Merton, Application of, 4817
| Decision Date | 14 October 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 4817,4817 |
| Citation | 80 Nev. 435,395 P.2d 766 |
| Parties | Application of Jesse M. MERTON for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
James C. Martin, Carson City, for petitioner.
Jesse M. Merton, petitioner above named, heretofore applied to Honorable Frank B. Gregory, Judge of the First Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada, in and for the County of Ormsby, for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that he was unlawfully detained in the state penitentiary by reason of the fact that he was mentally incapable of understanding his plea of guilty to the charge of burglary in the District Court of the Second Judicial District, in and for the County of Washoe, whereunder he was adjudged guilty and sentenced to a term in the state penitentiary for not less than one nor more than fourteen years; that at the time of his plea he was suffering 'from severs aphasia' and was entirely lacking of understanding of the proceedings in court. It the time the pleaded guilty of said charge of burglary he was represented in court by his attorney Fred Nelson. The trial judge in said proceeding, being No. 202258 in said Second Judicial District Court, Honorable Thomas O. Craven, had prior thereto postponed his trial upon a written statement filed by a psychiatrist Dr. Leslie H. Gould. However, petitioner alleges that a few days later, without prior consultation with Dr. Gould or Mr. Nelson, petitioner was called into court in the same mental condition and entered a plea of guilty.
Judge Gregory of said First Judicial District Court filed an opinion reciting, among other things, the following:
'It clearly appears to the Court, the Petitioner having been represented by counsel at the trial hereof, which was interrupted during the course thereof by a plea of 'guilty,' that the Petitioner was not so seriously injured prior to his trial as to render him mentally unfit to participate thereto, and to fully assist his counsel, and that his attorney so believed or he would have asked the discontinuance of the trial, for purposes of requesting a mental examination of the Petitioner, as by law provided.
'The Court finds that the Petitioner, during the course of his trial, knew that he was on trial for Burglary in the First Degree, and that his plea of 'guilty' entered during the course of a trial, by which the same was terminated, was an informed and knowledgeable decision on his part, entered with the full assent of his attorney.
'The Court further finds, that District Judge Craven had jurisdiction over the Petitioner and over the cause when he entered the Judgment and Order of Commitment on May 22, 1963, after acceptance of the pla, and finds that the Petitioner is, therefore, legally held in custody by the Warden of the Nevada State Prison.'
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Sturrock v. State
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...was founded because appeal from denial of writ of habeas corpus provided a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy); Ex parte Merton, 80 Nev. 435, 395 P.2d 766 (1964) (availability of appeal from habeas denial precluded original habeas petition in Supreme Court). The importance attached by this ......
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Kuk v. Warden, Nev. State Prison, 5296
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