Leach v. Hudspeth

198 P.2d 171, 165 Kan. 610, 1948 Kan. LEXIS 317
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedOctober 9, 1948
DocketNo. 37,135
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 198 P.2d 171 (Leach v. Hudspeth) 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
Leach v. Hudspeth, 198 P.2d 171, 165 Kan. 610, 1948 Kan. LEXIS 317 (kan 1948).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Hoch, J.:

In an original proceeding in habeas corpus the petitioner, E. E. Leach, seeks release from the state penitentiary where he is serving -a sentence for a period of not less than fifteen years for an attempt to commit the abominable crime against nature upon the person of an eight-year-old girl. Sentence was imposed under the habitual criminal act. (G. S. 1947 Supp., 21-107a.)

Upon the filing of a lengthy petition for the writ, the state filed a motion to make more definite and certain, which motion was allowed. The petitioner thereupon filed on May 11,1948, an amended petition which consisted largely of general statements and charges. To this amended petition the state filed its answer. Thereafter and upon June 14, 1948, Mr. William C. Karnazes, a reputable practicing attorney of Kansas City, Kan., was appointed by this court to represent the petitioner. Thereafter Mr. Karnazes filed an abstract and extensive brief in petitioner’s behalf and argued the case orally on July 6, 1948.

No useful purpose would be served in reciting the lengthy allegations of the petition for the writ. They consist in most part of repetitious statements; that the petitioner was denied due process of law; that he was prosecuted without having been indicted by a grand jury; that he is imprisoned in violation of the constitution of the United States; that he was denied counsel in the district court of Shawnee county, Kansas; that he was not properly represented by counsel; that he was denied a fair and impartial trial; that the information upon which he was tried was improperly drawn; that he was held in jail^and in custody seven months; that while awaiting trial in Shawnee county he was coerced and given very little to eat, for the purpose of getting him to plead guilty, et cetera.

Counsel for petitioner states that after conferences with the petitioner and after considering fully every allegation which he makes, it appears that the only contentions which present any grounds for consideration are that he was prosecuted on information rather than after indictment by a grand jury; that he was not properly repre[612]*612sented by counsel; that he was coerced in an attempt to get him to plead guilty, and that the journal entry of judgment and sentence does not comply with the statute. After careful examination of the record we share that view. Other allegations, general in nature and with no evidence submitted in their support, do not require attention.

Petitioner was convicted in the district court of Shawnee county, Kansas, on June 29, 1932, of first-degree robbery and was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of not less than ten nor more than twenty-one years. On October 6, 1942, he was paroled by action of the board of administration which was approved by the governor on October 22, 1942. While on parole he was convicted in Wyandotte county, as hereinbefore stated. A conditional pardon which had been issued by the governor on June 31,1941, pursuant to G. S. 1935, 62-2215, was revoked and, upon the governor’s warrant, issued on May 2, 1942, he was apprehended and reconfined in the penitentiary on December 5, 1945, pursuant to G. S. 1935, 62-1528.

Petitioner was brought to trial in Wyandotte county on October 8, 1945, on an information in which he was charged with having committed “the detestable and abominable crime against nature” on the person of a girl eight years of age. The defendant appeared in person and by his attorneys, David F. Carson and Thomas C. Lysaught, experienced attorneys in good standing in Wyandotte county. Having waived the reading of the information and the arraignment, the defendant pleaded not guilty and a jury was duly impaneled to hear the cause. The trial proceeded through October 8, 9, 10 and 11, on which latter date the jury returned a verdict of “guilty of an attempt to commit the detestable and abominable crime against nature.” Motion for a new trial was filed and was overruled on November 10, 1945, the state appearing by George Thomas, deputy county attorney of Wyandotte county, and by Arthur J. Stanley, Jr., special prosecutor; the defendant appearing in person and by his attorneys above named. Thereafter and on November 14, 1945, the cause came on regularly for further hearing, the state again appearing by the same parties, and the defendant appearing in person and by the two attorneys named. Thereupon the state introduced evidence that on December 15, 1924, defendant had pleaded guilty of manslaughter in the second degree in the district court of Cowley county, Kansas, and on June 29, 1932, had pleaded guilty of the charge of robbery in the first degree, in the [613]*613district court of Shawnee county. The defendant then in open court admitted his identity as the defendant named in the state’s exhibits evidencing such pleas of guilty. The court then having found from the records and other competent evidence that the defendant had twice previously been convicted of a felony, and that the verdict in the instant case constituted a conviction of a third felony, found that judgment and sentence should be imposed pursuant to the provisions of G. S. 1943 Supp., 21-107a. The defendant then was brought before the court and asked if he had any reason to urge why sentence should not be then imposed upon him, and in reply stated that he was not guilty of the charge. Defendant was then sentenced to confinement in the state penitentiary for a period of not less than fifteen years.

Petitioner’s first contention is that his incarceration is unlawful for the reason that he was prosecuted upon information filed by the county attorney, rather than upon indictment by a grand jury. This question was considered and determined adversely to petitioner’s contention in the recent case of Bailey v. Hudspeth, 164 Kan. 600, 191 P. 2d 894.

A large part of defendant’s instant petition is devoted to alleged irregularities in connection with his trial and conviction in Shawnee county on the charge of first-degree robbery. Attention need not be given to those allegations, even if they were supported by any evidence, which they are not, since petitioner is not now confined in the penitentiary under a sentence for conviction in Shawnee county. The maximum term of confinement under that charge expired May 19,1948.

Petitioner’s next contention is that he was not properly represented by counsel. The record conclusively disproves this allegation. Throughout the trial he was actively represented at every stage of the proceeding by the able attorneys heretofore named. The petitioner’s principal contention on this point is that the attorneys did not seek to quash the information on the ground that he could not be tried except upon indictment by the grand jury. This matter requires no further comment.

Petitioner’s contention that he was coerced in an effort to get him to plead guilty is wholly without support by any evidence. Part of petitioner’s contentions in this regard appears to relate to trial in Shawnee county, at which he was convicted on the charge of robbery in the first degree, and which, as heretofore noted, is not here in[614]*614volved. The state has submitted the affidavits of Arthur J.

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Related

Aldrich v. Hudspeth
203 P.2d 135 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1949)

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Bluebook (online)
198 P.2d 171, 165 Kan. 610, 1948 Kan. LEXIS 317, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leach-v-hudspeth-kan-1948.