State v. Yamashita

Utah Supreme Court

State v. Yamashita

211 P. 360, 61 Utah 170, 1922 Utah LEXIS 90

CourtUtah Supreme Court

DecidedDecember 21, 1922

DocketNo. 3818

StatusPublished

Cited by4 cases

This text of 211 P. 360 (State v. Yamashita) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

State v. Yamashita, 211 P. 360, 61 Utah 170, 1922 Utah LEXIS 90 (Utah 1922).

Pincite

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree without a recommendation by the jury, was sentenced to be executed, and appeals.

It is conceded that in charging the jury the district court inadvertently omitted to charge them as provided in Comp. Laws Utah 1917, § 8026, which reads as follows :

“Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall suffer death, or, upon the recommendation of the jury, may he imprisoned at hard labor in the state prison for life, in the discretion of the court.”

It his been held, both by the Supreme Court of the United States (Calton v. People, 130 U. S. 83, 9 Sup. Ct. 435, 32 L. Ed. 870) and by this court (State v. Thorn, 39 Utah, 208, 117 Pac. 58, and State v. Thorn, 41 Utah, 414, 126 Pac. 286, Ann. Cas. 1915D, 90) that a failure to charge the jury that they may recommend imprisonment for life invades a substantial right to the defendant, and constitutes fatal error. In this case the omission to charge the jury as afore[172]*172said was not discovered until the motion for a new trial filed in-the district court had been denied and the case had been appealed to this court. There is therefore no alternative save to reverse the judgment of conviction and to remand the ease to the district court of Salt Lake county, with directions to grant the defendant-a new trial. Such is the order.

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

PER CURIAM.

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree without a recommendation by the jury, was sentenced to be executed, and appeals.

It is conceded that in charging the jury the district court inadvertently omitted to charge them as provided in Comp. Laws Utah 1917, § 8026, which reads as follows :

“Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall suffer death, or, upon the recommendation of the jury, may he imprisoned at hard labor in the state prison for life, in the discretion of the court.”

It his been held, both by the Supreme Court of the United States (Calton v. People, 130 U. S. 83, 9 Sup. Ct. 435, 32 L. Ed. 870) and by this court (State v. Thorn, 39 Utah, 208, 117 Pac. 58, and State v. Thorn, 41 Utah, 414, 126 Pac. 286, Ann. Cas. 1915D, 90) that a failure to charge the jury that they may recommend imprisonment for life invades a substantial right to the defendant, and constitutes fatal error. In this case the omission to charge the jury as afore[172]*172said was not discovered until the motion for a new trial filed in-the district court had been denied and the case had been appealed to this court. There is therefore no alternative save to reverse the judgment of conviction and to remand the ease to the district court of Salt Lake county, with directions to grant the defendant-a new trial. Such is the order.

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)

211 P. 360, 61 Utah 170, 1922 Utah LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-yamashita-utah-1922.

Opinion

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack