People v. Grillo, 74.
| Decision Date | 05 January 1948 |
| Docket Number | No. 74.,74. |
| Citation | 30 N.W.2d 284,319 Mich. 586 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. GRILLO. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Recorder's Court for City of Detroit; O. Z. Ide, judge.
Mike Grillo pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and judgment on the plea of guilty was rendered. Thereafter defendant moved to set aside and vacate the judgment and sentence and moved for a new trial. The motion was denied, and the defendant appeals.
Judgment and sentence affirmed.
Before the Entire Bench.
Leonard Simons, of Detroit (Hugh V. Williams, of Detroit, of counsel), for appellant.
Edmund E. Shepherd, Sol. Gen., of Lansing, James N. McNally, Pros. Atty. in and for Wayne County, Robert N. Smiley and Herbert Burdick, Asst. Pros. Attys., all of Detroit, for the People.
Defendant Mike Grillo, when arraigned on a warrant on September 11, 1942, stood mute, a plea of not guilty was entered, and examination was waived. On October 6, 1942, he was arraigned on an information charging him with the murder of Edward Westenberg on March 23, 1936. He was represented by counsel when he entered his plea of guility to second-degree murder. The statutory examination required by 3 Comp.Laws 1929, § 17328, Stat.Ann. § 28.1058, was had, and it was determined that this plea was free and voluntary and without undue influence.
The matter was referred to the probation office and psychopathic clinic of the recorder's court of Detroit, which office filed a report, stating, among other things, that defendant was a ‘high grade feeble minded’ man, and a ‘very stupid’ man.
No examination was made by a commission of three psychiatrists, as provided by Act No. 259, Pub.Acts 1939, Stat.Ann.1946 Cum.Supp. § 28.933(1); nor did the trial judge examine witnesses ‘to determine the degree of the crime’ before rendering judgment. See Act No. 328, Pub.Acts 1931, § 318, Stat.Ann. § 28.550.
On October 16, 1942, a sentence of life imprisonment without recommendation was imposed, and defendant has since been in prison.
On March 1, 1946, a motion to set aside and vacate the judgment and sentence and for a new trial was made. This motion was denied on May 16, 1946, prior to decision in People v. Martin, herein cited below. The questions raised in this motion have been renewed upon appeal, leave for same having been granted on October 17, 1946.
The questions presented have to do with failure to take the testimony of witnesses as to the degree of the crime and the claim that the sentence is void because no mental examination was made, although it affirmatively appeared prior to the time of sentence that Grillo was feeble-minded.
It is argues that the first proposition is controlled by our recent decision in People v. Martin, 316 Mich. 669, 26 N.W.2d 558, 560, where this court said:
In the Martin case, defendant was charged with the crime of murder, the informationnot specifying its degree. He pleaded guilty and an order was entered finding that he had pleaded guilty to the crime of murder in the first degree. No witnesses were sworn or examined in open court for the purpose of determining the degree of the crime. After sentence, the trial judge in that case granted defendant leave to withdraw his plea of guilty and set aside the sentence. The people appealed from such determination, the action of the trial judge was affirmed, and the cause remanded for appropriate proceedings upon such plea as might thereafter be entered.
The rule in the Martin case, supra, is applicable where a plea of guilty to the crime of murder is entered without specifying its degree. However, when Grillo, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and it was determined that his plea was made freely and without undue influence, nothing else remained to be...
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Berry v. Mintzes
...the trial judge conducts a record hearing to determine whether the crime committed was first or second degree murder. People v. Grillo, 319 Mich. 586, 30 N.W.2d 284 (1948); People v. Middleton, 22 Mich.App. 694, 177 N.W.2d 652 (1970). See generally People v. Machus, 321 Mich. 353, 32 N.W.2d......
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State v. Meyers
...that defendant's plea was made freely and without undue influence, as nothing else remained to be determined. People v. Grillo, 319 Mich. 586, 588, 30 N.W.2d 284, 285. Here appellant appeared in open court with able counsel for the purpose of entering a plea of guilty to a crime which was a......
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State v. Martin
...found in the 1952 cumulative pocket part. Among them are State v. Bruntlett, supra, 240 Iowa 338, 36 N.W.2d 450, and People v. Grillo, 319 Mich. 586, 30 N.W.2d 284, 285, where the statute was much like our section 690.4. There Grillo, charged with murder, 'entered his plea of guilty to seco......
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People v. Machus, 80.
...not constitute an exception to the requirement of the statute or cure the failure to comply with it. Appellee refers to People v. Grillo, 319 Mich. 586, 30 N.W.2d 284, where the defendant, charged with murder, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced therefor. It was held th......