The case involved John Wright, who was charged with burglary via an information filed in the district court of Montrose County. Wright was tried, convicted, and sentenced, but the record contained no indication that he had entered a plea to the charge, an omission first raised in a motion for a new trial. The court determined that under sections 1461 and 1467 of Mill’s Annotated Statutes, as well as common law principles, no triable issue exists until the defendant pleads, with the plea required to be entered on the court minutes. Because the record failed to show any such arraignment and plea, the conviction could not stand, leading the court to reverse the judgment and remand the case with instructions to require Wright to enter a plea.

criminal lawprocedure

Jordan v. People concerned the first-degree murder conviction of the defendant, who shot a smelter watchman while pursuing the foreman with a loaded pistol and making threats. The court upheld the trial court's jurisdiction by affirming the constitutionality of legislation permitting multiple district judges to preside separately and allowing sessions at the county seat in any suitable building; it also sustained prosecution by information after a preliminary hearing and the adequacy of the murder charge under state statute. Reasoning that the amendments to the state constitution authorized additional judges with full powers and that the evidence supported the jury's finding of premeditated intent, the court affirmed the judgment.

criminal lawprocedure