Clayton v. State

Citation16 Ala.App. 432,78 So. 462
Decision Date12 March 1918
Docket Number4 Div. 506 [*]
PartiesCLAYTON et al. v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Court of Appeals

Rehearing Denied April 2, 1918

Appeal from Circuit Court, Covington County; A.B. Foster, Judge.

Roy Clayton and another were convicted of burglary, and they appeal. Affirmed.

A Whaley, of Andalusia, for appellants.

F. Loyd Tate, Atty. Gen., and Emmett S. Thigpen, Asst. Atty. Gen for the State.

SAMFORD J.

There is no bill of exceptions in the record, and the only error insisted upon is that the judgment rendered fails to show affirmatively that a plea of not guilty was entered by the defendants, or that, standing mute, such plea was entered for them by the court. The judgment recites:

"Comes the state by its solicitor and the defendants in person and by attorney, and issue being joined," etc. (The remaining part of the judgment is in all things regular.)

Defendants contend that the judgment must affirmatively show that the plea of not guilty was interposed either by the defendants or by the court for them. Upon a casual reading of the second headnote in Childs v. State, 97 Ala. 49, 12 So. 441 it would appear that this contention was sustained; but the opinion upon which this headnote is based states a very different rule. The opinion says:

"The record of the pleadings and judgment entry in the case affirmatively shows that the defendant was tried and convicted, as charged in the indictment, without having pleaded to the indictment, and affirmatively shows that the plea of 'not guilty' was not entered by the court for him, and that there was no issue joined." (Italics ours.)

To the same effect is the decision in Jackson's Case, 91 Ala 55, 8 So. 773, 24 Am.St.Rep. 860; and in Powell v. Henry & Co., 96 Ala. 414, 11 So. 311, McClellan, J., says: "The record *** does not show that issue was ever joined," etc.

The judgment in the instant case does affirmatively show that issue was joined. "It is an invincible presumption of the law," says 15 R.C.L. p. 875, "that a judicial tribunal, acting within its jurisdiction, has acted impartially and honestly, and the integrity and value of the judicial system, as an institution for the administration of public and private justice, rests largely upon this principle. Akin to this is the important one that a presumption lies in favor of the regularity of the proceedings of any court of general jurisdiction." The judgment, reciting that ...

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8 cases
  • Whittle v. State
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Alabama
    • January 27, 1921
    ...to have been regular." Acts 1915, pp. 708, 709, amending section 6256 of Code 1907; Hardley v. State, 202 Ala. 24, 79 So. 362; Clayton v. State, 78 So. 462; Anderson State, 204 Ala. 476, 85 So. 789; Walker v. State, 204 Ala. 474, 85 So. 787; McPherson v. State, 198 Ala. 5, 73 So. 387. Howev......
  • Strong v. State, 8 Div. 146
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • August 24, 1971
    ...723; Slocovitch v. State, Id. 227; Fernandez v. State, 7 Ala. 511; 1 Bish.Crim.Proc. § 468. 'Reversed and remanded.' In Clayton v. State, 16 Ala.App. 432, 78 So. 462, per Samford, J., a recital of 'issue joined' sufficiently showed a plea to the indictment. The case following Clayton, supra......
  • Ex parte Town of Gulf Shores, 1 Div. 390
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • April 20, 1982
    ...So.2d 741. The mere notation, 'issue being joined' has been held to satisfy the requirement of an arraignment and plea. Clayton v. State, 16 Ala.App. 432, 78 So. 462." The Town of Gulf Shores first asserts, citing Rorex v. State, 44 Ala.App. 112, 203 So.2d 294 (1967) and Pugh v. State, 343 ......
  • Bray v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • March 12, 1918
    ...for him. Code 1907, § 7565; Jackson v. State, 91 Ala. 55, 8 So. 773, 24 Am.St.Rep. 860; Hamilton v. State, 147 Ala. 110, Clayton v. State, 78 So. 462. the judgment cannot be aided or contradicted by the recitals in the bill of exceptions as to matters which must affirmatively appear in the ......
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