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The State of Kansas, Appellee, v. Tom Perry, Appellant

Kansas Supreme Court1918-04-06No. No. 21,641
102 Kan. 896

Summary

Holding. The judgment convicting Tom Perry on the first and second counts was affirmed. The court held that Perry waived any objection regarding the lack of a preliminary examination on particular charges by failing to raise it at trial and by joining issue on all offenses without objection, and that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions.

Tom Perry was arrested and charged with three offenses: felonious sale of intoxicating liquor, possession of intoxicating liquor, and maintaining a nuisance. After a preliminary hearing before a justice of the peace, Perry was bound over to district court. Although the magistrate's order contained a technical error in naming which count involved the felonious sale charge, the magistrate clearly found that a sale had occurred and held Perry for trial on that basis. Perry was tried in district court on all three counts without objecting to the information or to the lack of a preliminary examination on any particular charge. The jury convicted him on the first two counts—the unlawful sale and possession charges.

Perry appealed, arguing he was convicted of an offense for which he did not receive a preliminary examination. The court rejected this argument, finding that Perry had waived any objection by failing to raise it at trial and by proceeding to trial without objection on all counts. The court also found the evidence sufficient to support the convictions. A witness testified that she observed Perry making repeated trips to a ravine with strangers and saw him exchange what appeared to be a whisky bottle for money. Whisky bottles were later discovered both in the ravine area and at Perry's residence, corroborating the testimony regarding the sale and possession of intoxicating liquor.

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

Key issues

  • Whether a defendant waives the right to object to lack of preliminary examination by proceeding to trial without raising the objection
  • Whether technical errors in a magistrate's order identifying which count contains a particular charge prejudice a defendant when the substance of the charge is clear
  • Whether circumstantial evidence of observed exchanges and discovered bottles is sufficient to prove sale and possession of intoxicating liquor

Procedural posture

The defendant appealed his conviction from the district court following a jury trial, challenging both the sufficiency of the evidence and the propriety of being tried on offenses for which he did not receive a preliminary examination.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Johnston, C. J.:

Tom Perry was arrested upon a complaint charging him with (1) a felonious sale of intoxicating liquor, (2) having intoxicating liquor in his possession, and (3) maintaining a nuisance. A preliminary hearing was had, after which he was bound over to the district court. In the order of the justice of the peace the offenses mentioned for which the defendant was to be held for trial were the unlawful sale and the maintaining of a nuisance, but the offenses were referred to as being those charged in the second and third counts of the complaint. The information upon which defendant was tried in the district court set forth three counts corresponding to those of the complaint. The defendant went to trial without objection to the information, and joined issue on all the offenses charged, by plea of not guilty. Upon the evidence the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty as charged in the first and second counts of the information; that is, for the unlawful sale and for having intoxicating liquor in his possession.

In his appeal defendant contends that he was convicted of an offense for which he did not have a preliminary examination. There was some confusion .in the record of the examining magistrate in that he found that a felonious sale had been committed by defendant as charged in the second count, whereas that charge was contained in the first count. Then he held him for keeping a place for the sale of. intoxicating liquors which was charged in the third count, and, as we have seen, the jury found him guilty on the first and second counts, which charged a sale and the keeping of liquors in his possession. Since the magistrate expressly held him for a felonious sale, the error in naming the count containing that charge could not have misled or prejudiced the defendant. Only one sale was alleged, and he was bound over .for a sale. He was held for trial on the third count, for keeping a place where liquors were sold, rather than for keeping liquors in his possession, and of the latter offense he was not convicted; but as the liquor which he sold was necessarily in his possession he was probably not surprised to find that count in the information. At any rate he did not file a plea in abatement or question in any way the propriety of charging him with all three offenses. Having joined issue on the offenses set out in the information and of which he was convicted, without raising the objection that he had not been allowed a preliminary examination, he must be held to have waived it. (The State v. Bowman, 80 Kan. 473, 103 Pac. 84.) In no event could he have been prejudiced so far as the second count is concerned, since the sentence, imposed upon that count runs concurrently with that imposed for the felonious sale, and the penalty was therefore not enlarged by the conviction on the second count.

The remaining objection is that the evidence did not warrants conviction of any offense. A witness testified, in effect, that she saw the defendant make frequent trips with strangers to a ravine in which there was underbrush near her residence, several times during.a certain day, and that in one in-, stance she saw him hand to another a whisky bottle almost full of liquor and exchange it for coin given him by the other. In this place, to which he made frequent trips during the day, accompanied by strangers, a number of whisky bottles were found, and kjuite a number were also found in an outhouse at his residence. While the witness did not taste or smell the contents of the whisky bottle, she was close to the parties and said that she was sure it was whisky that was exchanged for money. Taking the testimony and the surrounding circumstances together they appear to be sufficient to support the verdict.

The judgment is affirmed.