The State of Nebraska on the relation of Leon Angus vs. Felix J. McShane and Henry Schroeder
June 14, 1916
- August 4, 1916
Petitioned on June 22, 1916
Filed before the Douglas County District Court (Omaha, Nebraska)
Case ID: hc.case.ne.1172
Case Summary
On June 14, 1916, based on the facts in the complaint, Acting City Prosecutor T. J. McGuire filed a vagrancy complaint, charging Leon Angus with carrying a concealed weapon. Previously, in March 1916, he had been accused of killing a man named Carl Rudman, but it was found that the shooting was in self-defense. He had shot Rudman, an Austrian mechanic, while already on parole from the Nebraska State Penitentiary, where he was serving a life sentence for killing a saloon keeper named Nels Lausten. On July 22, 1916, Angus petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that Sheriff McShane and County Jailer Schroeder unlawfully imprisoned and restrained him of his liberty. In the petition, he stated that on June 2, 1916, the police arrested him for "suspicious character." On June 14, 1916, William Ramsey (acting in the place of McGuire) drew up a vagrancy complaint, charging Angus with being a "vagrant." Instead of Ramsey signing a complaint, he used the McGuire's rubber stamp to fill the blank space for the complaining witness and wrote McGuire's name where the complaining witness was required to sign. McGuire was not present or sworn by the Police Magistrate Foster as required by the law, so no complaining witness was present or swore to the complaint. Without a complaining witness, Angus was arraigned, where he pleaded not guilty. He was tried for vagrancy, found guilty, and sentenced to ninety days in county jail. In his petition, Angus claimed that there was a misrepresentation of the charges in the vagrancy complaint. The complaint stated that Angus was charged with "carrying a concealed weapon," and there was a drawn line under the words "form of the statutes." As a result, he was sent to county jail on a state mittimus instead of a city mittimus. The petition was received on July 28, 1916, and on the same day, the judge accepted the petition. On August 1, 1916, the judge filed a writ of habeas corpus and the next day, Sheriff McShane responded to the writ, claiming that the charge was not illegal for the following three reasons. First, he claimed that Angus was convicted of vagrancy and carrying a concealed weapon. Second, although Ramsey drew the charges, he did it with the consent of McGuire. Third, it was the judge, with the approval of Ramsey, who included carrying concealed weapons and the line under the word on the complaint. He concluded that Angus should have made a complaint during the trial and asked that the Courts uphold the charges. However, on August 4, 1916, the judge ruled that Angus was illegally detained and should be released from custody.
Case Information
Petition type(s)
Petition subtype(s)
- Vagrancy
- Carrying a concealed weapon
Sites of significance
Outcome
Writ allowed
Fate of bound party
Released from custody
Case Citation
Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series: Criminal Appearance Docket Books, Vol. 18: ca.1915-1916, p. 767; Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Reel 70: Doc. 18-742 to 19-82, Jul. 18, 1916 - Sep. 26, 1916, No. 18-767
Source material(s)
Docket |
Case File
Length of case file
Between 11 and 20 pages
Repository(s)
State
Tag(s)
