Valentina v. Mercer

Citations

• 201 U.S. 131
• 26 S. Ct. 368
• 50 L. Ed. 693
• 1906 U.S. LEXIS 1819

Syllabus

<p>Felts v. Murphy, ante,- p. 123, followed, to effect that the writ of habeas corpus cannot perform the functions of a writ of error and that the power of Federal courts to review the judgments of state courts is limited entirely to the question of jurisdiction.</p> <p>On a trial for .murder the accused admitted the killing, and after all the facts were presented the court charged the jury to consider all the evidence and that if the killing was premeditated to find a verdict of guilty in the first degree, if not, then on the admitted facts it was murder in the second degree. The jury found in the first degree. The highest court of the State held the charge was without error. Held, that on the record there was a valid trial by a court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and the person and there was no loss of jurisdiction over either at any time during the trial and the judgment of the state court' could not be reviewed on habeas corpus proceedings in the Federal courts.</p>