People v. Wallace

• Court: Illinois Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: DUNN
• Citation: People v. Wallace, 316 Ill. 120, 146 N.E. 486 (Ill. 1925)
• Decision Date: 17 February 1925
• Docket Number: No. 16516.,16516.
• Parties: PEOPLE v. WALLACE.

316 Ill. 120

146 N.E. 486

PEOPLE

v.WALLACE.

No. 16516.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Feb. 17, 1925.

Error to Appellate Court, Second District, on writ of Error to Warren County Court; Clinton H. Huey, Judge.

William Wallace was convicted of unlawfully selling intoxicating liquor, and he brings error.

Reversed.

Hanley & Cox, of Monmouth, and Hartzell, Cavanagh, Martin & Hartzell, of Carthage, for plaintiff in error.

Edward J. Brundage, Atty. Gen., Charles E. Lauder, State's Atty., of Monmouth, and George C. Dixon, of Dixon (Frederick H. Lauder, of Monmouth, of counsel), for the People.

DUNN, J.

An information was filed in the county court of Warren county against William Wallace containing three counts, the second of which charged that on September 18, 1923, he did ‘unlawfully sell certain intoxicating liquor,’ and the third that he did ‘unlawfully have in his possession certain intoxicating liquor within prohibition territory with intent to sell the same, in violation of the Prohibition Act of the state of Illinois.’ A motion to quash the indictment and each count was made and overruled, a plea of not guilty was entered, and upon a trial the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty in manner and form as charged in counts 2 and 3. He made a motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and a motion in arrest of judgment which was also overruled, and he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in the county jail and to pay a fine of $150 upon each count. He sued out a writ of error from the Appellate Court for the Second District, assigning, among other errors, the overruling of his motion in arrest of judgment. The Appellate Court affirmed the judgment, and the defendant sued out of this court a writ of error, assigning, among other errors, that the Appellate Court erred in not finding that the motion in arrest of judgment should have been sustained, and in not reversing the judgment for that reason.

In his brief in this court the plaintiff in error argues that it was error to overrule the motion in arrest of judgment, for the reason that the verdict was insufficient upon which to base the judgment. This brief was filed on November 12, 1924. The case of People v. Barnes, 314 Ill. 140, 145 N. E. 391, was decided at the October term, 1924, and a rehearing was denied on December 5, 1924. In accordance with the opinion in that case, the two counts of the information upon which the plaintiff in error was convicted were not sufficient to charge him with a violation of the law, and in the reply brief filed on December 12 the plaintiff in errorcites this decision in support of his argument that it was error to overrule his motion in arrest of judgment.

[1][2][3] No waiver or consent by a defendant to a criminal prosecution can confer jurisdiction, or authorize his conviction, in the absence of an accusation charging him with a violation of the criminal law. People v. Pilewski, 295 Ill. 58, 128 N. E. 801. Even a plea of guilty in manner and form as charged in the indictment or...