Ligda v. Edmunds

Opinion

ELKINGTON, J. The appeal here is taken from a judgment of the superior court denying the Solano County Public Defender’s application for a writ of mandate against the Clerk of the Municipal Court of the Vallejo Municipal District.

The public defender had sought to file as the “first paper in a criminal action” a document captioned “In the Matter of Property Seized from Danny Olon Price,” and entitled “Notice of Motion and Motion to Suppress Evidence.” It was directed to “Officers Rust, Bawart, Kilkenny, Odióme, Blass of the Vallejo Police Department.” The motion sought the “return forthwith [of] certain personal property” allegedly owned by “his client” and “unlawfully seized from movant by officers of the Vallejo Police Department, and [an order] directing that the property seized be suppressed as evidence in any criminal proceeding.” It appears that no criminal proceedings had been taken against Price and that no threat or attempt to use the property as evidence in any such proceeding had ever been made.

[717]The clerk of the municipal court stating, “I find no authority to file these documents in a Municipal Court without first having a criminal complaint on file,” refused to file the proffered document.

In the superior court, and here, the public defender has posed no Fourth Amendment issue, nor has he contended that Price is in fact entitled to the return of his property or to its suppression as evidence. The only contention is that the clerk should have filed the paper and caused “the matter [to be] placed on calendar.”

The frustrated municipal court proceedings were clearly not taken under the authority of Penal Code section 1538.5, nor were they in legal effect proceedings in replevin or claim and delivery as permitted by Code of Civil Procedure sections 509-521, nor were they otherwise in the nature of an action for the quieting of title to personal property. All of this is conceded by the public defender who frankly states that he finds no authority in support of his contention.

The argument seems to be that a clerk of a court, having no discretion whatever, is bound to accept any and all papers offered for filing, and that an unqualified right exists to have a judge of the court make sort of an ex post facto decision whether the paper has properly been filed.