People ex rel. Walsh v. Warden of Sing Sing Prison

The petitioner claims he is illegally restrained without due process of law in that his plea of guilty upon which he was sentenced to State’s prison took place in the chambers of the judge and not in the court room. In other words, the plea was not taken in “ open court.”

The facts (apparently undisputed) are as follows: The petitioner was indicted by the grand jury of Bronx county on September 19, 1932, for the crime of grand larceny in the first degree, having stolen an automobile which was found in his possession. The indictment proceeded to trial on October 17, 1939, before the county…