John v. State

426 P.2d 74, 198 Kan. 685, 1967 Kan. LEXIS 337
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 8, 1967
DocketNo. 44,816
StatusPublished

This text of 426 P.2d 74 (John v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John v. State, 426 P.2d 74, 198 Kan. 685, 1967 Kan. LEXIS 337 (kan 1967).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Schroeder, J.:

This is an appeal by the petitioner from an order of the district court of Rooks County, Kansas, denying relief in a proceeding instituted pursuant to K. S. A. 60-1507.

The petitioner raises three points on appeal: (1) That he did not have counsel at his preliminary hearing; (2) that he did not know the nature of the charges against him; and (3) that he was not advised of his right to a jury trial or an appeal.

The petitioner was granted a full evidentiary hearing upon his motion filed pursuant to K. S. A. 60-1507, at which he was present and represented by court-appointed counsel. Those testifying at the hearing were the petitioner, Mr. D. A. Hindman, his court-appointed attorney in the criminal proceeding, and the judge of the county court who conducted the preliminary hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing both the petitioner and the county attorney of Rooks County were given time to file requested findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The trial court made fourteen detailed findings of fact and concluded the petitioner was not entitled to relief on any of the grounds asserted in his motion. An examination of the record presented on appeal sustains the findings of the trial court on all material points and its conclusions of law based upon those findings.

The facts sustained by the record and the findings of the trial court may be summarized as follows:

[686]*686The petitioner is an inmate of the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, Kansas, having been sentenced for statutory rape by the district court of Rooks county, Kansas, on the 18th day of June, 1964. At that time he was a resident of Natoma, Osborne county, Kansas.

On Friday, June 12, 1964, the petitioner was arrested on a warrant charging him with statutory rape. It was alleged that on or about the 11th day of June, 1964, in Rooks county, Kansas, he “did then and there unlawfully, feloniously and wilfully, carnally and unlawfully know a certain female person [name omitted], age thirteen years, being the daughter of the defendant, Arnold Ferdinand John, contrary to G. S. 1949, 21-424, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Kansas.”

The information upon which he was later tried was similarly worded and also designated the foregoing statute as having been violated.

On the morning of June 13, 1964, prior to the petitioner’s appearance in the county corut of Rooks county he consulted with Mr. D. A. Hindman, an attorney at law of Stockton, Kansas, by telephone. On that date bond was set but the preliminary hearing was continued until June 15, 1964. On his appearance June 13th in the county court the warrant was read to him by the county attorney. The statute under which he was charged was also read to him by the county attorney. (G. S. 1949 [now K. S. A.] 21-424.) The judge of the county court also advised him of his legal right to a preliminary hearing, fully explaining the nature of a preliminary hearing to him.

The petitioner again talked to Mr. D. A. Hindman in person and in private immediately prior to his preliminary hearing on June 15th, but Mr. Hindman did not accompany him to the preliminary hearing and was not present in court at the hearing.

When the petitioner appeared in the county court on the 15th day of June, 1964, he announced that he desired to waive his preliminary hearing to the charge of statutory rape and was bound over to the district court for trial.

On the 18th day of June, 1964, the petitioner was taken into the district court for arraignment and trial. At that time Mr. D. A. Hindman was appointed by the court to represent the petitioner, and he was given an opportunity to further consult with the petitioner. Mr. Hindman advised the petitioner, if he should enter a [687]*687plea of guilty to the crime of statutory rape as charged in the information, he would be sentenced for a term of one to twenty-one years in the state penitentiary. After further consultation the petitioner decided to plead guilty and ask for a parole immediately after his sentence was pronounced.

The trial court found the petitioner voluntarily entered a plea of guilty to the charge of statutory rape, as defined in 21-424, supra; that he fully understood the crime with which he was charged; and that at the time of his entry of a plea of guilty to the charge, he fully understood the charge against him and the consequences of a plea of guilty. The trial court also found that the petitioner understood the nature of the crime, the sentence which could be imposed, his right to a preliminary hearing if requested, and his right to a jury trial prior to the entry of his plea of guilty. The trial court further found the petitioner is a person of average intelligence, and that Mr. D. A. Hindman, who represented him as court-appointed counsel at the criminal proceeding, was an attorney of more than forty years’ experience, with substantial practice in criminal law; that the petitioner at the time of his plea was represented by an extremely able attorney.

The record indicates Mr. D. A. Hindman, an attorney at law of Stockton, Kansas, was the only attorney the petitioner knew at the time he was arrested on the 12th day of June, 1964; that he consulted with Mr. Hindman and fully discussed the offense for which he was apprehended. The petitioner, an indigent, was informed by Mr. Hindman that he would not represent him unless he was appointed by the court to represent him.

Mr. Hindman testified at the 1507 hearing that when he consulted with the petitioner prior to the preliminary hearing, he explained the nature of a preliminary hearing to him; that he could waive the preliminary hearing, or he could have a preliminary hearing; that if he waived the preliminary hearing counsel would be of no benefit to him at that time because he could waive it himself; that if he decided to have a preliminary hearing he could have court-appointed counsel, and Mr. Hindman would represent him, if the court appointed him.

Inasmuch as the petitioner made a decision to plead guilty, Mr. Hindman informed the petitioner there would be no need for a preliminary hearing, or that he have counsel appointed for him at the preliminary hearing. Accordingly, it was not until just prior [688]*688to arraignment in the district court on the 18th day of June, 1964, that the petitioner made request for counsel. The court appointed Mr. Hindman to represent him.

The primary thrust of the petitioner’s individual argument (added for the court’s benefit in the record) seems to be that after Mr. Hindman was legally appointed to represent him there is no evidence or testimony on the part of anyone to show that either Mr. Hindman or the court ever advised him of his legal rights. We find no merit in this point. The petitioner did have the benefit of competent legal advice throughout the proceedings, and after his appointment Mr. Hindman was not obligated to rehash everything he had discussed with the petitioner prior thereto.

First, the petitioner contends the trial court erred in concluding his right to a preliminary hearing was not denied him. The petitioner contends he waived his preliminary hearing without knowing what in fact was happening.

This point has been raised on numerous occasions and found to be without merit on facts substantially identical to those in the instant case.

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Related

Witt v. State
416 P.2d 717 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1966)
Ware v. State
426 P.2d 78 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1967)
Wiebe v. Hudspeth
180 P.2d 315 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1947)
Wiebe v. Kansas
333 U.S. 848 (Supreme Court, 1948)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
426 P.2d 74, 198 Kan. 685, 1967 Kan. LEXIS 337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-v-state-kan-1967.