Alford v. State

Citations

• 8 Tex. Ct. App. 545

Syllabus

<p>1. “ Officers.” — The Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 44, enumerates all the peace-officers known to the law of the State, and as it names no such an officer as a “ deputy-marshal ” of a municipal incorporation, no such a functionary is an officer of whom judicial cognizance can be taken by this court.</p> <p>2. Same. —A quondam bailiff of a grand jury has no official status or authority after its adjournment sine die; and to constitute a deputy-sheriff, the appointment must be in writing, and the appointee, before entering on his duties, must qualify and otherwise comply with the requirements of art. 4520 of the Revised Statutes.</p> <p>3. Arrest.—No person other than an officer can make an arrest, except for a felony committed in his presence or within his view, unless he is specifically appointed by a magistrate to execute a particular writ, or is summoned by an officer on a posse comitatus.</p> <p>4. Warrant of Arrest. — In accordance with the constitutional guaranty against unreasonable seizures or searches, the Code of Procedure enacts that a warrant for arrest, and also the complaint on which it issues, must specify the accused’s name, if known, and if his name be unknown, must give a reasonably definite description of him.</p> <p>5. Same. ■—A fictitious name cannot be assigned to the accused in lieu of his real name, nor can the officer charged with the execution of the warrant interpolate in it the true name of the accused. Neither can a warrant be held valid because the person arrested under it, though described neither by name nor otherwise, proved to be the person against whom the complaint was intended.</p> <p>■6. Right of Resistance.—Unlawful arrest is a continuous assault, of an aggravated character, and the right of resistance thereto is not limited to the time at which it is attempted or accomplished, but continues throughout the unlawful detention, and may be exercised not only by the person unlawfully detained, but by another in his behalf, an