Crutchfield v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 01 March 1948
• Citation: 187 Va. 291,46 S.E.2d 340
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: CRUTCHFIELD . v. COMMONWEALTH.

46 S.E.2d 340

187 Va. 291

CRUTCHFIELD .

v.COMMONWEALTH.

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia.

March 1, 1948.

Error to Corporation Court of the City of Lynchburg; S. DuVal Martin, Judge.

Henry Crutchfield was convicted of felonious and unlawful wounding, and he brings error.

Judgment reversed and case remanded.

Before HUDGINS, C. J., and GREGORY, EGGLESTON, SPRATLEY, BUCHANAN, STAPLES, and MILLER, JJ.

W. A. Hall, Jr., of Richmond, for plaintiff in error.

Harvey B. Apperson, Atty. Gen., and Henry T. Wickham, of Richmond, for the Commonwealth.

SPRATLEY, Justice.

On October 7, 1946, Henry Crutch-field, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was indicted under the maiming act, Virginia Code 1942 (Michie) section 4402. The indictment charged that he "in and upon one Dorothy Crutchfield feloniously did make an assault and her, the said Dorothy Crutchfield then and there unlaw-fully, felonious and maliciously did stab, cut and wound with intent then and there, the said Dorothy Crutchfield, to maim, disfigure, disable and kill * * *." Under this indictment the defendant could have been found guilty of any felony or misdemeanor substantially charged therein, that is to say, he could have been convicted of (1) a malicious wounding with intent to maim, disfigure, disable and kill; (2) of unlawful wounding with the same intent; or (3) of simple assault and battery. Each of these crimes was charged in the indictment. Williams v. Commonwealth, 153 Va. 987, 151 S.E. 151.

On October 14, 1946, Crutchfield was tried in the Corporation Court of the city of Lynchburg. The record of the proceedings upon his trial is recited in the following order and judgment entered on that date:

"This day came the Commonwealth's attorney, and the said Henry Crutchfield, who stands indicted of felonious assault, appeared by his attorney, as well as in his own proper person in custody of the jailor of this court, and upon the recommendation of the Commonwealth's attorney, the defendant is allowed to plead guilty to unlawful assault, and the defendant being arraigned, pleaded guilty to unlawful assault, and the evidence and argument of counsel being heard, the court doth find the defendant guilty of unlawfully wounding Dorothy Crutchfield, as charged in the indictment, and doth fix his punishment at three years in the penitentiary. Thereupon, it being demanded of him if anything for himself he had or knew to say why the court should not proceed to pronounce judgment against him according to law, and nothing being offered or alleged in delay thereof, it is considered by the court that the said Henry Crutchfield be confined in the public jail and penitentiary house of this Commonwealth for the aforesaid term of three years, to be computed from the date of this judgment, * * *."

No appeal from the judgment was noted. In accordance therewith, the defendant was delivered to the custody of the Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary. On April 3, 1947, the defendant presented to the Circuit Court of the city of Richmond his petition praying for a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum, alleging that the sentence imposed upon him by the Corporation Court of the city of Lynchburg was void, as being in excess of the punishment which could have been imposed upon him upon his plea of guilty to "unlawful assault, " a misdemeanor. A writ of habeas corpus was issued. In answer to the petition and writ, the Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary admitted the invalidity of the order under which he held Crutchfield because of the imposition of a three years sentence for a felony.

Thereafter, on April 25, 1947, the Circuit Court of the city of Richmond adjudged "that the sentence for three years is a nullity." The Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary was ordered to release Crutchfield from custody under the order of October 14, 1946. It was further ordered that the defendant be delivered to the custody of the Sergeant of the city of Lynchburg "for such action as the Commonwealth may be advised in connection with the trial of said Henry Crutchfield before the Corporation Court of the city of Lynchburg on the indictment returned against him at the October term, 1946."

On May 15, 1947, before the Corporation Court of the city of Lynchburg, the Commonwealth's Attorney of that city, in the presence of the defendant, moved the court that "the proceedings, trial, conviction, judgment, sentence and commitment, as set forth in the order of this court entered on October 14, 1946, in the case of the Commonwealth of Virginia v. Henry Crutchfield, be adjudged and declared null and void, and that Crutchfield be put upon his trial upon the indictment found on October. 7, 1946." A copy of the record of the habeas corpus proceedings was introduced in evidence.

The defendant objected to the motion, and moved the court to proceed to impose only a proper sentence for conviction of "unlawful assault." The defendant further contended that if the proceedings, trial, etc, as shown in the order of October 14, 1946, should be adjudged void and null, then more than four terms of the court had elapsed since the return of the indictment against him, and he was entitled to be discharged under the provisions of Virginia Code 1942 (Michie) section 4926.

The court overruled the motions of the defendant and adjudged the proceedings, trial, conviction, judgment, sentence and commitment, as set forth in the order of October 14, 1946, as null and void. It then ordered that Crutchfield be placed upon his trial upon the indictment of October 7, 1946, limiting and restricting the trial to no higher offense than the felonious and unlawful stabbing, cutting, and wounding of Dorothy Crutchfield, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable and kill her, as charged in the said indictment. To this action the defendant duly excepted.

The defendant filed, in writing, a plea of former jeopardy, verified by affidavit, which the court overruled and rejected.

On his trial, June 9, 1947, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the indictment. After the evidence and argument of counsel were heard, the jury found the defendant guilty of unlawful wounding as charged in the indictment and fixed his punishment at four years in the penitentiary. A motion to set aside the verdict as contrary to the law and the evidence was overruled and the defendant was sentenced in accordance with the verdict of the jury. Ther...