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William Hugh Engels, Appellant, v. Milton F. Amrine, Warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary, Appellee

Kansas Supreme Court1942-05-09No. No. 35,489
155 Kan. 385125 P.2d 379

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the dismissal of Engels's habeas corpus petition, finding no constitutional or legal error in his conviction or confinement. The court held that Engels's guilty plea, entered voluntarily and understandingly without counsel, constituted a waiver of his right to representation, and that habeas corpus is not the proper vehicle to challenge the sufficiency of the information underlying a valid judgment.

William Hugh Engels sought a writ of habeas corpus challenging his confinement in the Kansas State Penitentiary following a guilty plea to first-degree robbery in December 1939. Engels raised several objections: that he was denied the writ because he was not present at the preliminary hearing, that the charging information was legally insufficient, and that he lacked counsel and was uninformed of his constitutional rights. The court addressed each claim in turn.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Presence of petitioner at preliminary habeas corpus hearing
  • Sufficiency of criminal information in habeas corpus proceedings
  • Waiver of right to counsel by voluntary guilty plea
  • Scope of habeas corpus review for collateral attack on final judgments

Procedural posture

Engels appealed from a Leavenworth County District Court order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his indeterminate sentence for first-degree robbery.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Allen, J.:

This is an appeal from an order and judgment of Leavenworth county denying the petition of appellant for a writ of habeas corpus.

Under an information filed in the district court of Sedgwick county the petitioner was charged with robbery in the first degree. On the 8th day of December, 1939, the petitioner entered a plea of guilty to the charge, and under the judgment of the court received an indeterminate sentence in the state penitentiary. The petition for a Writ of habeas corpus alleges that petitioner is now confined in the penitentiary under a commitment issued pursuant to the judgment. The petition for the writ was dismissed by the district court. On this appeal many errors are assigned.

1." Petitioner contends he was denied his right of a writ of habeas corpus because he was not present at the hearing upon the application for the writ. It is the practice inthis state to make a preliminary determination as to the propriety of issuing the writ of habeas corpus. In 25 Am. Jur., 238, Habeas Corpus, § 131, it is stated:

“While habeas corpus is a writ of right, it will not issue as a matter of course or as a mere perfunctory operation upon the filing of the petition; judicial discretion is exercised in its issuance, and such facts must be made to appear to .the judge to whom the petition is presented as, in his judgment, prima facie, entitle the petitioner to the writ. The writ need not, therefore, be awarded where it appears upon the showing made by the petitioner that if he were brought into court and the cause of his commitment inquired into, he would be remanded, but only where the application therefor contains allega tions which, if true, would authorize the discharge of the person held in custody.”

The orderly administration of justice would not be promoted by the presence of the petitioner at the hearing upon the preliminary application for the writ. If, however, the petitioner upon his application for the writ of habeas corpus makes a prima facie showing of wrongful or illegal restraint the writ will issue and the petitioner will be brought before the court or judge issuing the writ as directed by the statute (G. S. 1935, 60-2205).

2. Petitioner contends the information under which he was charged with the crime of robbery in the first degree is insufficient in point of law. Our statute G. S. 1935, 60-2213, provides:

“No court or judge shall inquire into the legality of any judgment or process whereby the party is in custody, or discharge him when the term of commitment has not expired, in either of the cases following:

“Second. Upon any process issued on and final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.

“Fourth. Upon a warrant of commitment issued from the district court or any other court of competent jurisdiction upon an indictment or information.”

Under the statute the sufficiency of the information cannot be considered upon an application for a writ of habeas corpus. Prohibitory Amendment Cases, 24 Kan. 700, 725; In re Max Wheatley, Petitioner, 114 Kan. 747, 220 Pac. 213; Freeman on Judgments, 5th ed., section 1549; Petition of Semler, 41 Wis. 517; Ex parte Tobias Watkins, 3 Pet. (U. S.) 193, 7 L. Ed. 750.

We may state, however, that we have examined the information and find it clearly sufficient under our statute G. S. 1935, 62-1010.

3. Petitioner asserts that he did not have the aid of counsel and was not informed of his rights as guaranteed by the constitution of the state of Kansas. In our recent case of Jones v. Amrine, 154 Kan. 629, 121 P. 2d 263, it was held as stated in the syllabus:

“An accused, who on arraignment on a criminal charge, without counsel and without making request for counsel, personally, understandingly, freely and voluntarily, enters a plea of guilty of the crime charged, thereby waives the right to be represented by counsel.” (Syl. f 1.)

From the record before us it is clear the defendant was not denied any right guaranteed to him by the constitution or the laws of the state of Kansas or by the constitution of the United States.

The sixth amendment to the constitution of the United States giving accused in criminal cases right to assistance of counsel applies only to prosecutions under federal laws. (Commonwealth v. Smith, 344 Pa. 41, 24 Atl. 2d 1.) See Jones v. Amrine, supra, and cases there cited.

A judgment of a court carries with it the presumption of regularity and cannot lightly be set aside by collateral attack even on habeas corpus.

Finding no error in the record, the judgment must be affirmed. It is so ordered.