In re Jones

The petitioner, David Jones, asks to be discharged from the custody of the sheriff of the *398 county of Mendocino, and alleges that he is illegally imprisoned under an order of the superior court of said county adjudging him guilty of contempt of court.

It appears that upon the hearing in said court, of a motion made by petitioner Jones for the change of the place of trial of a certain civil action to which said petitioner was a party, the petitioner filed, presented, and read a certain affidavit, and that he was adjudged guilty of contempt for and on account of certain language and statements used and made in said affidavit. It is not necessary to set forth the affidavit here, but it is quite clear that it is of such a character that the act of petitioner in presenting it was disorderly, contemptuous, and insolent behavior toward the judge of said court while holding the same, and, as such, was a contempt of said court. If the matter of the affidavit had been material and relevant, and pertinent to any issue before the court, a different question might be presented. If bias, prejudice, or partiality on the part of a judge was a ground for a change of venue, a party seeking such…