Hutt v. Board of Supervisors
Wisconsin Supreme Court
APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Winnebago County. The County Board of Supervisors of said county disallowed the claim of the plaintiff for the amount of his fees as a witness in a criminal prosecution, he having been summoned for the defendant in such prosecution, and such defendant having been acquitted.
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APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Winnebago County. The County Board of Supervisors of said county disallowed the claim of the plaintiff for the amount of his fees as a witness in a criminal prosecution, he having been summoned for the defendant in such prosecution, and such defendant having been acquitted. On appeal to the circuit court, judgment was rendered for the plaintiff, and the defendant appealed. cited sec. 7, Art. I, Constitution of IV is.; sec. 8, ch. 177, R. S.; Westv. The State, 1 Wis., 233; Carpenter el al. v. County of Dane, 9 id., 274; County of Bane v. Smith, 13 id., 585,…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court,
DOWNER, J.
The question presented in this case is, whether the county is liable for the fees of the defendant’s witnesses in a criminal prosecution in which the defendant, at the trial, is acquitted. At common law the defendant, whether acquitted or convicted, is alone bound to pay his witnesses, and without any right of being reimbursed from the public treasury. But it is claimed that the county is liable by virtue of the provisions of sec. 77, ch. 133, R. S., which *117is : “ When any prosecution instituted in the name of this state, for breaking any law of this state, shall fail,…
2Cited by1 opinion
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