that the said court may proceed to hear and determine the same according to law. If the accused be admitted to bail after electing to be tried by the court of special sessions, a recognizance shall be taken for the appearance of the accused at the said court of special sessions, which shall also be filed with the clerk of said court; and if the accused shall fail to appear, pursuant to the condition of said recognizance, the said court shall, by an order entered in their minutes, direct the same to be forfeited, and the clerk thereof, shall return said recognizance, with a certified copy of the minutes forfeiting the same, to the district attorney of the city and county of New York, to the end that the accused and sureties may be prosecuted thereon according to law.1 The statute provides that in hearing and determining any accusation, according to the above mentioned provisions of the statute, the special sessions shall proceed in the same manner as hereinbe fore mentioned for trials in courts of special sessions in other parts of the State, except as to the summoning of a jury, and upon the conviction of the offender, shall sentence him to the punishment prescribed by law. The statute further provides for the powers of this court, by issuing warrants to enforce its judgments and orders, and to bring accused persons before it for trial or judgment, and issuing subpoenas for witnesses, attachments for contempt, and other process necessary for the proper conduct of the court; the process to be tested in the name of any justice of the court and signed by the clerk, and the subpoenas to be served by some proper person under the direction of the clerk.3 When poor witnesses for the people have been committed, the court may order the payment to them of such sum as may seem reasonable, not exceeding ten dollars.1 In cases of arrest for intoxication or disorderly conduct in the city of New York, the police justices, in addition to holding the party to bail for good behavior, have power to impose a fine not exceeding ten dollars, or to commit to the city prison not exceed ing ten days, each day of imprisonment to be taken as a liquidation of one dollar of the fine. The fines collected by wardens 'Laws 1859, ch. 491, § 1, p. 1129. 22 R. S., 715, § 51; Peo. v. Riley, 5 Park., 409; Murphy v. Peo., 2 Cow., 815. of the prisons are to be paid to the clerk of the court, and the clerks are to return the same monthly to the county treasurer, with the names of the persons paying the same and the amounts.1 Under the former provisions of the Revised Statutes, persons who were tried and sentenced by a court of special sessions in the city and county of New York, without having demanded a trial, might appeal from such sentence to the court of general sessions of the city and county of New York. Such appeal was to be made at the time sentence was pronounced, and thereupon the conviction was to be void. The said court was thereupon required to enter such appeal in its minutes, and was to proceed in the same manner as if no such trial had been had, to take a recognizance from the accused, with sufficient surety, to appear at the general sessions of said city and county, or in default of giving such recognizance, was to commit him to prison, and to take the same measures to insure the attendance of the witnesses in behalf of the prosecution at the said court of general sessions as in other cases.3 The court of general sessions thereupon proceeded in every such case by indictment and other proceedings, in the same manner as if no such trial or conviction had been had.4 There does not seem to be any repeal of the above provisions in regard to the right to appeal and proceedings had thereon,5 and it has been held that the provisions of the act of 1859, which gives certiorari to remove into the court of sessions any conviction had before any court of special sessions or police court, does not apply to the court of general sessions of the peace in the city and county of New York," although the Court of Appeals have since held that that court is but a court of sessions for the county of New York, and that a court of general sessions of the peace, and a court of sessions of any county, are one and the same tribunal.7 Where a person arrested and brought before a magistrate in the city of New York under a charge of petit larceny, presented to a magistrate a writing signed by him, in which he waived a jury, and demanded to be tried before a court of special sessions, it was held that he waived thereby his right, when subsequently brought before the court of special sessions, to demand a jury and to have his case removed to the general sessions, and also his right of appeal to the general sessions, under 2 Revised Statutes, 715, section 52.1 Whenever sentence shall