Chapman v. State

Citations

• 16 Tex. Ct. App. 76
• 1884 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 72

Syllabus

<p>1. Constitutional Law—Jurisdiction.— Juri-diction over mi-demeanor eases is conferred by the Constitution upon the county and justices’ courts. The district courts can supercede the county courts in such jurisdiction only when so empowered in the manner prescribed in Article 5, section 82, of the Constitution. The act of March 16, 1883 (Laws of Eighteenth Legislature, page 24), diverted the county court of Atascosa county of jurisdiction over criminal cases, and vested in the district court of said county exclusive jurisdiction over criminal cases then pending in said county court. Held, that, in this manner the said district court was constitutionally invested with jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases.</p> <p>2. Same—Construction of a Statute.—The act of the Legislature referred to proceeds as follows: “ And the district court shall have and exercise all the civil and criminal jurisdiction heretofore vested in said county court by the Constitution and laws, and not divested by this act.” Held, that under the recognized rule of statutory construction, that “ when the intention of a statute is plainly discernable from its provisions, that intention is as obligatory as the letter of the statute, and will even prevail over the strict letter,” the word “not,” as used in the act, which would otherwise defeat the plain intent of the statute, must be held to have been used by mistake, and should be disregarded in construing the said statute. ¡ See the opinion in extenso for the rule stated in other but consistent terms.</p> <p>3. Same.—The jurisdiction conferred by the act under consideration upon the district court, is the same divested out of the county court, as to all cases not then pending in said county court; that is, the jurisdiction as to eases not pending is not exclusive, but only concurrent with the justices’ courts in cases over which the justices’ courts have heretofore had jurisdiction. Succinctly stated, the act referred to does not, in any way, affect th