State v. Whisnant

The defendant having plead guilty of assault with a deadly weapon in open court, it is to be presumed that the jurors were present and heard this plea. When it was withdrawn and the defendant placed on trial the next day, we can only assume that the jurors remembered this and that the defendant was thus placed in a prejudiced position in his trial.

While the court could not compel the attendance of witnesses from Florida and West Virginia, it is possible that had the case been continued for the term, or at least continued until the second week as requested by the defendant, that he might have…