State v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 06 May 1908
• Docket Number: Case Number: 288
• Citation: 21 Okla. 40,1908 OK 78,96 P. 26
• Parties: STATE v. JOHNSON.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

1908 OK 78

96 P. 26

21 Okla. 40

STATE v. JOHNSON.

Case Number: 288

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: May 6, 1908

Syllabus

¶0 1. COURTS--Appellate Jurisdiction--Submission by Governor to Supreme Court for Opinion--Conviction of Crime Requiring Punishment of Death. Wilson's Rev. & Ann. St. 1903, sec. 5588, 5589, provide that, immediately after a conviction requiring a judgment of death, there shall be transmitted to the Governor a statement of the conviction and judgment and of the testimony given at the trial, and that the Governor may thereupon require the opinion of the judges of the Supreme Court, or any of them, upon the statement so furnished. Held that, where such statement is submitted to the court for an opinion, the case is not in the Supreme Court as a suit upon which the judgment may be affirmed or reversed.

2. CRIMINAL LAW--Sentence and Punishment--Murder--Plea of Guilty--Submission to Jury. Under Wilson's Rev. & Ann. St. 1903, sec. 2174, providing that on an indictment for murder, where there is a plea of guilty, the court shall determine the punishment, it is the duty of the court on such a plea to fix the punishment, without submission of that question to the jury.

3. SAME--Proceedings on Plea of Guilty--Irregularity. Defendant in an indictment for murder, having refused to plead thereto, the clerk was instructed by the court to enter a plea of not guilty, whereupon both parties announced ready for trial, and a jury was duly impaneled, and the county attorney made his opening statement. Defendant's counsel then announced that defendant desired to plead guilty, and defendant, on inquiry by the court, stated that he wanted to plead guilty, and stated further to the jury that he did plead guilty. Thereupon the court instructed the jury to determine the punishment to be inflicted, and the verdict found the defendant guilty as charged, and fixed his punishment at death. No evidence was received as to his sanity, nor was he cautioned as to the effect of his plea. Held, that such proceedings were so irregular that it cannot be said that defendant was convicted according to law.

Will Johnson pleaded guilty to an indictment for murder, and the trial judge certified a statement, of the proceedings, conviction and judgment to the Governor, who submits the same to the Supreme Court for its opinion.

March 26, 1908, there was returned by the grand jury into the district court of Pottawatomie county, Okla., its indictment, wherein Will Johnson, the above-named defendant, was charged with the crime of murder, alleged to have been committed on the 23d day of January, 1908, upon the person of Mary Cuppy; defendant being charged with having beaten her to death with a piece of two-inch plank and an ax handle. Defendant was arrested on March 27, 1908, entered a plea of not guilty, and his case was set for trial on April 3, 1908. March 30, 1908, on it being made to appear to the court the defendant was without funds to employ counsel, the court appointed C. G. Pittman, an attorney of that bar, to defend him. April 4, 1908, the case not having come to trial, it was reset for April 6, 1908. Defendant withdrew his plea of not guilty, and his counsel filed a demurrer to the indictment, which was by the court overruled; no exception being saved thereto. On the same day defendant filed a motion for a continuance, setting up the fact that the indictment in the case was returned on the 26th day of March, 1908, and to that date, to wit, April 6, 1908, "defendant has not had a reasonable time within which to prepare for trial, and at this time cannot safely proceed to trial for want of material testimony which he has been unable to procure." This motion was overruled, to which defendant reserved no exception. Thereupon he was again called upon by the court to plead to the indictment, and, refusing to do so, the clerk was by the court instructed to enter a plea of not guilty. Whereupon both parties announced ready for trial, and a jury was duly impaneled, and the county attorney, V. R. Biggers, Esq., made his opening statement. Whereupon the following proceedings took place:

"Mr. Pittman: The defendant at this time desires to withdraw his plea of not guilty, and enter a plea of guilty. Mr. Biggers: If the court please, I doubt--I would rather object to his withdrawing his plea at this time. Mr. Pittman: He desires to plead guilty at this time. The Court: Have the defendant stand up. What do you want to do in this case? Will Johnson: Plead guilty. The Court: Do you want to plead guilty to the jury? Will Johnson: Yes, sir. The Court: Do you want to state to the jury why you plead guilty to this charge? Will Johnson: Yes, sir. The Court: And you make your statement to the jury of what you want to do? Will Johnson: Sir? The Court: And you make your statement to the jury what you want to do? Will Johnson: Gentlemen of the jury, I plead guilty."

