Ex parte Clay

— It appears from the return of John P. Shannon, sheriff of Newton county, that the petitioner is in his custody by virtue of a final judgment of the circuit court of said county sentencing him to imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of nine years. If this were all that appeared in the return, the petitioner would necessarily have to be remanded under the provisions of Revised Statutes, 1879, section 2648. But it further appears from the return that the circuit court in which he was tried and sentenced was held and presided over by A. J. Hakbison acting as special judge, and not by the…