Batchelder v. Moore

Citations

• 42 Cal. 412

Syllabus

<p>Contempt op Court—Power to Punish.—The power of a Court to punish for an alleged contempt of its authority, though undoubted, is in its nature arbitrary, and its exercise is not to be upheld, except under the circumstances, and in the manner prescribed by law.</p> <p>Jurisdiction in Cases op Contempt.—It is essential 'to the validity of proceedings in contempt, subjecting a party to fine and imprisonment, that they show a case in point of jurisdiction within the provisions of the law by which such proceedings are authorized, for mere presumptions and intendments are not to be indulged in their support.</p> <p>Contempt not Committed in Presence of the Court.—When the alleged contempt is not committed in the presence of the Court an affidavit of the facts constituting the contempt must be presented, in order to set the power of the Court in motion. If the affidavit be defective in stating the facts, it is equivalent to the utter absence of an affidavit.</p> <p>Contempt under the Act of 1862.—Under the Act of 1862, for the punishment of contempts and trespasses, it is essential that the person accused be one who has been ejected or dispossessed, as provided in the Act.</p>