People v. Smith

In 1944 Harry Dwight Smith was charged with burglary. He pleaded guilty before the then existing Police Court of Oakland. Upon his arraignment in the superior court he again admitted the charge, and the degree of the crime was fixed at burglary in the first degree. He was thereupon sentenced to imprisonment for the term prescribed by law. No appeal was taken. In May of 1951, approximately seven years later, he filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis in the superior court. The trial court, without appearance on the part of Smith, denied the application. Smith appeals.

The petition…