Hawk v. State

39 N.W.2d 561, 151 Neb. 717, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 146
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 10, 1949
DocketNo. 32587
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 39 N.W.2d 561 (Hawk v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hawk v. State, 39 N.W.2d 561, 151 Neb. 717, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 146 (Neb. 1949).

Opinion

Messmore, J.

This is a proceeding in error coram nobis begun in the district court for Douglas County to vacate a judgment of conviction of Henry Hawk, and to secure for him a retrial. The district court denied the writ. From the order of denial and the overruling of the- motion for new trial, this proceeding in error was instituted.

The principal assignments of error relied upon by the petitioner are: (1) The court erred in failing to find [719]*719that the petitioner was, when originally tried and convicted of murder in the first degree, denied his constitutional right to be represented by competent counsel; (2) that the petitioner was denied his constitutional right to have reasonable time to confer with counsel,to examine the charge against him, to procure and subpoena witnesses, to examine the record of the preliminary hearing, and for counsel of record in his behalf to adequately and properly prepare his defense; (3) the court erred in holding that the petitioner was not prevented from prosecuting the writ of error to this court in the original case; and (4) in consideration of the foregoing assignments of error, the petitioner was denied due process of law as provided for by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and denied due process of law as provided for by Article I, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Nebraska.

At the outset we deem it appropriate to first make the legal distinction between a writ of error and a writ of error coram nobis, which should be borne in mind im the détermination of this proceeding in error.

The writ of error is brought for a supposed error in law apparent on the record, and takes thé case to a higher tribunal where the question is to be decided and the judgment, sentence, or decree' is to be affirmed, modified, or reversed, while the writ of error coram nobis is brought for an alleged error in fact not appearing on the record, and lies to the same court in order that it may correct the error, which it is presumed would not have been committed had the fact in the first instance been brought to its notice. See 3 Am. Jur., Appeal and Error, § 1276, p. 766.

The common-law writ of error coram nobis is not a substitute for the statutory remedy of a - writ of error under the Nebraska criminal procedure. See, Carlsen v. State, 129 Neb. 84, 261 N. W. 339, certiorari denied, 293 U. S. 607, 55 S. Ct. 123, 79 L. Ed. 698; Newcomb v. State, 129 Neb. 69, 261 N. W. 348; Swanson v. State, 148 [720]*720Neb. 155, 26 N. W. 2d 595, certiorari denied, 331 U. S. 863, 67 S. Ct. 1759, 91 L. Ed. 1869.

The purpose of the writ of error coram nobis should be noted. The writ of error coram nobis is to enable the court to recall some adjudication, made while some fact existed which, if before the court, would have prevented rendition of the judgment, and which, through no fault of the party, was not presented. See Swanson v. State, supra.

The common-law writ of error coram nobis to bring into the record facts which were unknown to the defendant at the time of trial through no lack of reasonable diligence on his part, which, if known at the time of the trial, would have resulted in a different judgment, ■exists in this state under section 49-101, Comp. St. 1929, now section 49-101, R. S. 1943. See Carlsen v. State, supra.

Where the facts alleged are known to the applicant before or during the progress of the trial, or could have •been known by the exercise of reasonable diligence, the writ must be denied. See, Swanson v. State, supra; Dobbs v. State, 63 Kan. 321, 65 P. 658; 24 C. J. S., Criminal Law, § 1606 (6), p. 154.

The purpose of the writ of error coram nobis is not, and never was, to permit a defendant to retry his case •again and again, but, as pointed out in the previously cited authorities, in certain cases it provides a corrective judicial process that the Constitution guarantees shall :not be denied. See,. Swanson v. State, supra; Carlsen v. State, supra.

In considering the writ of error coram nobis the court will take cognizance of and consider the entire record of the original trial. See State ex rel. Cutsinger v. Spencer, 219 Ind. 148, 41 N. E. 2d 601.

The proceedings for the writ of error coram nobis are civil in character. See, Newcomb v. State, supra; 24 C. J. S., Criminal Law, § 1606, p. 144.

The petitioner for a writ of error coram nobis carries [721]*721the burden of proof in a collateral attack on a judgment which he seeks to have declared a nullity. See, Hawk v. Olson, 326 U. S. 271, 66 S. Ct. 116, 90 L. Ed. 61; Williams v. Kaiser, 323 U. S. 471, 65 S. Ct. 363, 89 L. Ed. 398; Wright v. Johnston, 77 F. Supp. 687.

With the foregoing authorities in mind we proceed to the petitioner’s assignments of error heretofore designated Nos. 1, 2, and 3.

In connection with the aforesaid assignments of error the following legal fundamentals should be noted: Article I, section 11, of the Constitution of Nebraska provides: “In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right to appear and- defend in person or by counsel,- to demand the nature and cause of accusation, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the witnesses against him face to face; to have process to compel the attendance of witnesses in his behalf; and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed.”

Section 29-1803, R. S. 1943, provides for the assignment of counsel for an accused charged with a capital offense or an offense punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, and for counsel to have access to the pris-' oner at all reasonable hours.

It has long been the rule in this state that all of the rights guaranteed by Article I, section 11, of the Constitution of Nebraska are personal privileges and not having been conferred from any consideration of public policy are not inalienable but may be insisted upon or abandoned at pleasure. See, McCarty v. Hopkins, 61 Neb. 550, 85 N. W. 540; In re Application of Carper, 144 Neb. 623, 14 N. W. 2d 225; Duggan v. Olson, 146 Neb. 248, 19 N. W. 2d 353, certiorari denied, 327 U. S. 790, 66 S. Ct. 803, 90 L. Ed. 1016; Kissinger v. State, 147 Neb. 983, 25 N. W. 2d 829.

The record discloses that on April 19, 1935, a complaint was filed in the municipal court of the city of Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, containing two [722]*722counts, the first of which charged petitioner with first degree murder while attempting to rob one Isadore Perelman on or about the 28th day of February 1934. The second count charged first degree murder on the part of the petitioner by deliberate, premeditated malice by shooting Isadore Perelman with a revolver and as a result thereof he died on March 1, 1934. Since December 10, 1934, the petitioner had been a prisoner in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, having been committed by the United States District Court at Omaha, Nebraska, for the violation of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act.

On January 30, 1936, the petitioner, then being a prisoner at the Leavenworth prison, sent a letter to A. C. Anderson, chief of detectives of Omaha, referring to an interview he had had with Anderson on a previous occasion.

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39 N.W.2d 561, 151 Neb. 717, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hawk-v-state-neb-1949.