Ex parte Carroll

This is a proceeding upon habeas corpus instituted by the petitioner, Carroll, on behalf of John F. Burris, who is alleged to be unlawfully restrained of his liberty. The return to the writ consists of nothing more than the commitment under which the prisoner is held, which recites certain proceedings on attachment for an alleged contempt of court. • These recitals show that Burris obtained from the administratrix of an estate in progress of settlement in the superior court the sum of $108 by false pretenses; that he was ordered by the court to restore the money, and, failing to do so, was committed to the custody of the sheriff, to be confined in jail until he obeyed the order. The authority of the court to make such an order is rested upon the suggestion that Burris was attorney for the administratrix, and obtained the money from her by abuse of his privileges as an officer of court. It may be that a court has the power to make such an order, and enforce it against an attorney by process of contempt, but there is nothing in the return to show that Burris was an attorney for the administratrix at the time he obtained the money in question, and therefore the order appears to be…