Johnson v. State
| Decision Date | 16 November 1898 |
| Citation | 48 S.W. 70 |
| Parties | JOHNSON v. STATE. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Appeal from district court, Fayette county; H. Teichmueller, Judge.
George Johnson was convicted of burglary, and he appeals. Affirmed.
Lane & Lane, for appellant. Mann Trice, for the State.
Appellant was convicted of burglary, and his punishment assessed at confinement in the penitentiary for a term of two years; hence this appeal.
There are two bills of exception in the record, which present the only questions that require to be considered. It appears that appellant had, previous to this trial, been tried in the county court for theft of certain property, which was committed at the time of the alleged burglary, and was a part of the same transaction alleged against him in this case. On said trial he entered a plea of guilty, and was convicted. On the trial of this case, objection was made to the introduction of the evidence of conviction in said former case, on the ground that appellant at the time was in custody; that he was taken from the jail by an officer into the court room, and there pleaded guilty to said charge of theft; that said plea was made without his being warned of the consequences thereof, and was not voluntarily made, because he was told by a person then in the court room that, if he would plead guilty, it would go easier with him. We are thus presented with the question whether, in a misdemeanor case, a plea of guilty entered by a defendant without having been warned can be used in evidence against him on the trial of another case in which said testimony is relevant. Our statute with reference to felonies provides that, where a defendant pleads guilty, it must be in open court, and by the defendant in person, and he must be admonished by the court of the consequences of said plea, and no such plea shall be received unless it plainly appears that he is sane, and is uninfluenced by any consideration of fear, by any persuasion or delusive hope of pardon, prompting him to confess his guilt. And in such case there must be a jury impaneled to assess his punishment, and evidence submitted to enable them to decide thereon. See Code Cr. Proc. arts. 554, 555, 570. If these prerequisites are complied with, it would appear to take the case out of the statute regulating confessions as testimony. See Code Cr. Proc. art. 790. But these provisions do not apply to misdemeanors. Code Cr. Proc. art. 571, provides: "A plea of guilty in a case of misdemeanor may be made either by the defendant or his counsel in open court; and in such case the defendant or his counsel may waive a jury and the punishment may be assessed by the court, either upon evidence or without it at the discretion of the court." The right, however, of a defendant in a misdemeanor case to enter a plea of guilty by counsel, is limited by article 633 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to those cases where the punishment is alone by fine. We know of no statute that requires any sort of warning to be given to a defendant in a misdemeanor case when he...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Empy v. State
...by the court of the consequenses,' refers entirely to felonies." A more elaborate statement of the rule appears in Johnson v. State, 39 Tex.Cr.R. 625, 48 S.W. 70 (1898), where it is said, in reference to the Code of Criminal Procedure of "Our statute with reference to felonies provides that......
-
Farris v. State
...4 William Blackstone, COMMENTARIES ON THE LAWS OF ENGLAND 5 (1769)). By statute, Texas followed the same rule. See Johnson v. State , 39 Tex. Crim. 625, 48 S.W. 70, 71 (1898) (relying on former TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 571, which allowed for plea of guilty in misdemeanor cases by either d......
-
Sessions v. State
...judgment, beyond the power of the Supreme Court. It has no power to make rules inconsistent with legislative enactment. Johnson v. State, 39 Tex. Cr. R. 625, 48 S. W. 70. The procedure for appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeals is prescribed by statute. Article 914, C. C. P., provides tha......
-
Pacas v. State
...1846 Tex. Gen'l Laws 161, 161, reprinted in 2 Gammel, The Laws of Texas 1822-1897 , at 1467; see also Johnson v. State , 39 Tex. Crim. 625, 627, 48 S.W. 70 (Tex. Crim. App. 1898) (stating that after the court accepts a defendant's guilty plea, "there must be a jury impaneled to assess his p......