Thereupon the court delivered the following instructions to the jury:

Gentlemen of the jury, this is an action wherein the state of Oklahoma prosecutes Will Johnson on a charge of murder, returned by the grand jurors of Pottawatomie county in the form of an indictment. The indictment has been read to you, and the opening statement of the counsel for the prosecution made, after which the defendant has in open court and to you entered a plea of guilty. You are instructed, gentlemen of the jury, that, the defendant having entered a plea of guilty of murder, there are two grades of punishment that may be inflicted: The first punishment is by death; the second is by confinement in the state penitentiary for life. It is now, gentlemen, for you to say by your verdict what the punishment shall be. Two forms of verdict will be handed to you--one imposing punishment by death, and the other imposing the punishment of life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. You will retire, gentlemen, and consider of your verdict. You are instructed that when you shall have retired to your jury room you will select one of your number as foreman, and when you have reached a verdict he will sign it as such and you will all return into court with it. You are instructed, further, that you must be unanimous in your conclusions. Unless you all agree, of course, no verdict can be returned. And now, the hour of 6:30 p. m. having arrived, court is adjourned until such time as the jury may agree upon a verdict."

The jury retired, and returned into court its verdict, finding "the defendant, Will Johnson, guilty as charged in the indictment of murder, and fix his punishment at death."

Motion for new trial was filed for the following reasons:

"First, that said verdict is contrary to law; second, that said verdict is contrary to the evidence; third, that the court misdirected the jury in matters of law and fact arising during the course of the trial which were prejudicial to the substantial rights of the defendant."

Such motion was by the court overruled, to which defendant saved his exceptions. He thereafter filed his motion in arrest of judgment, which was likewise overruled, to which the defendant excepted. The said motions were both filed on April 7, 1908, and were considered by the court on the 14th day of April, 1908. Upon the overruling of the said motions the court, upon the consideration of the verdict rendered by the jury, pronounced its judgment and sentence as follows:

"It is therefore considered and ordered by the court that judgment be entered on the verdict of the jury in this case, and it is the judgment and sentence of this court that as a punishment of the crime which you have committed you be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and that your execution take place within the jailyard of the county jail of Pottawatomie county, state of Oklahoma, at eleven (11) o'clock in the forenoon of Friday, May 22, 1908."

On such sentence, Wilson's Revised & Annotated Statutes of 1903 of Oklahoma require (sections 5588 and 5589):

"The judge of a court at which a conviction requiring a judgment of death is had must, immediately after the conviction, transmit to the Governor, by mail or otherwise, a statement of the conviction and judgment, and of the testimony given at the trial. The Governor may thereupon require the opinion of the judges of the Supreme Court or any of them upon the statement so furnished."

In accordance with this the clerk of the district court made certified statement of the conviction and judgment and the proceedings had at the trial, and the judge of Said court, Hon. W. N. Maben, transmitted the same to his excellency, Gov. C. N. Haskell, of the state of Oklahoma. In accordance with the terms of said statute, the Governor has required the opinion of the judges of the Supreme Court.

DUNN, J.

¶1 (after stating the facts as above). Doubtless the purpose of the framers of the statute above quoted was to give the chief executive of the state proper information upon which to base his judgment upon an application for a pardon or a reprieve, and in addition thereto, and providing a further safeguard, by making it the duty of the judges of the Supreme Court, or any one of them to give their opinion for his guide and assistance, to the end that so serious an act as the taking of a human life shall not occur without the same having the most deliberate and calm consideration of the highest executive and judicial officials of the state. The record before us, as is seen from the statement of facts and the recital of the manner and purposes for which it comes, is not filed as a suit in this court, upon which we could either affirm or reverse the judgment. It does not come in a manner required by law for such purposes. Bailey et al. v. Territory of Oklahoma, 9 Okla. 461, 60 P. 117. Yet we have given the same our most careful and attentive consideration, and we submit herewith for the consideration of his excellency, the Governor, the judicial and legislative expressions which have been uttered by other courts,...