with the crime of False Pretense (2 counts) (a duly certified copy of which Affidavits and Warrants accompanies said requisition) and it appearing that said Owel Denson has fled from justice in said State and taken refuge in the State of Alabama.”

¶5It is now well settled in this jurisdiction that the governor’s rendition warrant, showing on its face all essential jurisdictional facts, makes a prima facie case for the detention of the petitioner by the officer acting pursuant to such warrant. Walker v. State, 35 Ala.App. 612, 51 So. 2d 266; State v. Smith, 32 Ala.App. 651, 29 So.2d 438; Tucker v. State, 34 Ala.App. 477, 41 So.2d 625; Blanton v. State, 35 Ala.App. 561, 50 So.2d 786.

¶6It is earnestly argued that unless the affidavit or indictment be attached to the governor’s warrant the petitioner would have no way of knowing the cause of his arrest and detention and could be easily made the victim of an unwarranted and unauthorized arrest.

¶7The courts must presume that the governor acted properly and in compliance with the law in issuing the warrant. Without a showing to the contrary, the possibility of capricious or arbitrary action on the part of the chief executive of the State must be rejected by the courts.

¶8*218The fact of the establishment of the prima facie case does not preclude the petitioner from showing that the governor issued the warrant without authority of law. The bar to a right so vital to the liberty of a citizen would be deemed extremely unfair.

¶9The Supreme Court of South Carolina in the case of Ex parte Murray, 112 S.C. 342, 99 S.E. 798, 5 A.L.R. 1152, held that a refusal to allow the petitioner to inspect the requisition and accompanying papers, or, after -demand, refusal to produce them (or copies) will rebut the prima facie sufficiency of the governor’s warrant.

¶10In any event, in the case at bar no demand was made for the allied papers. The prisoner introduced no evidence which tended to attack the regularity of the “affidavit and warrants.”

¶11In this state of the record the authorities in this State compel us to the conclusion that the judgment below must be affirmed. It is so ordered.

¶12Affirmed.

PRICE, J., recuses self.
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