HISTORY OF YUBA COUNTY CALIFORNIA
by Thompson & West, 1879, with illustrations
Chapter XV - Field vs. Turner
An event, or rather series of events, which for several years placed Yuba county prominently before the eyes of the public, and kept the legal fraternity throughout the whole State in an agitated condition, was the celebrated Field vs. Turner controversy. The young city of Marysville was kept in a fever of excitement; bitter discussions took place between the several friends and champions of the opposing parties, and newspapers throughout the State teemed with accounts of the condition of affairs at various stages of the proceedings. Both parties have published and distributed pamphlets, setting forth their relative claims and striving by every argument to justify their actions in the matter. Judge Wm. R. Turner had been appointed to the Eighth Judicial District by Governor Burnett, and assumed the ermine in June, 1850. Mr. Stephen J. Field had made all his preparations for a visit to the Eastern States, but was prevailed upon by Captain Sutter to delay his departure and defend a suit brought against him in the District Court.
The following extract from a communication which appeared in the Sacramento Daily Transcript of June 25, 1850, pictures vividly the scene and proceedings in the court-room on that eventful day: -
"On Friday, the 7th instant, a suit between one Cameron, plaintiff, and Captain Sutter, defendant, was called on for trial befor Judge Turner of the District Court. Judge Field was retained as counsel for Captain Sutter. A preliminary motion in the case was decided against Captain Sutter, whereupon Judge Field rose to read the provisions of the Statute applicable to the point in question, when Judge Turner said, in a hurried and petulant manner, that the Court understood the law, and would not listen further - that the mind of the Court was made up - and wound up by ordering Judge Field to take his seat. Judge Field then stated, in a very quiet manner, and in very respectful language, that he excepted to the decision of the Court and appealed from the order. Judge Turner, apparently irritated, immediately replied, addressing himself to Judge Field, 'I fine that gentleman two hundred dollars.' To this, in a quiet manner, Mr. Field answered, 'Very well.' Turner immediately added in a petulant and angry tone, 'I fine him three hundred dollars, and commit him to the custody of the Sheriff eight hours.' To this Judge Field again replied, in a quiet and respectful manner, 'Very well,' or, 'Well, sir,' Turner immediately responded with great violence and manner of language, 'I fine him four hundred dollars and commit him twelve hours.' Judge Field then told the Court that he had a right by statute to appeal from any order of his honor, and that it was no contempt of Court to give notice of an exception or an appeal, and appealed to all the members of the bar present if it could be so regarded. At this Judge Turner flew into a rage, and cried out, in a manner ludicrously violent and boisterous, 'I fine him five hundred dollars, and commit him to twenty-four hours - forty-eight hours - turn him out of Court - force him out of Court - subpoena a posse - subpoena me.' Judge Field soon after left the court-room, and, accompanied by the Deputy Sheriff, returned to his office."
Mr. Field was then turned over to the custody of another official - the Coroner. Subsequently when Judge Turner met this person on the street, and found that Mr. Field was virtually free, he ordered the prisoner to be placed under lock and key. The Coroner went to the office of Mr. Field, where the latter was receiving and consulting with his friends, and explained his errand. Mr. Field protested that the sentence was illegal, but the officer being obliged to carry out his instructions, turned the key and the lawyer was left for a brief period a close prisoner.
The following is the order imprisoning and fining Mr. Field: -
DISTRICT COURT, EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, COUNTY OF YUBA.
At a term of said District Court held at Marysville, County of Yuba, on the 7th of June, 1850, present Hon. WM. R. TURNER, Judge, the following proceeding was had:
"ORDERED, That Stephen J. Field be imprisoned forty-eight hours, and fined five hundred dollars, for contempt of Court."
Mr. Field immediately sued out a writ of habeas corpus, returnable forthwith before Hon. Henry P. Haun, County Judge. After listening to the testimony of four members of the Bar, and receiving the information from the officer that he had no process by which he held Mr. Field, the Judge discharged the prisoner, a result which greatly pleased the auditors. On Monday, June 10, Judge Turner, after the opening of the Court, made an order by which Judge Haun "was fined $50, and ordered to be imprisoned forty-eight hours, for liberating Mr. Field, who was put in custody for contempt of Court." "Judge Haun paid the fine under protest." "By order of the Court, Mr. Field was sentenced to forty-eight hours imprisonment."
The following order was also made, which created most of the subsequent proceedings in the Supreme Court and Legislature: -
"DISTRICT COURT, EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, COUNTY OF YUBA.
At a term of said Court held at Marysville, on the 10th of June, 1850, present Hon. William R. Turner, Judge, the following proceeding was had:
Whereas Messrs. Field, Goodwin, and Mulford having set at defiance the authority of this Court and having vilified the Court and denounced its proceedings, the said Field, Goodwin, and Mulford are hereby, by order of the Court, expelled from the Bar of the same."
