The People v. De Cola

The principal issue on the merits in this case is whether, by pleading guilty to an indictment, a defendant waives his statutory right to be tried within four months of the date of his arrest. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1957, chap. 38, par. 748.) Before that question is reached, however, we must first dispose of a procedural problem concerning the method by which that issue has been put before the court.

On January 20, 1958, the grand jury of Cook County returned three indictments that charged the defendant, John De Cola, with unrelated offenses. Indictments Nos. 58-175 and 58-179 charged burglary, and…