Ex Parte Ewell

Application for a writ of habeas corpus.

Petitioner was adjudged guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for a period of twenty-four hours, by the superior court of the state of California in and for the city and county of San Francisco, department 16 thereof, Honorable Louis H. Ward presiding. The return of the sheriff to said writ sets forth a copy of the commitment embodying the judgment of contempt. Incorporated in such judgment are the facts upon which the adjudication of contempt is based. The return, we think, is legally sufficient in form and substance and we do not agree with petitioner that in a habeas corpus proceeding a petitioner may go behind the judgment and offer evidence to impeach the facts and matter adjudicated therein; those facts must be taken as true. (In re Shortridge, 5 Cal. App. 371 [ 90 Pac. 458 ] ; Ex parte Ah Men, 77 Cal. 198 [ 11 Am. St. Rep. 263 , 19 Pac. 380 ].)

Petitioner also filed and presented a petition for a writ of certiorari whereby he seeks to have said judgment of contempt reviewed and annulled. The circumstances leading up to the contempt proceedings are fully set forth in the latter petition and in…