Dougherty v. People

Citations

• 124 Ill. 557
• 16 N.E. 852
• 1888 Ill. LEXIS 998

Syllabus

<p>1. Criminal law—delay in bringing accused to trial—of his right to a <discharge. Under section 18, of division 13, of the Criminal Code, otherwise known as section 438 of the Eevised Statutes of 1874, the prisoner is •only entitled to be discharged and set at liberty in case the delay to try him does not happen on his own application.</p> <p>2. Same—presumption as to who ccmsed delay in trial, in absence of ■bill of exceptions. A defendant asking a discharge on the ground that four terms of court have elapsed without a trial being had, should show, by bill of exceptions, that the failure to try his case was not due to his own application. In the absence of anything to show to the contrary, it will be presumed that what the trial court did, in denying a motion for a discharge, was rightly done.</p> <p>3. In this case, the defendant was indicted at the September term, 1882, •of the Criminal Court of Cook county, the terms of which are monthly, and at the same term was arrested and pleaded not guilty. The record showed 4hat at the November term the case was continued by agreement, and that at the December term it was continued on the application of the defendant, and that at the May term, 1883, it was, on the motion of the State’s attorney, stricken from the docket, with leave to reinstate, and was reinstated on December 13,1886, when the defendant entered a motion to vacate the order of reinstatement, which was overruled. On December 23, 1886, defendant made a motion to be discharged, which motion was continued to the next term, and then overruled, and the defendant was tried and convicted at the January term, 1887. There was no bill of exceptions preserved in the record showing that the failure to try the case at the January, February, March or April term, was not due to the defendant's own motion: Held, that this court could not say whether there was error in refusing to discharge the defendant.</p>