Nicely v. Butcher
| Decision Date | 06 November 1917 |
| Docket Number | 3255. |
| Citation | 94 S.E. 147,81 W.Va. 247 |
| Parties | NICELY v. BUTCHER, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
One convicted by a justice of a criminal offense is entitled to an appeal from such judgment of conviction within a reasonable time thereafter.
Ordinarily an appeal does not lie in a criminal case from a judgment of conviction rendered upon a plea of guilty.
Before receiving a plea of guilty in a criminal case, the court should see that it is made by a person of competent intelligence, freely and voluntarily, and with a full understanding of its nature and effect, and of the facts on which it is founded.
If it is doubtful whether the party accused made such plea of guilty, and it clearly appears that he had no such purpose and did not know that his actions were being so construed until afterward, when he promptly repudiated the construction given his conduct by the court, an appeal will be allowed to a judgment entered thereon.
In case of the re fusal of a justice to grant an appeal from a judgment of conviction rendered by him in a criminal case, the appropriate remedy to secure the same is by petition to the court having jurisdiction to review such judgment.
Where a party claiming to be aggrieved by the refusal of a justice of the peace to grant him an appeal from a judgment convicting him of crime presents a petition to the tribunal having jurisdiction to review such judgment, alleging all matters showing his right to such appeal, and from which petition it clearly appears that the relief desired is an appeal from such judgment, such petition will be treated as an application for an appeal, even though it is inappropriately designated by the pleader as a petition for a writ of mandamus, and the complaining party be granted the relief to which, from the allegations of said petition, he appears to be entitled.
Error to Circuit Court, Wood County.
Mandamus by Florence May Nicely against H. G. Butcher, Justice of the Peace. Writ refused by the criminal court, review of such action declined by the circuit court, and plaintiff brings error. Reversed and remanded, with directions.
J. W Vandervort and R. E. Bills, both of Parkersburg, for plaintiff in error.
Upon a warrant charging her with adultery, Florence May Nicely was found guilty by the respondent H. G. Butcher, a justice of the peace, and adjudged to pay a fine of $20 and the costs of prosecution. She applied for an appeal from this judgment but the justice refused to grant such appeal for the reason that the application therefor was not made within ten days from the rendition of the judgment. Mrs. Nicely then filed her petition in the criminal court of Wood county, praying for a writ of mandamus to compel the justice to grant the appeal applied for. The criminal court refused the writ, and the circuit court of Wood county declined to review this action.
It appears that the warrant for Mrs. Nicely was procured by a constable, and was executed upon her at her home about midnight. She appeared before the justice the next day and had a conference with him in private. She says she informed him that she desired to get rid of the charge against her, that she did not even know what it was, and that the justice told her this could be done for $20 and costs which ...
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