State v. Smith
Supreme Court of Kansas
Appeal from Ottawa Distriet Court. Prosecution for murder in the first degree. From a conviction for murder in the second degree, defendant, Smith, appeals. The facts are stated in the opinion. The court erred in overruling the defendant’s plea in abatement. There was no waiver of a preliminary examination. It, therefore, became necessary for the state to prove its case.
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Appeal from Ottawa Distriet Court. Prosecution for murder in the first degree. From a conviction for murder in the second degree, defendant, Smith, appeals. The facts are stated in the opinion. The court erred in overruling the defendant’s plea in abatement. There was no waiver of a preliminary examination. It, therefore, became necessary for the state to prove its case. The murder is not charged as having been “willfully” done—the word “willful” is not used, nor any equivalent word; wherefore we claim the charge in the warrant is not murder in the first degree. In Pennsylvania, the word…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Valentine, J.:
This was a criminal prosecution upon information, in which the defendant, Vollie L. Smith, was charged with committing murder in the first degree in the. killing of George Allen Wilson, on January 24, 1892. The defendant was tried, and convicted of murder in the second *73degree, and was sentenced to imprisonment and hard labor in the penitentiary for the term of 13 years; and from this sentence he now appeals to this court.
The first complaint on the part of the defendant is that the court below erred in overruling the defendant’s plea in…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- State v. BaileySupreme Court of Kansas · 1884
- State v. WilsonSupreme Court of Kansas · 1880
- State ex rel. Johnston v. FosterSupreme Court of Kansas · 1884
3Cited by4 opinions
- State v. WellsSupreme Court of Kansas · 1894
- State v. SwanSupreme Court of Kansas · 1899
- State v. HainesSupreme Court of Kansas · 1929
- Price v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 1914