People v. McCrory

Citations

• 41 Cal. 458

Syllabus

<p>Continuance on Account of Absent Witnesses.—Where there is a sufficient showing as to the materiality of absent witnesses, and no apparent lack of diligence in the effort to procure their attendance, a motion to continue a cause for the term, particularly if it be the first application, should be granted.</p> <p>Plea oe Guilty to be Express.—The plea of a defendant confessing himself to be guilty of a crime should not be entered except with his express consent, given by him personally in direct terms in open Court.</p> <p>Withdrawal oe Plea.—A party should not be permitted to trifle with the Court by deliberately entering a plea of guilty on one day, and capriciously withdrawing it the next.</p> <p>Idem—When Permitted.—When there is reason to believe that a plea of guilty has been entered through inadvertence and without due deliberation, or ignorantly, and mainly from the hope that the punishment to which the accused would otherwise be exposed may thereby be mitigated, the Court should be indulgent in permitting the plea to be withdrawn.</p> <p>Judicial Discretion.—In such cases the Court must necessarily exercise a sound discretion, and such discretion will not be interfered with, except when abused.</p>