People v. West

The defendant was accused of murder by information filed against him by the district attorney of the county of Sacramento. On arraignment he stood mute and refused to enter a plea to the charge made against him in the information. Thereupon, the court entered for him a plea of not guilty. He was tried by a jury and found guilty of murder in the first degree without recommendation as to the penalty. Upon this verdict it was the duty of the court to pronounce the extreme penalty, which it did. On appeal his counsel assails the judgment of conviction and asks for its reversal upon the following…