State v. Yoes
| Decision Date | 17 May 1910 |
| Parties | STATE v. YOES. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
An order in a criminal case, reciting an appearance by the prisoner in discharge of his recognizance and an announcement of his readiness for trial, suffices to show his presence in court in his own proper person at the trial.
The clause of section 14 of article 3 of the Constitution (Code 1906, p. li) providing that, in the trial of criminal cases the accused "shall have the assistance of counsel," is permissive and conditional upon the pleasure of the accused, in its application to the conduct of the trial; and to make a conviction valid, the record need not affirmatively show the prisoner had the assistance of counsel.
Though bills of exception be settled and signed in due time, they are not parts of the record, unless made so by a certificate or an order, entered upon the record.
Error to Circuit Court, McDowell County.
Annie Yoes was convicted of grand larceny, and brings error. Affirmed.
Lawson Worrell, for plaintiff in error.
Wm. G Conley, Atty. Gen., for the State.
A writ of error was awarded Annie Yoes to a judgment on a verdict convicting her of grand larceny in the criminal court of McDowell county.
The first assignment of error is based upon the contention that the record fails to show the prisoner was in court in her own proper person during the trial. The order says: "The defendant appeared in discharge of her recognizance entered into herein and both parties announced themselves ready for trial." The issue had been made up at a former term. Her appearance in discharge of her recognizance was necessarily a personal appearance. The recognizance could not otherwise have been discharged. The order shows no appearance by attorney, and yet it says both parties announced themselves ready for trial. Hence it is clear, not only that she appeared in her own proper person, but also that she appeared for the purposes of the trial. This exception is not well taken.
The next assignment is based upon the failure of the record to show that the prisoner was assisted by counsel. The right to have counsel is a mere privilege guaranteed by the Constitution. The provision of the Constitution, relating to the right of a prisoner to have the assistance of counsel was inserted for the purpose of abrogating the common-law practice under which prisoners, accused of felony, were denied such right, and to...
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