Bautsch v. City of Galveston

Citations

• 27 Tex. Ct. App. 342
• 11 S.W. 414
• 1889 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 44

Syllabus

<p>1. Appeal prom Municipal Courts—Jurisdiction—Being convicted and fined in the recorder’s court of Galveston City for a violation of a penal ordinance of the city, the defendant appealed to the criminal district court of Galveston county, by which court his appeal was dismissed on the ground that it had no jurisdiction of such municipal offenses* inasmuch as no right of appeal in such cases was conferred by the special charter of Galveston City, nor by the laws of the State; and because the offense was not against the laws of the State nor prosecuted in the name of “The State of Texas.” Held that the appeal was erroneously dismissed. See the opinion in extenso for a collocation and construction of the various statutory provisions relevant to the question.</p> <p>3. Same—Right of Appeal.—In all criminal cases tried before mayors and recorders of incorporated cities, the general policy and intent of the statutes of Texas secure to defendants a right of appeal commensurate with that from convictions in justices’ courts. The fact that the special charter of a city wholly ignores such right of appeal from convictions for violation of the municipal ordinances can not frustrate the right of appeal from such convictions, notwithstanding the municipal offense consists in an act which is not penal under the general laws of the State.</p> <p>3. Prosecutions for Municipal Offenses—Practice.—All prosecutions for State offenses must be carried on in the name of “The State of Texas,” but an incorporated city may ordain that violations of its penal ordinances may be prosecuted in its municipal name. (Ex parte Boland, 11 Texas Ct. App., 159, approved on this subject.)</p>