United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Ex Parte Bigelow, 113 U.S. 328 (1885)

Ex Parte Bigelow

Submitted January 19, 1885

Decided February 2, 1885

113 U.S. 328

Syllabus

The Supreme Court of the District of Columbia has jurisdiction to determine whether an arraignment of a prisoner under several indictments, an order of court that the indictments shall be consolidated and tried together, an empanelling of a jury for that purpose, an opening of the case on the part of the prosecution, and a discharge of the jury at that stage in order to try the prisoner before the same jury on the indictments separately, so put the prisoner in jeopardy in regard to the offenses named in the consolidated indictments, that he cannot be afterwards tried for any of those offenses.

When a court has jurisdiction by law of an offense and of the person charged with it, its judgments are, in general, not nullities; an exception to this rule if relied on, must be clearly found to exist.

This was a motion for leave to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The facts upon which the motion was founded appear in the opinion of the court.