Chambers v. Commonwealth

10 Ky. Op. 540, 1880 Ky. LEXIS 205

• Court: Court of Appeals of Kentucky
• Decided: March 10, 1880
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Hines:

The judgment of the court below was reversed upon the supposition that the plea of former acquittal had been properly entered; but our attention is called to the fact that'the only record evidence of such a plea is the following order: “This day came the defendant and entered a plea of not guilty and former acquittal.” This is not sufficient, under Sec. 164 of the Criminal Code, to authorize the introduction of evidence to establish the fact of a former acquittal. A plea properly entered and sustained by evidence would entitle appellant, under the 'authority of Commonwealth v. Bright, 78 Ky. 238, to a reversal, but in the absence of a plea the evidence is incompetent and the judgment must be affirmed.

W. B. Smith, for appellant. Hardin, for appellee.