Judge Haun, having gone from the court-room, proceeded to open the Court of Sessions in his own house, that being the day fixed by law for its organization. Mr. Field having sued out another writ of habeas corpus, the court, presided over by Hon. Henry P. Haun, County Judge, with F.W. Barnard and O.P. Stidger, Associate Justices, proceeded with the hearing of the petition. The entry of proceedings is the first in the minute-book, and is as follows: -
"Met at Marysville, June 10, A.D. 1850, at 10 o'clock A.M., and was duly opened by R.B. Buchanan, Sheriff of the County. Present, H.P. Haun, County Judge, F.W. Barnard, Associate Justice.
IN THE MATTER OF STEPHEN J. FIELD
Application for habeas corpus.
On the reading of the petition of the applicant, duly authenticated by his oath, it is ordered that the prayer of the petitioner be granted, and that R.B. Buchanan, Sheriff of Yuba county, or any person acting under him, and having said Field in custody, bring the said Field into court forthwith, to be dealt with according to law.
In pursuance of the above order the said Field came into court, and proceeded to address the court on the matter touching the cause of his confinement, and while making his remarks and previous to the close thereof, and while the court was in session, R.B. Buchanan, Sheriff of Yuba county, at the head of fifty men, entered the said court and stated that he came there for the purpose and with the intent to seize H.P. Haun, County Judge, as aforesaid, and place him in close confinement, under and by virtue of a certain order or decree made by one William R. Turner, Judge of the Eighth Judicial District of the State of California.
The court informed the said Sheriff, Buchanan, that it was holding its regular term, and that order must be preserved while it was in session. The said Sheriff, Buchanan, then left the court, whereupon the business before the court was again resumed.
At the expiration of some five minutes the said R.B. Buchanan, as aforesaid, re-entered the court, and stated that the said H.P. Haun, County Judge, as aforesaid, must leave the court and go with him, as he was peremptorily ordered by William R. Turner, the Judge, as aforesaid, to arrest the said H.P. Haun, and keep him in close confinement for the space of forty-eight hours.
R.B. Buchanan was here notified that he was violating the laws of the land, and that he could be fined if he persisted in disturbing the session of the court. The reply of said Buchanan was 'that he could not be trifled with,' and immediately seized the said H.B. Haun, County Judge, as aforesaid, by the arm, and attempted to drag him from the room where the court was in session, whereupon a fine of two hundred dollars was then and there imposed upon the R.B. Buchanan for a contempt of court.
The said R.B. Buchanan then and there called upon the fifty persons ordered out by him as his posse to take hold of the said H.P. Haun, and take him from the court. But the persons in attendance, conceiving the order to arrest the Hon. H.P. Haun to be illegal and unjustifiable, refused to assist the Sheriff in the execution of his illegal order. The Sheriff then retired, and the court adjourned to three o'clock P.M.
Court met pursuant to adjournment. Court adjourned to to-morrow morning at nine o'clock."
The gentlemen expelled applied for a mandamus, commanding Judge Turner to vacate the order of expulsion, and in the case of Mr. Field, the order imposing the fine and imprisonment also. On the fourth of July, the Supreme Court decided both applications, granting the writs; but after Judge Turner had obeyed these orders, he again expelled the parties named on the twenty-eighth of October, while the Court was sitting at Nicolaus, the county seat of Sutter county. At the fall election in 1850, J.O. Goodwin was elected to the office of District Attorney, an event which placed both himself and Judge Turner in a delicate position. This difficulty, however, was overcome by the following order, made November 4, 1850: "Although J.O. Goodwin is not recognized by this Court as a member of the Bar of the District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, yet the Court feels authorized to permit him, the said J.O. Goodwin, to attend all causes or other business which may require is attention as District Attorney; but the said J.O. Goodwin is precluded from appearing before the Court in any other cause or causes than such as require his attention as District Attorney." November 17, 1850, an order was entered restoring Mr. Goodwin to full privileges as a member of the Bar; but the other gentelmen still remained under the ban of the act.
But the end was not yet. Mr. Field, having been elected to the Legislature, presented a petition to the Assembly from citizens of Yuba county, on Monday, March 17, 1851, requesting the removal of Judge Turner for impeachment. A committee was appointed to hear the testimony on the charges, and reported on Tuesday, April 18, 1851. On the nineteenth, in the House, in Committee of the Whole, a motion "to indefinitely postpone the charges and testimony in the case," was carried by a vote of fifteen to twelve. This vote seems to have been taken while the members were under an erroneous impression regarding the state of affairs. Mr. Field had introduced a bill which became a law March 11, 1851, by which the Eighth Judicial District was changed to include the counties of Trinity and Klamath, and which necessitated the removal of the Judge, Wm. R. Turner, to that locality. The members of the Legislature were anxious to speedily close the session, an impossibility if the impeachment trial was proceeded with. In this emergency, one of the Senators, misunderstanding Mr. Field's words, circulated the report that he would be satisfied to have the matter indefinitely postponed, if it did not silently acknowledge the justness of Turner's cause. Under the law, Judge Turner removed to the new Eighth Judicial District, and in 1851, Hon. Gordon N. Mott was appointed by the Governor to preside in the new Tenth Judicial District. Since the controversy, the proceedings of the Courts of Yuba and Sutter counties, have been marked by harmony and courtesy.
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