Johnson v. State

1953 OK CR 129, 261 P.2d 905, 97 Okla. Crim. 255, 1953 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 286
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma·Decided September 16, 1953·No. A-11800·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

BRETT, J.

The plaintiff in error, William Clayton Johnson, defendant below, was charged in the district court of Tulsa county, Oklahoma, with the crime of robbery with firearms allegedly committed in Tulsa on April 21, 1950. The information was filed on July 7, 1950. On October 9, 1950, the defendant entered his plea of guilty to said charge and the matter of judgment and sentence, on recommendation of the county attorney, was continued until January 10, 1951, and on said named date was continued until February 10, 1951, for pronouncement of judgment and sentence, and on said last date was further continued for said purpose to June 11, 1951, and thereon was continued to September 4, 1951. The matter of imposition of judgment and sentence then came on again on November 30, 1951, and was passed to December 18, 1951, at which time the matter came on for judgment and sentence. The defendant with the aid of counsel was ashed if he knew of any reason why judgment and sentence should not be pronounced, and no such reason was made known by the defendant, whereupon judgment was entered finding the defendant guilty on his plea of guilty, and he was sentenced to 8 years in the State Penitentiary at McAlester, Oklahoma.

It does not appear that any motion for new trial was ever filed to the judgment and sentence, but upon the entry thereof notice of intent to appeal was given. On February 13, 1952 a 60-day extension in addition to the 60 days granted on December 18, 1951, was granted to perfect the appeal.

On February 23, 1952, an application to vacate said sentence was filed in the trial court, for the reason the sentence was excessive, unjust, and inequitable, and that the defendant was not able to serve the said sentence, and such incarceration for such period of time would likely prove fatal to the defendant, and requested a hearing thereon. On April 14, an additional extension, of 30 days to perfect the appeal herein was granted from February 13, 1952.

On April 26, 1952, the application to vacate the judgment and sentence of December 18, 1951, was heard by deposition of Dr. Y. W. Pryor. Dr. Pryor, a general *257 practitioner of Holdenville, Oklahoma, testified in substance that the defendant had sustained a gunshot wound. He first examined him on October 2, 1950, and found a bullet was embedded in the brain about an inch and a half from the back of the head on the right side, and there was a hole in the skull about an inch and a quarter in diameter, above and behind the right eye, weakness of the left leg, due to the brain injury, and complaint of severe headaches, either on mental or physical exertion. He testified he saw the defendant numerous times to November, 1951. The conditions he said had progressively improved. He related that a blow, severe stress, a fall or loud noise might prove fatal to the defendant. He did not believe the bullet should be removed. For the foregoing reasons he did not believe it was the practical thing for the defendant to be incarcerated in the penitentiary. He related that with limitations the defendant could carry on a normal life. He could carry on work like in a bakery, where he would not be around loud noises.- At the conclusion of the hearing the trial judge overruled the motion with exceptions, and notice of intention to appeal was reaffirmed, and this proceeding brought herein, on June 16, 1952.

This appeal is from the order of the trial court overruling the application to vacate and set aside the judgment and sentence. This is not an appeal on the merits of the conviction. The details of the crime to which the plea of guilty was entered do not appear in the case-made. Neither does it appear that any motion for new trial on the merits was ever filed. Hence no errors of law which the trial court might have corrected were presented to it as a predicate for appeal; such failure is jurisdictional to an appeal. In Coffey v. State, 94 Okla. Cr. 327, 235 P. 2d 546, 547, 548, a conviction therein based on a plea of guilty and no motion for new trial with subsequent attempt to vacate the judgment and sentence from which ruling thereon the appeal was taken therein, it was said:

“Moreover the case-made discloses there was no motion for new trial filed at the proceedings on the plea of guilty, or permission granted by the trial court so to do within 30 days after judgment, and before entry of judgment and sentence as provided in Title 22, § 954, O.S.A. 1941. * * * The matter being called to the trial court’s attention by motion to vacate the judgment and within the 6 months time allowed for perfecting an appeal, Title 22, § 1054, O.S.A. 1941, it was the duty of the court to inquire into the validity of its judgment, for such matter may be raised even at any time before the final completion of the judgment and sentence of the lower court. Ledgerwood v. State, 6 Okla. Cr. 105, 116 P. 202. And such questions may be raised in the trial court on motion to vacate the judgment if within the time for perfecting an appeal. But of course, in order to perfect appeals involving errors of law arising in the trial such errors must be incorporated in a motion for new trial and submitted to the trial court before judgment. Ledgerwood v. State, supra. The trial court having made inquiry in the case at bar and having overruled the motion to vacate the judgment, the sole question therefore is, does the record support the trial court’s action or does it disclose an abuse of discretion. An application to vacate and set aside a judgment and to withdraw a plea of guilty after judgment of conviction thereon is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court. Moose v. State, 52 Okla. Cr. 206, 4 P. 2d 694. Such power is inherent in all courts of record. Bean v. State, 28 Okla. Cr. 228, 226 P. 115.”

It is thus apparent that the overruling of the application to vacate the judgment and sentence herein was a matter addressed to the trial court’s sound judicial discretion. The record discloses the defendant was asked at the time judgment and sentence was passed if he knew of any reason why the judgment and sentence should not be pronounced, and none was given. Under such conditions, we cannot find an abuse of discretion. In Todd v. State, 82 Okla. Cr. 424, 172 P. 2d 345, 346, it was said:

"Criminal Court of Appeals will only consider those questions which are incorporated in the motion for a new trial and thereby submitted to the trial *258 court and its ruling thereon excepted to and afterward assigned for error unless the question is jurisdictional.”

As was said in Coffey v. State, supra, “The case-made discloses there was no attack on the sufficiency of the information, that the trial court had jurisdiction” of the case, such as of the subject matter, of the person; and authority under the law to pronounce the judgment and sentence, under Title 21, § 801, O.S. 1951, providing punishment for robbery with firearms at not less than 5 years. Hence the jurisdiction in the case at bar was well grounded. It thus appears that the judgment and sentence is a valid judgment under the law and no motion for new trial having been filed and presented to the trial court questioning the same from a standpoint of error of law, we are wholly without jurisdiction to consider the same.

Under powers of modification, Title 22, § 1066, O.S. 1951, our powers of modification are limited to cases where it clearly appears the judgment and sentence imposed is excessive. Powell v. State, 94 Okla. Cr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Johnson v. State, 1953 OK CR 129, 261 P.2d 905, 97 Okla. Crim. 255, 1953 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 286 (Okla. Ct. App. 1953).

1953 OK CR 129 (Johnson v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Lambert v. State
1999 OK CR 17 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1999)
Crabb v. State
1967 OK CR 47 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1967)
Hurley v. State
1966 OK CR 106 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1966)
Rapp v. State
1966 OK CR 51 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1966)
Fryar v. State
1963 OK CR 83 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1963)