Case Summary

In early 1912, Frank Foster and Edwin Jurgens were convicted of assault and robbery with a dangerous weapon in Douglas County, Oregon, and committed to the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. Homer Rutherford, whose relationship to Foster is unclear, petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus on Foster's behalf, which was granted. After hearing the evidence, Foster was remanded to the custody of the penitentiary superintendent. After this decision, Foster appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, but not before motioning the Marion County Circuit Court to remove Rutherford as a petitioner on the case retroactively. This appears to have been done so that Foster, as the sole petitioner, could claim poverty as a reason for not paying some of his court fees. The circuit court granted the motion. While the state supreme court records are not included in the circuit court case file, published reports indicate that the upper court upheld the decision of the lower court.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Assault and robbery with a dangerous weapon

Outcome

Writ denied

Fate of bound party

Remained in custody

Case Citation

Marion County Circuit Court Journal, Dept. No. 2, Vol. 30, Aug. 1911-May 1913, Accession No. 93A-19, pp. 398, 412, 544; Marion County Circuit Court Case Files, Case No. 10910

Source material(s)

Journal | Case File

Length of case file

Between 21 and 30 pages

Repository(s)

• Oregon State Archives (Salem, Oregon)

State

• Oregon

Point(s) of law cited

"section 628 of Lord's Oregon Laws"|"section 1920 of the [Oregon] Criminal Code"

Tag(s)

• Appeal

People

• Foster, Frank (bound party)
• Foster, Frank (petitioner)
• Rutherford, Homer (petitioner)
• Curtis, Frank H. (respondent)
• Curtis, Frank H. (responding party)
• Curtis, Frank H. (holding party)
• Galloway, William (judge)
• Lord, William P. (petitioner attorney)
• Crawford, Andrew Murray (respondent attorney)
• DeLong, Morton R. (respondent attorney)
• Hamilton, J. W. (authority ordering detention)

• Additional parties

  Allen, R. D. (clerk)

  William, Mabel A. (deputy clerk)

  Gehlhar, Max (clerk)

  Boyer, U. G. (deputy clerk)

  Brown, George M. (attorney)

  Lenox, E. H. (clerk)

  Quine, George K. (sheriff)

  Jurgens, Edwin Williams (co-defendant)

  Murray, J. S. (clerk)

  Wilson, Tom R. (notary public)

  Reed, Blanche (deputy clerk)