In Re Culver

In the justice’s court of the city of Berkeley, county of Alameda, petitioner, Laura Culver, was convicted on a complaint purporting to charge her with the commission of a misdemeanor. She was fined, with the alternative of imprisonment, and, accordingly, upon refusing to pay the fine, was taken into custody and imprisoned by the sheriff of Alameda County. Petitioner subsequently applied to this court for a writ of habeas corpus and was released on bail pending a determination of this proceeding.

In his return to the writ the sheriff of Alameda County, the respondent herein, raised several objections to a con sideration by this court of the merits of petitioner’s application for the writ. However, inasmuch as respondent apparently abandoned reliance upon these preliminary objections at the oral argument and counsel for petitioner and respondent addressed their discussion solely to the merits of the case both at the oral argument and in the briefs filed subsequent to the oral argument, any opposition to a hearing on the merits must be held to have been withdrawn. The first point before this court is, therefore, the contention that the imprisonment of petitioner is unlawful for the…