be pronounced upon any person convicted of any offence in the said court of special sessions, the clerk thereof shall, as soon as may be, make out and deliver to the sheriff of the said city and county, or his deputy, a transcript of the entry of such conviction, in the minutes of the said court, and of the sentence thereupon, duly certified by the said court, which shall be sufficient authority to such sheriff or deputy to execute such sentence, and he shall execute the same accordingly.2 Transcripts of conviction had in the said court shall not be required to be certified by the magistrate holding the said court, but a duly certified copy of any such conviction, made by the clerk of said court, shall be evidence in all courts and places of the facts contained therein." All fines imposed by the said court shall be received by the clerk thereof, who shall return the same monthly under oath to the chamberlain of the city. 49. FEES OF JUSTICES IN CRIMINAL CASES AND OF COURTS OF SPECIAL SESSIONS. The several justices of the peace in the State are to be allowed and receive the following fees, for the services hereinafter mentioned in criminal cases: For administering an oath, ten cents; a warrant (but no justice of the peace shall be obliged to issue a warrant on any complaint for assault and battery, unless the person making such complaint and requiring such warrant, shall pay the fee therefor) twenty-five cents; a bond or recognizance, twentyfive cents; a subpoena, including all the names inserted therein, twenty-five cents; a commitment for want of bail, twenty-five cents; for an examination of the accused, where such examination Peo. v. Riley. 5 Park., 401. 'Laws 1830, ch. 42, § 5; 2 R. S., 715, § 57; Laws 1858, ch. 282, § 3. * Laws 1858, ch. 282, § 5; 2 R. S., 224, §§ 7, 8; 2 R. S., 715, § 59. is required by law, for each day necessarily spent, one dollar; for every necessary adjournment of the hearing or examination, twenty-five cents.1 The fees of courts of special sessions are as follows: For a venire, twenty-five cents; for swearing a jury, twenty-five cents; for swearing each witness on the trial, ten cents; for a subpoena, including all names inserted therein, twenty-five cents; for a trial fec, one dollar per day during the necessary and actual continuance of the trial; for swearing constable to attend a jury ten cents; for receiving and entering the verdict of the jury, twenty-five cents; for entering the sentence of the court, twentyfive cents; for warrant of commitment on sentence, twenty-five cents; for record of conviction and filing the same, seventy-five cents; but all such charges, in any one case, shall not exceed five dollars, unless such court continue more than one day; in such case, the costs of such additional day may be added thereto; for a return to any writ of certiorari, to be paid by the county, two dollars; for services, when associated with another justice of the peace in cases of bastardy, for each day actually and necessarily spent, two dollars.2 'Laws 1866, ch. 692, p. 290, § 3. • Id., § 4. CHAPTER XI. OF THE REMOVAL BY CERTIORARI OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND JUDGMENT UPON CONVICTIONS IN THE COURTS OF SPECIAL SESSIONS AND POLICE COURTS INTO THE COURT OF SESSIONS. V.-SERVICE OF THE WRIT AND AFFIDAVIT ON THE MAGISTRATE. VI.-RETURN TO THE WRIT AND FILING OF PAPERS. VII.-RETURN HOW COMPELLED. VIII.-SERVICE OF PAPERS AND NOTICE OF ARGUMENT. IX.-DUTY OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY. X.-HEARING ON THE RETURN BY COURT OF SESSIONS. XI.-STAYING EXECUTION ON CONVICTION. XII.-DISCHARGING PRISONER. XIII.-FILING THE RECOGNIZANCE. XIV.-PROCEEDINGS ON THE RECOGNIZANCE. XV.-JUDGMENT. XVI.-PROCEEDINGS ON THE JUDGMENT. XVII. QUASHING THE CERTIORARI. SECTION I. GENERAL REMARKS. The Legislature of 1857 passed an act entitled "An act defining the powers and duties of courts of special sessions, except in the city and county of New York and the city of Albany, and court of sessions, and regulating appeals in criminal cases." The first two sections of the act defined the general powers and duties of the courts of special sessions, and of their jurisdiction to hear charges for certain crimes, and the remaining twenty-three sections, were devoted to the regulation of appeals from convictions or sentences of courts of special sessions or police courts. The act above mentioned, by the terms thereof, repealed the former provisions of the Revised Statutes in relation to writs of certiorari to courts of special sessions, and substituted the method of appeal in said act prescribed, in the place thereof. The Legislature of 1859, (chap. 339,) passed an act repealing all of the act of 1857, with the exception of the first two sections 'Session Laws 1857, ch. 769. C. P.-15. |