Ingram v. Wingo

CLAY, Commissioner.

This is an appeal from a judgment denying a writ of habeas corpus. In 1956 defendant pleaded guilty to the charge of willful murder and was given a life sentence. The basis of his petition is that his punishment was fixed by an improper jury. It appears the selected jury was unable to agree upon a verdict and the trial court thereupon excused the juror who could not agree and replaced him by another member of the panel. Section 258 of the Criminal Code, then in effect, provided that in cases where the offense was punishable by death, upon a plea of guilty the jury should…