In re Dawson

Citations

• 20 Idaho 178
• 117 P. 696
• 1911 Ida. LEXIS 88

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law — Trial by Jury — Waiver—Sufficiency of Information — How Raised.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the court.)</p> <p>1. Under the provisions of see. 7 of art. 1 of the constitution of this state, the right of trial by jury is reserved to the citizens of the state as it existed and was permitted under the common law, and such right is retained in all cases which were triable by jury under the common law, and limits the power of the court and of the citizens to a waiver of a jury trial to criminal cases not amounting to a felony, and then only by consent of both parties expressed in open court.</p> <p>2. The word “trial,” as used in see. 7, art. 1 of the constitution, means an issue of fact presented by a plea of the accused, and the court is without jurisdiction to try such issue of fact, if the charge be a felony, and there can be no conviction except upon trial by jury; but where the accused, with full knowledge of his constitutional rights, enters a plea of guilty, and presents no issue of fact for trial, there can be no trial and the conviction is the accused’s admission, and takes the place of a verdict of a jury.</p> <p>3. Whether it is necessary to allege in an information charging lareeny from the person the value of the property taken is a question of the sufdcieney of the information, and does not go to the jurisdiction of the court, and the only manner in which such question can be raised is by demurrer to the information, at the trial under the plea of not guilty, or after the trial in arrest of judgment.</p>