Meyer Harris Cohen v. United States

Appellant appeals from an order made by one judge of the District Court for the Southern District of California raising bail originally fixed by another judge at $100,000, reduced by a second judge to $25,000, and raised by the third to $100,000. Appellant has also filed a “motion to set bail pending appeal and/or a motion to reduce bail.” Both the appeal and the motions are based on the ground that the bail finally fixed was in an excessive amount, violative of pie Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 46(c), 18 U.S.C., and the Eighth Amendment.

Under the procedure suggested as “proper” in Stack v. Boyle, 342 U.S. 1 , 72 S.Ct. 1 , 96 L.Ed. .3, 4 the appellant Cohen must move “for reduction of bail and appeal to the Court of Appeals from an order denying such motion.” That procedure has not been followed herein.

This court’s general jurisdiction on appeals extends only to “final decisions,” 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . Neither counsel have furnished us case law indicating this court has jurisdiction to hear the instant appeal. The motions are supported here by affidavits disclosing facts apparently not offered to the court below.

Although there is indirect authority in Cohen v. Beneficial…