People v. Stone

• Decision Date: 03 June 1940
• Docket Number: No. 114.,114.
• Parties: PEOPLE v. STONE.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

293 Mich. 658

292 N.W. 520

PEOPLE

v.STONE.

No. 114.

Supreme Court of Michigan.

June 3, 1940.

Morris Stone was convicted under an information charging him with taking indecent and improper liberties with a female child under the age of 16 years, without committing or intending to commit the crime of rape upon the child, and he appeals.

Sentence vacated and case remanded.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Macomb County; Neil E. Reid, judge.

Argued before the Entire Bench.

Christian F. Matthews, of Mt. Clemens, for defendant and appellant.

Ivan A. Johnston, Pros. Atty., of Mt. Clemens, for plaintiff and appellee.

CHANDLER, Justice.

On August 5, 1938, defendant, Morris Stone, was arrested upon a warrant charging him with taking indecent and improper liberties with a female child under the age of 16 years, without committing or intending to commit the crime of rape upon said child. Examination was waived, and on August 16, 1938, he was arraigned in circuit court, at which time he stood mute and a plea of not guilty was entered. On September 20, 1938, he appeared in court with his attorney and changed his plea to guilty. On October 15, 1938, before sentence, a motion to set aside the plea of guilty was filed, which motion was supported by several affidavits. Defendant's affidavit stated that in entering the plea of guilty he relied entirely on the advice of his attorney, and that he was completely ignorant of any of the facts stated in the information, and that at the time of the offense charged in the information he was suffering from a spell of amnesia. The statement that a condition of amnesia existed is supported by the affidavit of defendant's physician. The affidavit of the attorney who represented defendant at that time stated that defendant had always insisted that he knew nothing of the facts and circumstances charged in the information, and that his mind was a blank as to what occurred on the occasion referred to therein. It appears that the attorney advised defendant to plead guilty because he felt that even though a trial would result in acquittal, defendant would be committed to an institution for the criminally insane, and also because of the expense involved in properly presenting a defense. The motion was argued and testimony taken before the court from time to time.

On November 15, 1938, defendant filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that the information was defective.

On April 8, 1939, the court denied both motions sentenced him to serve 60 days in the county jail and placed him on probation for five years. From the order denying the motions and from the sentence imposed, defendant appeals.

The two questions to be decided are, should the plea of guilty have been set aside, and was the information defective?

The first question has been ruled upon by this court on two occasions recently, and it is now the settled rule in this state that a plea of guilty may be withdrawn at any time before sentence. In People v. Piechowiak, 278 Mich. 550, 270 N.W. 783, 784, we said: ‘A considerate procedure of long recognition in this jurisdiction admits of withdrawal of a plea of guilty at any time before sentence, and this is especially true where, in a case like this, an examination has been waived and, therefore, no informative court recorded evidence is available. The plea admitted guilt, but the affidavit in support of the denied motion averred innocence, and the issue of fact should be open to proofs upon a trial.’ This rule was followed in People v....