Graves v. State
| Decision Date | 05 November 1931 |
| Docket Number | 26,004 |
| Citation | 178 N.E. 233,203 Ind. 1 |
| Parties | Graves v. State of Indiana |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
1. FORGERY---Evidence Insufficient.---In a prosecution for forgery of a check, the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction where there was no evidence that the defendant wrote, made, or caused to be made, or that he indorsed, the check, or that he knew it was forged (2946 Burns 1926). p. 2.
2. JURY---Right to Trial by Jury---Guaranteed by Constitution.---The right to be tried by jury in all criminal prosecutions is guaranteed by the Constitution (13, Art. 1 Constitution, 65 Burns 1926). p. 2.
3. COURTS---Rules of Court---Rule Requiring Application for Jury Trial Five Days before Trial---Invalid because Repugnant to Constitution.---Although the circuit courts are required to adopt rules for the conduct of business therein (1386 Burns 1926), a rule requiring the defendant in a criminal case to make application for a jury trial five days before the day of trial is repugnant to the constitutional provision guaranteeing trial by jury in all criminal cases (13, Art. 1 Constitution, 65 Burns 1926), and, therefore, is invalid. p 3.
From Clay Circuit Court; Thomas W. Hutchison, Judge.
Albert Graves was convicted of forging a check, and he appealed.
Reversed.
William L. Slinkard, for appellant.
James M. Ogden, Attorney-General, and E. Burke Walker, Deputy Attorney-General, for the State.
Appellant was convicted of the crime of forging a check for $ 4.50 under § 2946 Burns 1926, and sentenced to the Indiana Reformatory for an indeterminate period of not less than two nor more than 14 years. By proper assignments of error he attacks the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the finding of guilty, and alleges that the trial court erred in refusing to grant him a trial by jury.
There is no evidence in the record that appellant wrote, made, or caused to be made, or that he indorsed the check, or that it was in his handwriting, or that he knew it was forged. The evidence is not sufficient to support the finding (even if the court had authority to try the defendant without a jury).
A request for a jury trial was filed by the defendant in the Clay Circuit Court on the day set for his trial. The request was sworn to and it stated that neither he nor his attorney who lived in another county, had any knowledge until that day of a rule of the court requiring a defendant in a criminal case to make a request five days before trial for a jury. It alleged ...
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