Cardin v. Harmon
| Decision Date | 08 March 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 21553,21553 |
| Parties | Agnes C. CARDIN. v. W. F. HARMON, Sheriff, etc. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
To establish the mental condition described in Code § 27-1504 to avoid trial, a written plea of insanity at the time for trial must be filed and sustained upon a trial of that issue. And where, as here, no such plea was filed and the accused was tried on December 14, 1961, and thereafter convicted and sentenced, and a habeas corpus petition filed on December 21, 1961, seeking his release from custody of the Sheriff under such sentence upon the ground that he was adjudged insane and committed to the State Hospital in 1953 and no court judgment has restored his sanity, the petition shows no grounds for his release, and it was not error to dismiss the same on demurrer.
Wade H. Leonard, Ringgold, for plaintiff in error.
Earl B. Self, Sol. Gen., Summerville, Robert E. Coker, Lafayette, for defendant in error.
Involved in this case are questions of how and when the matters of insanity at the time of trial of one charged with crime must be raised--whether in such cases the remedy of habeas corpus may be employed rather than motion or extraordinary motion for new trial as the exclusive remedy. This case illustrates how cases otherwise within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals may be transferred to the Supreme Court by the simple practice of attorneys ignoring the available remedies of review by motions or extraordinary motions for new trial and resorting in the first instance to habeas corpus. The evils of such practice should be tolerated if and only if the Constitution and law demands it.
Here, within seven days after the conviction and sentence in the City Court of Walker County, Georgia, of the prisoner on an indictment charging him with the crime of assault and battery, and during the time when a motion for a new trial could have been filed, this petition by the mother of the prisoner seeks his release from custody of the sheriff who is holding him under that sentence, upon the ground that in 1953 he had been adjudged insane and committed to the State Hospital at Milledgeville, and no court judgment had restored his sanity. This record shows that the prisoner was represented by counsel upon his trial in the city court, that no demurrer or special plea was entered, and only a plea of 'not guilty' was entered, and upon that plea and the indictment an issue of guilt or innocence was made and tried, resulting in the sentence under which he is being held.
There are countless laws forbidding or commanding certain things, but, where, as here, such laws prescribe the procedure for securing rights thereunder, absence of such procedure bars any privileges of claiming such rights. As relates to this case, Code § 27-1504 in part declares that: 'No lunatic or person afflicted with insanity shall be tried, or put upon his trial, for any offense, during the time he is afflicted with such lunacy or insanity.' But it does not stop there, it further provides that: 'which shall be tried in the manner hereinbefore pointed out where the plea of insanity at the time of trial is filed, and, on being found true, the prisoner shall be disposed of in like manner.' The reference to 'hereinbefore pointed out' means Code § 27-1501, which provides for filing demurrers to the indictment or pleas to the jurisdiction, abatement, or in bar upon arraignment, and 'the demurrer or plea shall be made in writing.' It also refers to Code § 27-1502, which provides for first trying the plea of insanity, and if sustained, prescribes the disposition of the accused, without trying the issue of guilt or innocence of the crime charged. Counsel seize upon language found at page 787 in the case of Brown v. State, 215 Ga. 784, 113 S.E.2d 618, which was taken from ...
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Chenault v. State
...plea of insanity the trial court did more than was required by appointing psychiatrists for evaluation of the defendant. Cardin v. Harmon, 217 Ga. 737, 124 S.E.2d 638; Taylor v. State, 229 Ga. 536(1), 192 S.E.2d 249; Coffee v. State, 230 Ga. 123(1), 195 S.E.2d 897; Brinks v. State, 232 Ga. ......
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United States ex rel. Huguley v. Martin
...do grant that right when read with the cases construing them. Brown v. State, 215 Ga. 784, 113 S.E.2d 618 (1960); Cardin v. Harmon, 217 Ga. 737, 124 S.E.2d 638 (1962). The great weight of authority from jurisdictions which have considered whether the state is required to furnish a psychiatr......
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Huguley v. State
...State, 44 Ga.App. 244, 161 S.E. 293; James v. State, 115 Ga.App. 822, 823, 156 S.E.2d 183, supra. Defendant relies upon Cardin v. Harmon, 217 Ga. 737, 124 S.E.2d 638 to support his premise that he has made a 'proper showing' to entitle the accused to a grant of a new trial. The Supreme Cour......
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Gary v. State, 45308
...effect as provided by law, and when insanity is thus established, the law forbids his being tried while it exists.' Cardin v. Harmon, 217 Ga. 737, 739, 124 S.E.2d 638, 639. 'It is true that where one has been adjudged insane the presumption is that such insanity continues until some adjudic......