People v. Smith

PETERS, P. J.

In 1944 Harry Dwight Smith was charged with burglary. He pleaded guilty before the then existing Police Court of Oakland. Upon his arraignment in the superior court he again admitted the charge, and the degree of the crime was fixed at burglary in the first degree. He was thereupon sentenced to imprisonment for the term prescribed by law. No appeal was taken. In May of 1951, approximately seven years later, he filed a petition for a writ of error

coram nobis

in the superior court. The trial court,

[698]

without appearance on the part of Smith, denied the application. Smith appeals.

The petition filed in the lower court alleges, in very general terms, that the information did not charge burglary in the first degree with the required particularity; that Smith was deprived of the right of counsel; that he had not been advised of his constitutional rights; that the guilty plea was secured by duress, and that the trial court deprived him of the right to appeal. The petition, so far as its allegations are concerned, simply consists of a series of conclusions of law unsupported by the required averments of fact. No particulars in reference to any of the charges are there alleged. Connected with the petition is a so-called statement of facts which, if true, would tend to show that the admittedly stolen property found in his room—two revolvers—were placed there without his consent. In general language he then sets forth that, after his arrest, he was slapped and threatened by the police officers and thus induced to plead guilty in the police and superior courts. He contends that he was not informed of his rights in the police court, and not afforded the right of counsel. After being sentenced in the superior court he states that he told the court he desired to appeal and was told that this would be discussed later. No other explanation for his failure to appeal appears.

When this petition for a writ of error

coram nobis

came before the trial court Smith was not present, no order for his presence having been made. The deputy district attorney informed the court that the record in the case showed that a deputy public defender represented Smith in the police court and in the superior court; that in the superior court Smith stated that he knew the goods were stolen and that someone else was involved with him, and that he was entering a plea of guilty. These were all matters of record in the trial court of which the trial judge could take judicial notice. The trial court denied the petition.